Anna Maria Island {BFF trip 2018}

Four years ago my two best girlfriends moved to Florida.  One moved to Orlando with her family and the other moved to St.Petersburg with her family.  So for the past three years my three dear friends and I fly  from NY  to Florida to spend a long weekend together.  

We laugh, eat great food and just all catch up with each other.  It is so much fun and I look forward to this time together with them all year.

Two years ago we went to Daytona Beach.  You can read about that trip here and here.  Last year we went to Treasure Island.  You can read about that trip here and this year we went to Anna Maria island.  It was so beautiful!!!

We rented a house close the the beach.  It was only in the 50’s every day but it was much warmer than our -5 degrees at home.

We got some groceries to have at our house but we went out to eat for most of our meals.

We also spent a lot of time walking on the beach which was chilly but so beautiful.

Our house came with bikes so we went on a bike ride around the island.  I loved doing that!  So many people had bikes on the island.  It was a great way to get around.

Saturday was my 42nd birthday.  We woke up early and took a walk on the beach.  We spent the day hanging out and eating good snacks.  We went to a nice dinner at the SandBar restaurant in the evening.  It was the perfect day!

If you ever find yourself inAnna Maria island here  are some of the places we went.

-Rod and Reel pier- Delicious for lunch and dinner. We went for dinner and the grouper was amazing!  I highly recommend. This restaurant is at the end of the pier and people fish off the pier.  Everyone was so friendly!  

-SandBar restaurant-We went for drinks on Friday night and for my birthday dinner Saturday night.  Delicious seafood and wonderful Pina Colodas. This restaurant is right on the beach and has the cutest little gift shop. 

-Hurricane Hanks -We went for Sunday brunch.   Great food and bottomless mimosas.  My friends got eggs benedict and I got a taco salad.  So good!!

-Waterfront restaurant- We went for dinner on Sunday night and we sat on the deck. It was chilly but they had the fireplace going and the heaters on.  The drink menu was amazing (I had a jalapeño margarita}  and the menu was extensive.  For dinner I got grouper tacos.  

I love this yearly tradition with my friends and I hope it continues for many years to come!

Xoxo

Florida {Day 8}

Today was my last day in Florida :-(.  I got up early to read my book on the beach.  It was a beautiful morning and I loved being outside.

 

  

We said goodbye to our beautiful St. Petersburg resort-The Thunderbird.  It  was a great beach motel.  Everyone was super friendly and it was beautiful and so close to the beach.  I'd love to stay there again.  

 

 

Melany took us on a tour of her neighborhood and we went to a couple of cute stores.  I loved the local  grocery store we went to.  They had the best flowers!  I wanted to take some home with me.   

 

We went to the sundial in downtown St. Petersburg and parked and walked around and then went to lunch.

 

We had lunch at a cute little bistro on the water.  I had a wedge salad and it was delicious.

 

After lunch we took one last picture and then we hugged goodbye.

 

Sara drove me to the airport in Orlando for my flight home.  I enjoyed my week in Florida so much!

Xoxo

Florida {Day 7}

Yesterday we spent a glorious day in the Florida sun. We did nothing all day except lay at the beach, laugh and talk.  It was an amazing day!

I got up bright and early and spent an hour reading my book by the ocean.  It was delightful!  I even saw some dolphins playing in the ocean. 

 

We went to breakfast at a cute little coffee shop.  We had breakfast burritos and a Bloody Mary.  It was a great way to start the day!

After breakfast we  made a cocktail in our room and headed headed to the beach.  We bought these plastic pineapples at the front desk of our hotel.

 

 

We came back to our hotel for lunch and a Pina Colada and then it was back to the beach.

 

 

At about 5pm we came in from the beach and got ready for dinner.

 

Melany kept telling her daughter we were going to raise the roof during our girls weekend so we made this little video for her.  We think we are so funny but our daughters just roll their eyes.  Just like we did to our moms-ha ha! 

It was a fun day!

Xoxo 

Florida {Day 6}

Friday  we checked out of our hotel at Disney :-(. We had one last breakfast together and then my Dad and Vicki and my sister and her family left to go home.

 

Brock and I took one last walk around our resort and then we headed to Disney Springs for lunch. 

 

We always love looking at the Lego sculptures at the Lego store.

 

 

I had to say goodbye to Brock at Disney Springs.  I will say it never gets any easier for me to say goodbye to him.  I cried in the uber (the driver probably thought I was crazy) and I was still crying when my dear friend Sara picked me up for the second part of my Florida adventure-a girls weekend trip!    Brock's flight wasn't until 8pm so he went to a movie to pass the time.  

Sara and her family moved to Orlando two years ago I miss her like crazy so I was thrilled when we planned this girls weekend a few months ago.

We got in her car and headed to St. Petersburg to meet up with our friends Melany and Rachael for a weekend of fun in the sun.

 

Friday afternoon we sat by the pool and talked and had a fruity beach cocktails. 

 

After sitting in the sun all afternoon we went up to our room and to get ready for dinner.  

 

 

We walked down the beach and casual dinner and watched the sunset.  It was goregous!

 

 

After dinner we walked back to our hotel and were in bed by 9pm.  The girls made fun of me because I was asleep by 9:15!  Disney wore me out!

We had a fun first day at the beach.

Xoxo

Florida Day 5

We spent today at the beach.  It was beautiful and perfect in the morning :-)  by mid-afternoon it was cloudy and windy so we went to the hot tub to warm up.

This evening we got ready and went to Joe's Crab Shack  for dinner.  It was delicious. I ate waayyyy too much!

Sadly tomorrow we head to the airport for our trip home.

I've had a great time in Florida!

Florida Day 4

Today we got up early for a walk on the beach. All my gal pals drink coffee so they brought it along for the walk.

Me with our Florida BFF's.  

Today we spent the entire day at the beach.  This was my beach set up.

We did walk to the boardwalk to eat lunch on the pier.  The views at lunch were amazing.  

After lunch we did a little shopping and then went back to our hotel to rest and get ready for dinner.  This was our fancy dinner for the week so we all dressed up which was so fun! I had the lobster Mac and cheese which was fabulous!

I love this picture of all of us.

We have one more day at the beach before we head home on Wednesday.

Xoxo

Florida Day 2

We woke today ready to head to the beach!

We took a quick selfie with our selfie stick before heading to lunch.

We went to a delicious bistro for lunch and I thought these purple flowers were gorgeous. We sat outside and it was beautiful!

My Florida bestie-I miss Melany so much and I'm thankful we get to be with her this week!

After lunch we headed over to see Sara and Josh.  Sara and Josh lived in NY until last summer.  I miss them too and I'm so glad we got to visit with Sara's family. 

Sara and Josh have two kids so it was fun to see them. They have grown so much in the last year!

One last picture with Josh before we headed to the beach!

We stopped by World Market before going to our hotel.  World Market is my new favorite store!  We all got all sorts of cute stuff.  Hopefully it all fits in my suitcase-ha ha! 

We headed to our condo after World Market.   It is 9 stories and we are on the top floor!  We have a beautiful view of the ocean.

Once we got settled we walked to the Boardwalk which is a mile from our hotel.  

Tonight we went to the grocery store and then we came back to our condo to relax and watch a movie.

It was a fun day!

Xoxo