Florida Weekend

I wanted to take one more little trip with just Chris before needing to stay home and wait for baby's arrival. We also wanted to use our Southwest Companion Pass one more time this year. We had initially booked (awhile back) a nice trip to Seattle and Denver to explore the area and nature. It became clear to me, however, that pregnancy and I are difficult together and I didn't think I'd be much fun on this adventure (I have daily fatigue, shortness of breath, and nausea). I broke the news to Chris and he was fine changing plans. I looked up where Southwest flew direct (and not too far) and ended up choosing Fort Lauderdale, Florida even though we were just in Florida! It looked like we'd be able to relax there.

We used our two Marriott awards nights to stay at the Marriott Ocean Pointe Resort. It was a nice resort on the beach and someplace we'd consider going back to with the kids. We sat by the pool, walked along the beach, ate food, and did nothing much. I was able to spot a manatee along a rocky shore which was really neat! We also saw lots of sea turtle nests and waved to vacationers on a cruise ship as they left the dock from a small port nearby. It was all very relaxing.

I decided last minute to switch our outbound flight from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando since I found a departure time that worked better. We drove to Orlando and spent one night at the Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista (an affordable hotel right next to Disney Springs...I just can't stay away from Disney!). Disney Springs was only a five minute walk from the hotel, so we spent the afternoon there exploring shops and dinning at a restaurant I've been wanting to try - Chef Art Smith's Homcomin' which is southern comfort food. It was SO GOOD. And definitely comfort food. Chris got the famous hummingbird cake but I got the edible chocolate chip cookie dough at Aristocrepes later that night. We ended the night sitting around the pool. We flew home Monday afternoon.

We were glad to have a short getaway and look forward to next year when we can hopefully spend a little time away again!

relaxing by the pool with a pina colada "smoothie"