Five Years

I have been an awful terrible blogger.  I barely wrote last week, and decided that starting Monday's post at 930pm was a good idea.  In addition to that, I barely commented on anyone's blog, and for that I am truly covered in blog girl shame.  In all fairness, we did have internet problems, and my computer is dumb.  

So had it not been for super awesome Casey from AT&T coming to fix our shizz, you would be left without my amazing words of wisdom for today.

Not that I have many, because, well it's 930 at night, and I want to go to bed.  

This past weekend hubs and I spent our five year anniversary in Charleston.  Our five years have been sprinkled with hard times -- really hard times -- and for some reason through everything, it has prevailed.  It's not perfect, nor will it ever be.

 

It was a great trip, and I'll indulge more details later.  I just had to clear my blogger conscience and post something. 

Gulf Shores Day 1

For B's 29th birthday, we went down to Gulf Shores.  We hadn't been to the gulf in about three years, and it was just time.

B just looks like a little kid while he is in the water.  I will be the first to admit that sometimes big waves scare me, and jelly fish, but B never seems to mind it.  I'm pretty sure the only way to keep him out of the water is the dreaded double red flags.  

And even then I'm not so sure.  

So our first day down at the gulf, we spent the afternoon drinking rum and watching the waves.  We then went to a place that we went to the last time we were down there; the people who owned it were so afraid that they wouldn't survive.  They had just opened up right after the BP oil spill, and were afraid that they weren't going to do any business.

We weren't even sure that the place was still going to be open. 

But it was!  We went there and it was packed!  We were like proud little parents!  Like for some reason we were responsible for their success.

But we weren't.  Their amazing sushi and oysters are what made them awesome.  

Some pictures from our first day..

                                       

              

 I put these pictures in here even though I look like absolute crap, it was our time at the beach.  I'm really feeling that it's time to get rid of the red hair and go back to blonde again.  Or something.  The more I look at them, the more I feel like they need to go away.

I know I'm my hardest critic, but oh well.  I need a change.  Maybe the hair is the right place to start.

Our Days in Key West

Our days in Key West were scattered with many many key lime drinks and half price appetizers.  Get ready for picture heavy post, because it's coming.

The first night, we hit the boardwalk thing for some half price drinks and food.  Plus, hello there, oysters. The first place we went to was Alonzo's Oyster Bar.  We got some calamari, and some buffalo oysters.  I love raw oysters, but if you put some yummy buffalo seasoning on them, it seems that they can only get better.  Add a key lime mojito and a tequila sunrise for B, and we're all set.

Next stop was on to Kelley's for their own brews and some key lime margaritas. 

The next night we went to a few more bars (can't remember the names....happy hour does that to you sometimes), but we ran into an Ernest Hemingway impersonator.  As it was Hermingway Days on the island, and they have a look-alike contest.  He was a little hammered, and I wish I had videos of him, but I don't, so the solo picture will have to suffice.

         

        

        

            

            

Next we went onto Cap'n Tony's to have a few drinks.  I was absolutely in love with this place.  They had dollar bills and bras hanging from every nook and cranny in the joint, plus the bartenders were super friendly.  We drank one of their specialty drinks, and it was strong and delicious. While listening to the band/singer man harass pretty much every pretty girl that walked into the place.

If you're in Key West, definitely go for the half price everything on the boardwalk.  You can get a dozen oysters for $4.  Plus try everything key lime on the key, because if you don't, you'll regret it.

The Night We Stayed At Aqua

I spoke last week about a hotel that we had to book the day of, because our hotel that we booked in Miami was the absolute worst!

Slight mistake turned into a big plus for us. 

We decided to drive into Fort Lauderdale to stay the night.  It sure didn't hurt that we had had our fill of Miami, and didn't really want to spend another night there, just to eat overpriced food.  We had this sweet little boutique hotel that we found just one block from the beach, and a mile and half from some restaurants.  And to say we were starving when we got there was an understatement.  I finally got my gigantic greasy delicious cheeseburger.

Anyway, back to the hotel.  Cutest little hotel ever.  Customer service was absolutely fantastic.  She even offered me a shot of whiskey!  No lie.  It had two pools, and the back pool was as quiet as could be.  We grabbed our books and sat poolside with some vodka.

 

 

 

If I had a studio apartment, this is pretty much exactly what it would like.  Hints of turquoise/aqua everywhere, the great sink in the bathroom, the super comfy bed ( I promise that it was!), and the surfer/beach motif throughout. 

I would recommend staying here to anyone; and if we ever go back to Fort Lauderdale, we're definitely booking our nights with them.

(oops, another travel post!)

Nothing Better Than A Cuban Sandwich

One of the main things B wanted to do while we were in Miami was get good Cuban food.

I did not protest much (although there are some days where you just want to shove a cheeseburger and french fries in your face a call it a day.  this was one of those days for me), so we found a cute little place with outdoor seating.

It was semi-beautiful out ( aka 80 degrees in the shade), so we sat outside.

So we went to Havana 1957.  B said it was supposedly one of the best places for Cuban food, so voila.  We were done.  To begin with, they give you these fried plantains, sliced incredibly thin.  They were so good!  They also gave you water in old Bacardi bottles!  Hello Pinterest project!!  Their sangria was delicious, their Cuban sandwich was amazing, and even B's plain old chicken had some great spice to it.

Did I mention how amazing their sangria was?  I could really use some right now.  B's spicy Cuba Libre was pretty good too.

  

  

On a side note, I was reading someone's blog that I truly love and she was talking about how much she hated travel posts, and how she couldn't stand seeing a million pictures of someone's vacation.  It kind of made me sad.  She also listed about seven other things that I am definitely guilty of.

But again, I don't blog with the intention of getting big and famous from it; I really do it for myself.  And for my family and friends who like to read about what is going on my life.  Mostly I do it because I love to write.  And what someone else thinks is relevant in a blog (ie, just trying to be funny to just be funny, or pictures of their amazingly put-together outfits every day) may not be what I think is relevant.

Point being, live on vacation/travel pictures, because I sure hope I have a lot of you.

We Stayed at the Waldorf!!

B surprised me and got us a night at the Waldorf Astoria.  I have never stayed at a hotel so nice in my entire life. 

And since B has the pleasure of being a Diamond Member (from all of his traveling days), they even gave us an upgrade!  The place was absolutely beautiful.  Our room was right on the beach; they gave us a free appetizer and two free drinks.

Also, while you're laying at their beach, they come around with fresh watermelon, the cabana boy spritzes water on you, and they have popsicle hour.  Oh yes, none of this you have to pay for.  Cabana boys sure are the greatest invention ever.  None of the bartenders or cabana people were even from the area.  They were all transplants, saying they came from various US states and fell in love with it.  Not really too hard to see why.  

Ahhh, to live like the other half even if just for a day.

It was a man-made beach, hence all the rocks and stuff at the shore.  But it was pretty fun to take a walk out on the pier and get right in.

Also got to have my first cigar with my B on that pier.  It was a little flavored one, but it was still fun.