June 23 - 29, 2018

After Pud and I eloped last May we realized we were both to broke to go and spend a ton of money on a honeymoon. We decided we would rather spend the money we would have used on a trip towards a down payment on our first home and I am so happy we did! 2018 came around and after some devastating life events in the beginning of the year we thought it was time to start saving up for a big vacation.

We decided to go to Florida after a friend of my dads allowed us to stay in her beautiful apartment on South Beach, Miami. Pud and I will be forever grateful for her kind heart and allowing us to stay in her beautiful home. We just chilled on the beach and rode bikes along the South Beach Walk-board and enjoyed a breakfast and lunch buffet at Nikki Beach (highly recommend if you visit the area).

After spending a couple days in South Beach we hit the road and headed towards Key West, Florida. We stayed in Havana Cabana and was upgraded to a King bedroom with a beautiful pool view. I would say the pool was my favorite thing about the hotel.

Once we were settled in our room we got ready and headed out to the famous sunset party in Key West. Every night in Key West people go to the pier to watch the sunset. There were bands, vendors, artist and entertainers throughout the night and some dang good homemade pineapple & coconut juice. It was cheap entertainment with a beautiful view :) oh, and if you ever find yourself in Key West near Duval street, be sure to try out Amigos!! Lord, they have the best tacos ever!

The next day was the day Pud and I had been anxiously awaiting for. We wanted to have one big excursion during the trip and decided taking a little plane 75 miles off the coast of Key West to Dry Tortugas National Park was perfect! In the beginning we were going to take the 2.5 hour ferry out to the island but It was booked until July so we decided to do the seaplane. I can't even begin to explain how MAGICAL this day trip was. The shear beauty of the island and the ocean left me in awe. We saw tons of sea turtles, nurse sharks, sting rays, possibly a bull shark, several ship wrecks and did I mention sea turtles? They were every where! I don't think I have ever seen so many different shades of blue in an ocean! The corral reef in Key West is one of a kind. Literally don't have much words for it so I made sure to take lots of pictures....and kind of made Pud my instagram husband :) Not pictured is us snorkeling around the island, we were having to much fun and forgot to take pictures!

It was going to be hard to top off a day at Dry Tortugas though we tried and went on another little excursion out in the middle of the ocean. For those who know me know that I would never get in deep water unless it was a pool. If I can't see the bottom clearly there is no way I am getting in! We booked a 4.5 hour trip with Fury that included snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, etc...I thought the snorkeling would be near the shore of the island but nope! They dropped us off dang near in the middle of the ocean! All I can say is wow. The rest of the trip was a bit more relaxing. We got to to sit on a sand bar where the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico meet. The current was strong but nice. We had a nurse shark and sting ray come up on us while in knee deep water, it was a bit scary but neat to experience. The kayaking part, ehh, not my fave. It was more like canoeing but in a small kayak with two people in it!

Our final evening in Key West we decided to chill and take another bike stroll to a crab restaurant down from the hotel. It was good if you can't tell by Pud's face lol!

Last day in Florida we drove back to South Beach and spent the rest of the day on the beach relaxing and soaking up what little time we had left then finished it off with watching Jurassic World. It was a great little get away and now we both have to get back to reality. Yuck.

P.S. You all are probably wondering why there are hardly any pictures of Pud, aren't ya? He's not much on being in pictures if you can't tell. :)