Search Results for: Florida Keys

Where to Eat in the Florida Keys

June 22, 2016 By Michelle

Where to Eat in the Florida Keys?

During our Florida Keys Vacation we found a vacation house rental, and for the first time, eating on vacation was an absolute pleasure. No stress about hotel breakfasts or blowing the budget on eating out. Instead, we prepared most of our meals at the house. We had a good breakfast every morning, loaded a cooler for each day’s lunch and often ate dinner in. I LOVED being able to choose when to go out for a meal and enjoyed each of those meals so much more than if we were juggling food from hotel rooms. This is the house we rented. It was fantastic!

Steamboat Springs, Colorado Travel

April 23, 2018 By Michelle

For several years, as I looked at the Colorado map and thought about where to go next, Steamboat Springs and Dinosaur National Park were high on my list. But from home we have to drive somewhat diagonally across the state for many hours. Well in early January when Builder and I were talking about Spring Break, and we decided to make plans to stay in Steamboat Springs and explore.

Ever since our fantastic Florida Keys vacation a few summers ago, we have sought to stay in houses or townhome. Through Retreatia we rented a great 2 bedroom 2 bathroom townhome. The house had a washer and dryer which was a bonus after our day at the hot springs pool.

Fish Creek Falls always shows up when I search pinterest for Colorado Waterfall Hikes. All of the trails were snow covered and I forgot my trekking poles, so we simply took the .5 mile overlook path to see the falls.

We also spent hours at the Old Town Hot Springs, which was a blast. Just imagine how fun it is to spend an afternoon in a hot springs pool with teenagers, laughing as the snow falls in nice big flakes, then an hour later enjoying the sunshine while relaxing in one of the smaller pools. It was fantastic!

A gem that we found was the Off the Beaten Path book store! Two floors of books and a coffee shop.

We spents a couple of happy hours here. I enjoyed a Mr Darcy cinnamon mocha and this good book.

We also found some of the other hot springs, and enjoyed a visit to an art museum.

None of us are skiers, so I can’t tell you about that action in Steamboat, but explorers and hikers we are. It is quite a drive to get to this area, but I sure look forward to another visit in the not to far off future!

Reading in June, 2016

June 30, 2016 By Michelle

Summertime, Summertime! I love summer and all that it brings, including more slow time for reading. Reading in June, 2016 has been more fun than I remember having in quite a while. So much fun that I’ve stopped to consider why. Well starting summer off with a complete vacation must have something to do with the enjoyment. The Sunday after middle and high school finals were completed, we took off for a family vacation to the Florida Keys. No computers accompanied us, just an ipad and some personal devices. Very little social media, no blogging or email or phone calls! I only popped onto facebook and instagram a couple of times because I wanted to “check in” to help me remember a couple of places. Traveling with 7 people, Builder and me, 4 of our daughters and our grand-daughter was an adventure and I knew that some details would get away from me. So, other than those few check ins I was screen free and I can’t begin to tell you what that did for me. Reading became more fun, shoot, life became more fun!

So what have I read in June?Continue Reading

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, Beaches & Snorkeling

June 23, 2016 By Michelle

During a visit to Key West, think about planning in a trip to Fort Zachary State Park. This park includes plenty of shade, picnic tables, a Florida Keys beach that is better than some we visited, and an area close by for exploring, swimming and snorkeling. If it hadn’t been so late in the day, Builder and a couple of the kids would have got in the water with their snorkel gear to see what they could see.

Beaches & Snorkeling at John Pennekamp

June 15, 2016 By Michelle

The beaches and snorkel trips that we discovered on the Florida Keys added so much fun and adventure to our family vacation to the Sunshine State. Florida is a long ways from our home state, and airfare is usually quite steep for this biggish family. But I discovered some great priced flights through Spirit and a plan was put into place!

One of the biggest reasons our family vacationed at the Florida Keys was that my husband has great memories from a trip he took before he and I married. So we packed up and 7 of us headed south for a glorious week of sunshine and salt life.