Florida Recap

At the last minute, just like last year, I decided to fly down to Cocoa Beach, Florida and spent eight days with my parents.  They drive down every year and since I would be able to stay for free, I found a cheap-ish flight (just under $500), packed my bags, and off I went!

The condo they rent is right on the beach, but nothing fancy.  A small one-bedroom with one bathroom and tiny kitchen.  I sleep on the pull-out couch in the living room but the location makes up for any lack of space.  You literally walk across the small parking lot and are on the beach; beautiful.  The beach where we stay is not very busy at all, which is really quite nice.  Since I was there during half of March Break, it was a bit busier than usual (I have been there four times) but you certainly aren't fighting for beach towel space; your closest beach go-er might be 100 feet away from you.

 I didn't get much colour as I tend to try and be sun safe, which means anytime I was outside, I always wore SPF (30), especially on the beach.  I forgot my hat so purchased one at Ross halfway through the trip to ensure my scalp and face were covered at the beach.  On top of that, I like to joke that I'm albino as I don't tend to tan very easily (go spray tans!) and certainly am not going to get colour in just a week-long holiday.

I'd love to share some photos of my vacation with you...

This trip was exceptionally beautiful with weather above 80 every single day, sunny skies and breezy ocean winds.  In the mornings I would wake up around 8:30-9am and often go for a run (or walk after I twisted my knee) on the beach which is a welcomed change of scenery from running on my usual gym treadmill. 

I would often run down to the Pier (above) which was about a mile from our place.

The 'Sandbar Sports Grill' is home of their famous fish tacos, which I had never tried before.  They have now become a favourite and I craved them for the rest of the trip.  Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to go back a second time.

Since we were so close to Port Canaveral, we would often see cruise ships coming and going out to sea.

 Some days were spent shopping...

... and others were spent on the beach.

I ate tons of yummy food while on vacation including the cheapest wings & bear ever (three of us ate for $19.  36 wings and six beer.  $19.  I'm not kidding.  Is this normal in the US?!).  I tried to stagger in some healthier meals and snacks as well (putting a bikini on daily will help this effort. Ha!).

Peanut came to Florida this year for the first time ever and endured the longest car ride of her life (~24 hours).  From what I hear, she loved it and slept in between rest stops.

On my last night, I went down to the beach around 7pm to see the final cruise ship departing.  It was breezy and cool and the ocean seemed to erupt under the overcast sky.  Simply beautiful.

And of course on the day I left, it was beautiful and sunny, just like the previous seven days and I got in one last airport shot before flying the four-ish hours home.

You may also like:

* What I packed.

* Vacation update (post written during my stay).

* Shopping in Florida: what I purchased + a video.

* Meeting Jamie of GlamLatte at the Orlando Airport.

* What I didn't purchase.