• Life

    Win an Alabama Beaches Swag Bag! #StayAlBeaches

    September 29, 2015 - By 

    Today I’m excited to be giving a way an awesome Swag Bag from Alabama Beaches! I can’t have a give away like this without saying that if you’ve never visited Alabama Coast, you need to add that to you travel list. You constantly hear about how great Florida beaches are and I agree there are some great beaches in Florida. However, I find Alabama’s beaches to be just as gorgeous with less crowds and a host of wonderful family activities. Lots of awesome stuff will be included in this swag bag prize. Beach towel, Tervis tumbler, a visor, beach tote,…

  • Travel

    Afternoon in South Beach

    August 21, 2015 - By 

    After leaving Marathon, Florida, we drove through Miami over to South Beach. We stopped in at University of Miami in Coral Gables. Such a pretty entrance into campus. We made a quick stop at Marlin’s Park too. I was so excited to drive near the cruise ships at Port Miami. This is one point of many during the trip when Rob and I were talking about the surrounding areas, “Kids, see the cruise ships out there?” Silence….all three of them staring at their phones or game devices. We drove around for a good 30 minutes looking for parking. There was…

  • Travel

    Bahia Honda State Park

    July 24, 2015 - By 

    One of the things on our to-do-list while in the keys was to go to Bahia Honda State Park. The afternoon after spending our morning at sea, we had a few hours to spare. We decided to go check out this highly regarded state park. After entering the park we turned and headed to the Eastern side of the park, which is where you’ll find a mile long beach called Sandspur Beach. It’s a very narrow beach covered with seaweed the day we were there. There’s restrooms and pavilions there. However, we decided to check out the Calusa Beach that’s…

  • Travel

    Burdines Waterfront Restaurant

    July 23, 2015 - By 

    Burdines Waterfront ChikiTiki Bar & Grill is located on Boot Key Harbor on Marathon Key. We actually passed by it earlier that day in the boat. This place was packed, but we managed to get a table inside. If you go there, I highly recommend eating outside. The inside is small and shares space with the kitchen. It was noisy, and hot. Rob and Drew got the Bacon Wrapped BBQ Shrimp, which looked amazing. I had the fish sandwich, which was also quite flavorful. Nothing was better than our dessert, which was the Deep Fried Key Lime Pie. O.M.G!!! I…

  • Morning at Sea near Marathon Key
    Travel

    Morning at Sea off Marathon Key

    July 15, 2015 - By 

    On New Year’s Day, we woke up early and stopped in at McDonald’s for a quick breakfast before hopping on a charter boat for a half day on the open seas. Yes, that loose end of spreading Dad’s ashes had finally come and I’ll have to say I was a mess while eating breakfast. We arrived at the marina a little before 8 am and Captain Dave was busy rinsing off the deck of the boat. When he was done, we discussed plans for the morning. I made sure he was aware that the main purpose of the trip was…

  • Morning in Key West
    Travel

    Morning in Key West

    July 8, 2015 - By 

    Key West is such an interesting place with so much character, history, and uniqueness to experience. When we were in the Keys, we spent New Year’s Eve morning in Key West. This post is just to highlight the 4-5 hours we spent exploring this alluring city. I plan to come back and write a few more posts about some of the cool places we came across. We got up at the crack of dawn, before the sun had even begun to rise. We wanted to beat the crowds and didn’t want to have to wait in a long line at…

  • Travel

    Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge

    June 28, 2015 - By 

    Another must see and do while in the Florida Keys is to visit the The National Key Deer Refuge, which is located on Big Pine Key and No Name Key. We made a stop on Big Pine Key on our way back up to Marathon from Key West. click on map to enlarge click on map to enlarge The National Key Deer Refuge is a 9,200-acre National Wildlife Refuge that is inhabited by about 800 animals. This refuge was established in 1957 as a haven for Key deer as well as other wildlife in the Florida Keys. Many of the…

  • Travel

    Everglades National Park

    June 16, 2015 - By 

    After an exhilarating airboat tour in Everglades City, we headed towards Shark Valley, which has an observation tower that provides amazing panoramic views of the heart of the Everglades. click on map to enlarge Right before arriving at Shark Valley (Stop #1), we stopped at Miccosukee Restaurant for lunch. This is a restaurant on the Miccosukee Reservation. The restaurant menu provided lots of variety, which included some traditional Native American dishes, like Frybread, alligator nuggets, and Indian tacos. I’m still kicking myself for not trying their tacos, but I was a bit concerned about having that sit on my stomach…

  • Travel

    Everglades Airboat Tour and Gator Show

    June 2, 2015 - By 

    We arrived at Captain Jack’s to get tickets for our airboat tour. Before going there we stopped at the convenient store for some breakfast. I saw Zinger’s and was quickly taken back to the times my Dad and I would stop at a 7-11 and I would get Zingers. Anyway, we got over to the loading place for the airboats and soon our names were called and we were off for an adventure of a life time. You can take a look at this product which is suitable to repair any works while riding in the boat. The tour started…

  • Travel

    Everglades City

    May 26, 2015 - By 

    We left Naples and arrived in Everglades City a little after 2 p.m. and checked into the Everglades City Motel. When we were looking for places to stay in Everglades City there was only 3 or 4 motels, none of which seemed super nice. We booked this one, because it had really good reviews and the price was right. Our room was recently renovated. The furniture was nice and water pressure was good. I loved that they have bikes you can use and the staff was really helpful. We also got a discount on our airboat tour because we stayed…

