Babymoon 2011

Dustin and I went on our Babymoon this past week. We left last Friday and came back yesterday. We stayed in Miami but we drove all over, including down through the Keys. Here are some of the cool things we got to do:

1. Friday - We had a very early flight. When we got to Miami, Dustin checked us into the hotel. He sweet-talked the front desk lady and she decided to give us vouchers to eat free at the breakfast buffet every day we were there. That breakfast buffet was HUGE and would've cost $25 a piece if it wasn't free. Crazy, I know. Not only that, she also gave us special access to the Club Lounge on the top floor of the hotel, where they had free breakfast in the morning and hors d'oeuvres in the evening, as well as free water bottles and sodas all day long... wow! I don't know what Dustin did to get the front desk lady to give all this to us... not sure I want to. ; )
After we got all checked into the hotel, we looked up places to eat and decided on Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach. Here's a picture of us waiting outside:


Friday was our 5th Anniversary, so it was our special, "fancy" dinner. It was an upscale seafood restaurant that came recommended. Dustin had crab and I had shrimp. While I really liked my shrimp, Dustin wasn't a fan of the crab. The service, unfortunately, was pretty horrible.
After dinner, we drove down Ocean Avenue, people watching and looking at the cool cars parked along the street. That was definitely some interesting people watching!
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were both worn out and decided to hit the sack.

2. Saturday - We slept in and it was heavenly! Then we got up and ate our awesome free breakfast buffet! Then, we decided to go down to the Florida Keys. We drove down a scenic route and saw fabulous sights. Here's a picture from our drive:


When we got there, we ate at Tower of Pizza in Key Largo, because we are such pizza connoisseurs, we had to try some on this trip. We weren't impressed with Tower of Pizza, unfortunately. The service, again, was awful. Reviews we read told us to try the garlic rolls, so we got those and then each got a slice of pizza. Long story short, too. much. grease. I did get my pizza craving out of the way though!
After that, we went to find a snorkeling company that would boat us out to good snorkeling spots. With that business done, we went to find a beach. We found one and swam around a little. We experimented with our underwater camera case and here's a product from that:


We stopped off at Mr. C's gourmet ice cream and got some homemade ice cream. At least, I'm assuming it was homemade. Their sign actually read "homade" and we joked around a bit about what that might mean, but in the end, decided to assume the best. It was delicious! We also got a glass bottle of coke, which was quite tasty too!


We got back to the hotel and decided to practice with our underwater camera in the hotel pool. Here's the results of that (i.e., crazy faces):



We also have some pretty amazing video, but I'm afraid that's a little too embarrassing to share. : )

3. Sunday - We got to sleep in again! Sadly, I think this was one of our favorite things about the trip! We ate our amazing free breakfast again (still can't get over that) and were off to Crandon Park in Key Biscayne. This place got great reviews for not being too busy and being family friendly (i.e., no topless females, as might be seen in South Beach/Miami Beach). Because it was a Saturday, though, it seemed pretty busy. It was still nice though. We laid out, got some sun, swam in the ocean, and got a great view of the Miami skyline. Here are a couple of pictures from that:




By the time we left the beach, it was time for dinner and I was sure ready! We decided to go back to Miami Beach and try out Shake Shack for it's burgers and shakes. It was pricey and took a little while to get our food, but once we got it, the food was very good! It also made for good people watching again. Thankfully, we never saw any topless girls (we weren't on the beach though). We did, however, have the pleasure of seeing an older woman with a wet, white tube top on (think see-through). Poor Dustin... I think he's scarred for life over that one.

4. Monday - We got up, ate and headed back to Key Largo. When we got there, we ate at Sharkey's, a restaurant recommended by many locals. It was pretty good and had a cool view. Here's a picture from that:


Then we hung out around Key Largo for a while until our snorkeling trip boat was ready. The snorkeling was one of our favorite parts of the trip. The water was beautiful and there was a lot of colorful, neat fish and coral to see. Dustin took a TON of pictures underwater and I took some of the view from the boat. Here are some pictures from that:




After snorkeling, we ate at Senor Frijoles in Key Largo. We were very pleased with both the food and service! I ate a chimichanga, my fave Mexican dish! Dustin also got dessert flautas for us as a surprise and they were delicious. Yum... not looking forward to my weigh-in this week though. : /

5. Tuesday - We, again, had an early flight, so we got up and headed to the airport. End of a fun and wonderful babymoon. I am very glad we were able to spend that time together before Graham arrives. I must say, however, that it might take us a couple of days to recuperate from all the fun. : )