Travel Tuesday: #cfr2013

It's only been a month since I went to Florida, but this is better late than never, right? Right.

This weekend has to be one of my favorites all year. Everyone gets so excited, and I love being able to kick back and catch up with everyone. We all have such busy lives, and this is the rare opportunity to all be in one place together.

This year was even more special, because it was the first time that the babies had been to Florida. The first time they saw the beach, got to play in the pool, and met half of the family that hadn't been out to visit them yet!

The parentals and I flew out on Wednesday, quickly got our bags, and headed to the island. My absolute favorite part of the drive to Popop's is crossing the bridge to Sanibel. Somehow, the water, trees, and sunshine just melt all of my problems away.

 Perfection.

We had a low key first night, picking up chicken from Costco and catching up. It really is so awesome that so many family members can get together at once!

On Thursday we were up bright and early to bring Charlotte to the beach! We made a quick stop at the pool in the morning, and I quickly learned how much work goes into playing with a two year old in a huge body of water. I don't even want to know how many times we filled up the bucket, and dumped it back out again...

Thursday night we headed to a little restaurant down the street from Popop's called The Sandbar. Charlotte and I had matching dresses, but we weren't quick enough to snap a twins picture. Toddlers are quick.

Friday my Mom, Aunt and I had the responsibility of watching Charlotte in the morning while her Daddy did a little fishing. We frolicked at the beach and took a dip in the pool before naptime. Bird chasing was just too much fun for this little one.

In the afternoon, more family arrived, including Charlotte's little brother. We had a few cocktails before dinner and headed down to the beach to watch the infamous Sanibel Sunset.

We headed to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Matzalunas. While the Italian food isn't near what it is around here, they do have a killer garlic spread that could keep away vampires for DAYS.

(yes, that is me, NOT in a Lilly dress!)

Saturday morning my brother finally arrived. Now the whole family (okay, minus two) was together, and the party could really begin. We spent all morning at the beach with the babies, and I was even able to sneak a few quiet minutes at the pool before they caught up to me.

We found that the best way to keep a handle on little E-man was to dig a big hole and just put him right in there. It took him a while to get out, and he could eat as much sand as he wanted. He even managed to throw a little bit at his sister, and gnaw on a few buckets. I think it was deemed a success.

Afternoon naps were certainly in order before dinner. This time, we headed to the mainland and ate at The Lighthouse Restaurant in Fort Myers.

And maybe after a few cocktails, we let Charlotte eat some lemons. Her little face was just too cute!

Sunday was filled with more of the same. Beach, pool, naptime. I really don't see why we should ever do anything else! We even squeezed in lunch out (sans babies) to watch a little football. The ladies then headed to the shopping center and let Char try on a few things.

Sunday night was the last night for much of the family, and we went to dinner at Cip's Place. I love this restaurant, and it is fairly new on the island. They hand cut all of their french fries/potato chips, and are cooked to perfection. The kids were so well behaved, and we had such a great night laughing together.

Monday, a few family members left, and we ended up having a quiet day/night at Popops. We watched old family videos, ate way too much, and drank even more. Everyone was sad that our vacation was coming to an end, but we called it an early night since we all had busy days on Tuesday.

Luckily, my flight wasn't until 7pm that night, and I was able to get in some last minute sun and sand before we had to pack up and head home. Mom and I were so not ready to leave, that we ended up booking flights for my birthday weekend in January to come back and visit. I am so grateful that we have this place to come visit whenever we want, and obviously the best host in Popop!

I cannot wait to be back in January!

Blisters, Sunburn, and Delicious Food.

I didn't mean to wait until Thursday to post my trip recap, but getting back into the groove of things after a weekend away has proved to be much more difficult than I thought. While I had a fabulous time in DC this weekend, I am certainly still exhausted and am looking forward to having today off!

Friday morning we set off for NYC! We hopped on a commuter train and made our way to Penn Station to catch our Amtrak train to DC. I had never traveled via Amtrak before and have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. While Penn Station isn't the nicest of facilities, the train was a whole different story. The wide seats were MUCH more comfortable than any airline I've ever flown on, and the free wifi and multiple outlets at each seat made this trip more than bearable. The 3 1/2 ride flew by, and before I knew it, we were meeting my little (sorority) sister at Union Station. Thankfully, she was there to walk us through using the Metro, and getting us to our hotel (we stayed at the Crowne Plaza (Hamilton Hotel) which was absolutely amazing!!). We checked in and didn't waste a minute before heading out to sight see.

Before dinner on Friday we stopped by the White House;

And Ford's Theatre;

And finally met up with other friends at Matchbox in Chinatown. We ordered fruity cocktails and spent a few hours catching up and enjoying each other's company with delicious pizza. I had a yummy chicken pesto and mozzarella pizza which I still cannot stop thinking about. Being from New York I consider myself quite the pizza snob -- and this far surpassed anything I've ever had!

We stopped for ice cream before heading back to our hotel. We knew that we needed to get a good night's sleep since we had a full day ahead of us on Saturday.

That morning, we started off the day with iced coffee (thankfully there was a Starbucks conveniently located in our hotel lobby) and our first solo trip on the Metro. From the station, over the course of the day, we walked 7.3 miles, and (after forgetting to put on the sunscreen I purchased the night before) I ended the day with sunburns and blisters ALL OVER my feet.

We started off at the Lincoln Memorial;

Headed to the World War II Memorial;

And over to the Jefferson Memorial, and then uptown to meet my (sorority) big sister for lunch! Our concierge had recommended a place called Wicked Waffle on I street. He had us hooked when he mentioned that all of the sandwiches were served on Belgian Waffles. Um, hello, that is amazing! I hadn't seen my big in f.o.r.e.v.e.r (like 3ish years), and it was beyond fabulous to catch up! The three of us then walked to the Air and Space Museum to wander around there for a while. We were all exhausted, hot, and sunburnt (well, I was), so after only about an hour we called it a day.

(You can start to see the redness of my sunburn. What you can't see, is the burn where my cross body bag was. It's a real cute burn line now...)

We were exhausted, and really just needed a nap here...

P and I headed back to our hotel for a much needed nap before dinner. I of course also needed a shower and some aloe. Later that evening we headed to DuPont Circle for dinner at Front Page Grille. The five of us had a great time eating, drinking, and enjoying the awesome throwback 90's music that played over the speakers. The food and drinks were both very reasonable (especially for a restaurant in a big city) and the atmosphere was great.

I love just these girls!!!

We went to another bar, and by 1:30 I was exhausted. P and I walked my little to the Metro and then passed out. I don't think my head had hit the pillow before I was asleep. When I woke up on Sunday morning, I was sunburnt, my feet were blistered, and I was just kind of cranky. I'm sure P can attest to the fact that I wasn't super pleasant all day, but I still did have a great day with him.

We started off going to brunch at The Tombs in Georgetown. I don't think that I was ready for the long walk, the humidity, or the hills, but doing all that walking certainly left me feeling better about my decision to have Eggs Benedict for my meal. Since it was raining when we were finished, we took a cab to the Zoo and wandered around for a few hours before realizing that I was tired and cranky and needed a nap. The weather wasn't cooperating too much, so I don't think either one of us was too upset to head back to the hotel and nap before dinner.

When we woke up from our naps, it was a total downpour out, and we sprinted through the rain to Maddy's Bar and Grille for a quick dinner. It was early to bed since we had an early Amtrak train on Monday morning. We got back to the city and jumped on a train back to my house so that I could make it to work on time.

The weekend was utterly fabulous, and I definitely would love to go back and visit soon!

Where are your favorite places in DC?