  • Travel

    Naples, Florida

    May 12, 2015 - By 

    After leaving Sanibel Island, we continued south for a stop in Naples. Naples has lots of metered parking along the streets as well as some parking lots. We probably drove around for a good 30 minutes looking for a spot as well as gawking at the beautiful homes. We were about to bale when we found a spot in front of Oh! Oh! Shoes on 12th Avenue, which was perfect because we were not far from Naples Pier. This area where we parked was filled with upscale shops and restaurants. Beautiful area with gorgeous landscaping and clean streets. It was…

  • Travel

    Sanibel Island

    May 5, 2015 - By 

    We arrived at Sanibel Island and we were starving. We wanted to stop at a local place so we ended up at the Sanibel Cafe, which is in the Tahitian Gardens Plaza on Periwinkle Way. You could already tell we were visiting an island that has as abundance of shells, since all the table were nicely decorated with glass covered tops with shell designed underneath. We enjoyed a nice breakfast. Pictured below is the Pina Colada French Toast, which is what Rob got. Here’s the Breakfast Menu Page 1 Page 2 After leaving there with bellies full and spirits high,…

  • Fort Myers, Florida
    Travel

    Before Leaving Fort Myers, Florida

    April 21, 2015 - By 

    On Day 4 of our Florida tour, we woke up from our restful night at the Hotel Indigo got packed up and got ready to site-see the area and then, head further south. While we waited on our car to be brought up from the valet, Drew decided he wanted to climb the large Mangrove tree across the street from our hotel. Here he is after he started coming down. I love this picture of Rob and I, because it shows how mammoth this tree really is. After watching him climb as high as he could go and getting a…

  • Life

    Spring Break {Flashback}

    March 27, 2015 - By 

    Flashback Friday{Spring Break} I didn’t have much to share about the family this week, which is just crazy. This was Spring Break and Rob and Drew were gone much of the week, I was thinking back to the Spring Breaks of the past. I scrolled through the pictures and found a few and decided to make this little collage. 1999 – Here’s Rob and Drew (14 months) somewhere in Florida. We were with Rob’s Gramma and Granpa staying in a condo they had rented while they looked for places to live. They were getting ready to move from Atlanta to…

  • Travel

    Fort Myers River District

    March 10, 2015 - By 

    After eating a lovely dinner at Capone’s, we went back to the hotel as the kids were itching to swim in the pool. We stayed at Hotel Indigo, which located in the beautiful River District of Fort Myers. The pool is on the roof of the hotel, and Rob and I enjoyed looking around, as there are some great views from there. The pools are clean and safe for the kids because of the Two Brothers Luxury Pool Service that maintains them. The pool closed at dark so the kids got out of the pool, got dressed, and then we…

  • Next time you're in Fort Myers and looking for a unique place to eat, I highly recommend Capone's Coal Fired Pizza.
    Life - Travel

    Capone’s Coal Fired Pizza {Fort Myers, FL}

    February 24, 2015 - By 

    On our Florida Tour, on Sunday after leaving Myakka River State Park, we drove the rest of the way down to Fort Myers, Florida where we were staying at the Hotel Indigo. We checked into the hotel, got settled in and then decided to walk around and find a cool place to eat. We ended up at Capone’s Coal Fired Pizza. Many of us weren’t in the mood for Pizza. However, after examining the menu that was displayed outside we decided to give it a try, because it had pasta and paninis. Drew and Caitlyn both got the Fettuccine Alfredo,…

  • Myakka River State Park
    Travel

    Myakka River State Park

    February 17, 2015 - By 

    On Sunday morning of our Florida tour, we got up and took Gramma and Granpa out for breakfast at Susie’s Grill. We dropped back by their house to finish gathering up all our stuff before to Fort Myers. We got a couple family shots as well. Here’s a few scenes along the way including a couple shot of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. When we were looking for things to do between Spring Hill and Fort Myers, both Caitlyn and I suggested going to Myakka River State Park, which is one of the oldest state parks dating back to 1942 when…

  • Travel

    Weeki Wachee Springs

    February 10, 2015 - By 

    On the 2nd day of our Florida Tour 2014, we took a little break from visiting with Gramma and Granpa and went to Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, home of the Real Live Mermaids! That morning Granpa told us the story of Newton Perry and how he invented the breathing hoses that are used for the show. This is such a neat invention because they don’t have to go to the service for air during the show. There’s 1 mermaid show that they do 3 times each day. I would recommend looking at their website or calling to get show…

  • University of Florida
    Travel

    Quick Stop at University of Florida

    February 3, 2015 - By 

    The day after Christmas was a big day for my family as we got in a rental car and headed south for quite a long journey. You see, last year when my Dad was diagnosed with ALS and we were in Fort Worth discussing with him his final wishes, he said he wanted to cremated and he wanted to have his ashes spread in the keys. So on the anniversary of his death, we started our trek down to the Keys. We had an itinerary that would allow us to not have to drive more 3 hours of total driving…

  • Memories in a Bottle {Cremation Necklaces}
    Life

    Memories in a Bottle {Cremation Necklaces}

    July 29, 2014 - By 

    After my Dad passed away and I started thinking and I thought about ways to be able to keep just a little bit of Dad’s ashes. He wants his ashes spread in the Florida Keys and I hope to be able to go down there soon. I wanted to be able to go down there before the end of this year, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to swing it. Oh, I digress…. Anyway, I found that you could order necklaces. I asked my brothers if they wanted one and if so to pick one out and let me…