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

Arizona {Day 8 and 9}

{December 24}

We had a fun Christmas Eve! We started our day watching  The Greatest Showman.  It was such a good movie.  Hugh  Jackman, Zac Efron and Michelle Williams were fantastic! 

After the movie we went to a brand new aquarium in Scottsdale called OdySea.  It was absolutely amazing!  When we arrived we went next door to the Dolphinaris to see a free dolphin show.  When we went to OdySea the lady who took our tickets said our first stop should be to the bathroom.  There was an aquarium in front of the sinks.  It was so cool! 

In addition to lots and lots of fish they had the cutest sloth, a toucan, and a touch pool where you could touch sting rays and star fish.  They also had two tanks full of piranhas. 

 

At one point in our tour we went down an escalatorand were   surrounded by a tank of fish.  It was really cool!  

The last part of the tour we sat in a rotating theatre and saw four different tanks of marine life including sharks and sea turtles.  The whole place was really incredible!  

Here is a picture of the rotating theatre from the OdySea website.  It was a really unique and fun part of our time at the aquarium.

If you go

-Admissions is $34.95 for adults and $29.95 for students. 

 -You buy your tickets ahead of time on line and can add extra things (like meals, encounters and special tours)

-We just did the basic aquarium tour and it took us about 2.5 hours to go through.

After the aquarium we went went to lunch at In and Out burger. It was so good!  And I’m so glad we got to try it. 

  I got ready and went to Christmas Eve Mass and the boys stayed home and watched a Christmas movie.  They picked me up from church and we went back to our hotel changed into our fun Christmas cactus  jammies.  Pictured below Brock did not want me to take a pic of us wearing them 🙄😂

{Christmas Day}

We had a relaxing morning, we slept in late, watched the Disney Christmas parade on TV,  called and FaceTimed our family, and then had breakfast.

After our late breakfast we went to watch The Shape of Water.  I loved it!  I thought it was so good and I’m sure it will win many Golden Globes and Acadmy Awards.

After the movie we hiked to Camelback Mountain in Phoenix.  It was a beautiful afternoon for a hike.  There were SO many people out and about on the trail this afternoon.  It was a beautiful day and I think people were happy to be out in the sunshine.  This was a short hike but very treacherous.  It was rated extremely difficult. 

It was a tough hike but the views were worth it!  It was absolutely gorgeous.  

G had no trouble with this part of the hike.  B and I struggled to get to the top of this part.

I’m so glad we went.  It was a good workout!  Especially after a week of non-stop eating-ha ha!

 

We had a great Christmas!  I was so happy to be with Brock. 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

Xoxo

Arizona {Day 5, 6, and 7}

This trip season has been SO relaxed and chill.  We have been sleeping in, eating good food and just enjoying spending time together.  We have had fun exploring Phoenix and the surrounding communities of Mesa (where Brock lives), Tempe (where he goes to ASU), Chandler and Scottsdale.  Each one has a uniquely different feel and it’s been fun to see them all.

We had a good mix of touristy things and a good mix of just relaxing and being together and it’s been great!  

We went to the Phoenix zoo and it was incredible.  It was a beautiful day and we spent 4 hours there looking at all of the animals.

It was not crowded at all when we went.  Admission was $29.95 and they have reduced admissions for students and kids.  If you are in Phoenix a visit to the zoo is a great way to spend an afternoon!

Right next door is the Desert Botanical Gardens which are also beautiful.    We only had time to visit the gift shop but on our next trip I’d love to tour the whole place.  I love the desert landscape.  In the gift shop we got a little cactus for Brock and a gift for my mother in law.

Merry Christmas Eve!  We are soaking up the sun and the last few days with Brock. 

Xoxo

Arizona {Day 3 and 4}

We are loving Arizona.  We are sleeping in, eating good food and spending lots of quality time together.  We are missing our Ava this Christmas but we are loving the one on one time with Brock.  

We spent day 3 in Arizona traveling to Flagstaff.  In Flagstaff we did some shopping and went to see Daddy’s Home 2.  It was kind of silly but both Graig and Brock liked  it so I was happy about that.  

Yesterday morning we got up bright and early to make the trip to The Grand Canyon.  It was about an hour and 1/2 drive from Flagstaff.

Our first stop was the National Geographic Visitors Center.  Our first stop was the gift shop.  We got cards so we could play in our hotel room and I got a Christmas ornament for our tree.

We watched the Grand Canyon movie on IMAX. The movie was about 30 minutes long and it gave a good overview of the Grand Canyon going back 4000 years.

After we watched the movie we made our way to the Grand Canyon Visitors Center and Southern Edge of the Grand Canyon.  We spent the afternoon hiking on the South Rim.

I cried the first time I saw it. It was honestly so breathtaking and beautiful.  I took so many pictures during our hike.

It was freezing cold and so windy. I had on three layers of shirts and two pairs of pants. We stayed as long as we could stand the cold and wind because it was so beautiful.

We checked into our hotel and got settled a bit and then we headed back to the Grand Canyon to see the sunset.  It was even more cold when we went back but I’m so glad we did.  I got some beautiful pictures.

Tomorrow we are going to watch the sunrise at the Grand  Canyon and then we are going back to Phoenix to get ready for Christmas.  We’ve had a great week so far and I’m excited about the rest of our week here.  I hope you are enjoying the last few days before Christmas. 

Xoxo

Arizona {Day 2}

We started day 2 in Arizona by taking a 3 mile walk around Tempe.  After our walk we had breakfast and then we headed to watch Star Wars at 915 in the morning. Brock really wanted to see it and I’m glad we were able to watch it together.  

After Star Wars we decided to go for a hike.  We drove to Hole in the Rock and did the short hike up to The Hole in the Rock.  Once we got up there we had a beautiful view of Phoenix.  I’m so glad we went because it was beautiful! 

In the evening we went to the Mesa Mormon Temple to look at their beautiful Christmas lights.  This is a famous light display and they also have chorus concerts every night and nativity displays from around the world. The lights were amazing and I’m so glad we went!

We found an interactive map online about the over the top Home Christmas displays in Phoenix.  We went to visit two after we visited the Mormon Temple.  They were fun to see! I love looking at Christmas lights during the holidays.

Less than one week until Christmas I can’t wait!

Xoxo