SOUTH FLORIDA TRIP 2021

In Mid March, my best friend asked if I’d be interested in a girls trip to Florida. Since 2020 had been such a bust for travel I had a ton of vacation time stored up, so the obvious answer was yes. Two days later, the trip was booked. I’ve never been to south Florida, usually we stayed in the central part of the state where my family was. Time for a new adventure, and my first trip exploring with friends and no husband!

Wynwood Walls

We flew from Chicago to Miami on an early morning flight and started the trip off with lunch in Little Havana (Had to try a Cubano) and then drove over to the Wynwood neighborhood. We visited the Wynwood Walls, did some browsing in the boutique shops and stopped at Veza Sur brewery for a few tasting flights. After a relaxing afternoon we decided to see some local flavor and headed for the nearest Target-had to stock up on some beach snacks for the next few days. I think we were both surprised and overly excited about all the dogs in Target, seems everyone had their pooch along for the trip but us!

While Target was fun, my friend had not had enough of Miami driving yet so she decided she wanted me to drive down Hwy 1 so we could see the lit up high rises and fancy cars. An evening cruise in our rented Nissan Sentra was more fun than it seemed at first.

We were staying at a hotel in Coconut Grove and decided the evening would be complete if we could find ice cream, so we looked for something nearby. What an adventure that became! We picked Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream, and then circled the few blocks around it until I found a place to park. Parking in Miami is no joke, but I am happy to report my parallel parking skills are pretty stellar.

Bird watching at Captiva Island

Day two plans were to drive across the state through Big Cypress National Preserve and spend a few hours at Marco Island. We spent the hottest part of the day baking in the sun. A low-key day, we left the beach and headed North to check in at the hotel, shower and head to dinner in Fort Myers.

Day three we made the drive farther North with a vague idea of where we needed to go, relying only on some directions from my friend’s dad on which beach we had to find. As it turns out we were heading to Sanibel, then up to the tippy top of Captiva Island. We got beyond lucky as found a parking space, the very last one, and spent another day enjoying the surf. A little shopping and another fantastic dinner finished out the evening.

A resident Pelican at Flamingo Gardens

Day four was crazy. We made the two hour drive back to the East coast to have lunch with my Aunt and Uncle in Boca Raton, then stopped at Flamingo Gardens to see some local wildlife. It was beautiful there, I would love to take Marcus. We stayed at a hotel in Dania Beach and for dinner decided to head down to the boardwalk on Hollywood Beach. Tacos sounded good so we settled for some runny mango margarites and greasy nachos and took them to the beach for a sunset dinner. There was a lot of good chatter this evening, a lot of reminiscing about our 25 years as friends. Who would have thought we’d ever celebrate it, and to be on a trip together was the perfect thing to do so.

The next morning we drove to the airport, but we weren’t going home, oh no! We were picking up two more ladies who would spend the next three amazing days with us in Key Largo. We stayed at the Coconut Palm Inn, a little hidden gem of a resort that I’d highly encourage everyone to check out. Our first night we went paddle boarding, a first for me, and I loved it! We had dinner, drinks and watched the sunset at Marker 88.

Post-Snorkel

The next morning with no plans, we all sat about having coffee. The idea of a snorkel trip was thrown around and before we knew it we were on board a boat headed out to sea in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef state park. I’ve been snorkeling several times before but never in a current so strong! We saw Christ of the Abyss and what we all agreed was a black tip shark, as well as many parrot fish and corals. It was a great day that we ended with Pizza and Beer back at the resort.

BABY MANATEE!

Our last full day was spent by the pool- chatting, drinking and laughing. A relaxing day of doing nothing turned suddenly amazing when my friend and I jumped off the dock to swim with a baby and 3 adult wild manatees. That experience is probably going to stay in the top 10 of my most amazing life experiences for many years to come. We had dinner that night at Pierre’s where the seafood was sublime and the sunset view spectacular.

On our final day we decided to cram as much in before heading to the airport. We first stopped at Biscayne National Park and went for a short hike, then drove out to Key Biscayne to see the Cape Florida Lighthouse. Thinking ahead we decided instead of an airport food dinner we wanted to head back to Little Havana for one last Old’s Havana Cubano sandwich (And some Ice Cream) and then it was back to the airport.

I had such an amazing time on this trip, spending much-needed time with my best friend and making two new friends as we adventured together. This trip really made me realize an aspect of travel that I hadn’t been exposed to and that is less-planned and with new people. We had a blast and I can’t wait to see them again!