2017 Travel Planning

The only trip we have booked, signed, and sealed is Boston in May but otherwise K and I have just started planning our one big trip of the year and some smaller trips to cities around the US.

2016 was a year filled with lots of travel adventures from Jamaica to Nashville and Canada to the Bahamas plus a few other fun places in between (recaps one / two / three) so I plan to check off a few more of my bucket list travel destinations this year. These are the places on my radar for 2017...

Boston

The trip is booked and accommodations are confirmed but I've yet to start researching things to do or planning any sort of itinerary.

via

Ft Lauderdale Beach

This is not a new destination for us but we're thinking of returning to enjoy the beaches for our anniversary this summer.
Most recent trip to Ft Lauderdale.

Europe
This is a vague one because we're still figuring out what countries/cities to visit but the travel dates have been decided on so far.

Houston
One of my close girl friends is moving to Houston this year so I'm hoping to visit her but this is not a definite travel plan so far.
 

Chicago
Another city we've already been to but K wants to return for his birthday and to visit a friend.

Chicago 2014 Trip Recap
 

Austin

Austin is the other option for K's birthday which falls on a long weekend and is my personal preference since it's a new city to the both of us.

via

Charleston

I have my heart set on Charleston for my birthday weekend but this could change between now and December, although I highly doubt it will.

via

Islamorada: Final Favorites

Last week I shared the details of the beautiful resort we stayed at in Islamorada called The Postcard Inn and then did another post about the Rain Barrel Artisan's Village which was full of color and creativity. Today I have some final tidbits to share mainly some "must try" restaurants/sports bars and things to do.

I mentioned that we spent most of our time relaxing at the resort but we did venture out a few times. On Saturday, after exploring the Rain Barrel Market, we stopped in at Hog Heaven Oceanfront Sports Bar to grab a drink and watch some sports. I loved being outside on the waterfront while K enjoyed all the various games on the TVs around the bar.

 

 

When we booked our trip to Islamorada almost everyone recommended Lorelei's Cabana Bar & Restaurant for brunch so we made our way there on Sunday. It's a casual place with great food and mimosa specials for brunch and the waterfront patio seating is always my favorite kind of setting especially in the Keys.

We spotted this "Limo Boat" in the marina at Lorelei's which I thought was interesting. After doing some research, I found out this Nautilimo does cruise tours along the shoreline of the Florida Keys which would be cool but quite amusing at the same time.

K and I tasted, for the first time, and fell in love with frozen key lime daiquiris. What we didn't know was that the most popular place that makes them was at the World Famous Tiki Bar located on our resort, just a few steps from our hotel room. We had friends texting us saying "you have to try the Key Lime Daiquiris - they are amazing!" and we thought "Oh how convenient!" 

And amazing they were.

On Monday it was time to make the road trip back home so we had to fuel up before the 5-hour drive. We didn't have a place in mind but drove past The Island Grill and made a U-turn because it looked like the perfect spot for one last meal. This restaurant's claim to fame is "Home of the original tuna nachos" so we ordered the nachos along with some conch fritters to share  I've never tried anything more delicious. The restaurant was empty because it was 11am on a Monday but waterfront seating (once again) with good food was the perfect way to end the trip.

We did have one last stop on our bucket list and it was to visit The Original Key Lime Factory. Neither of us were in the mood for dessert so we bought a whole pie (frozen) to bring home to enjoy later in the week. K ate most of it but it definitely was an amazing treat!

So this wraps up everything about our Islamorada trip with all the extra favorites we indulged in and of course I'm dreaming of returning one day to explore more of the Florida Keys!

The Postcard Inn Beach Resort

We traveled to Islamorada in the Florida Keys for my birthday in December and K couldn't have chosen a more beautiful to resort to stay at. Having said that, we spent most of our time relaxing on the beach and enjoying the resort's amenities, onsite restaurants and the tiki bar where we were introduced to frozen Key Lime Daiquiris which were to die for!

The Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina

I'll let the pictures do the talking from here.

 

It was such a relaxing vacation celebrating my birthday at a beautiful resort and I loved having an oceanfront room and balcony to enjoy coffee in the morning and cocktails in the evening.