Now, I need a Vacation!

My family returned from a week long trip to the Florida Keys a couple of weeks ago. After unpacking the trailer and all the bags and catching up with laundry I realize now, I need a vacation! We had a great time. Breaking up the drive with a stop off at Busch Gardens was worth it! Six adults and a baby in a Tahoe wasn't as bad as I'd feared it would be! My granbaby girl was awesome! She's a great traveler and she loves gramma's iphone/headphones! Along the way we all learned the words to an awful lot of Veggie Tales songs! After the kids rode all the roller coasters followed by a good night's sleep, we headed out on the last leg of the trip. Key West here we come!

We had a great time shopping and trying out all the restaurants on the foodie place list. It was HOT! Like walking around in a sauna all day. The first night we saw the sunset from the condo balcony. Beautiful, cept for the fact we didn't get to see the dip into the horizon cause of the mangroves everywhere. We vowed to see it from Mallory Square every night for the rest of the week. That's supposed to be the place to see the sunset. So after another long, hot day,chugging around the island in our little rented open-air, battery powered cars, we made our way to Mallory Square for a burger and what was supposed to be the most beautiful sunset in the world! The sunset was pretty....but there were the mangroves again blocking the dip! We later learned unless you were up really high in a building or out on a schooner, that's what you were gonna see. I'm here to say...to this date, the prettiest sunset I've ever seen is on Dauphin Island. Next time we will take a schooner out past the mangroves and perhaps then I'll change my mind. But hey! The burgers were great!

We ate at some great places. Blue Heaven for breakfast (while the chickens walked around under the table and around our feet!), B.O.'s Fish Wagon, Margaritaville, Harry's Harpoon and several others. Oh, and we ate at the Columbia Restaurant in Tampa while we were there....it was fabulous!!

I started a charm bracelet for my granbaby while in Key West and bought a couple of pieces for my own bracelet back home. I set out that morning planning to start myself a Pandora bracelet but came across the Brighton's at Fast Buck Freddies! I fell in love with them.....as I'm already a Brighton fan! Of course, when we returned home my daughter gave me an early birthday present....Brighton charms.....a carousel (Keller and I had our first carousel ride at Busch Gardens) and a cupcake (Keller's first birthday is coming up)! I was hooked! Made a trip to the mall to fill up the remaining space! On our recent anniversary my husband also gave me some beautiful spacers, filling up another bracelet, as well as a necklace to start!! Wow! Love it!

On Tuesday while the rest of the family went fishing, I stayed in with Keller .... giving us both a rest from the heat. That evening we enjoyed a feast of yellowtail snapper and cheese grits!! Yum! The last afternoon, my youngest daughter and her friend went parasailing! It was awesome watching them dipping into the blue green waters as Keller dipped her feet into the water along the beach! What a beautiful afternoon!

The 17 hour trip home wasn't so bad! With frequent gas stops along the way we all had many, many opportunities to stretch our legs! We were getting around 6.7 miles to a gallon of gas....so yeah, we stopped often! It was a great family trip! I can hardly remember when we did it last.

Now, I am ready for a vacation ... you know the kind where you lie around, drinking umbrella drinks and listening to the waves lapping at the beach. Hammock gently swaying in the breeze while your hubby nibbles your ear......WAKE UP! Time for drive down to Dauphin Island! Hang the swing and fix me a cold drink. What time is that sunset?