florida getaway 2023
the kids and i are back in seattle after a week in florida with my mom and brother. i feel so fortunate to be able to make these trips down there as often as we do. it's hard to believe that 2023 marks 20 years since my mom and dad bought their place in venice. it makes me sad that my dad doesn't get to enjoy it anymore, but i'm so thankful my mom still does and that we get to as well. the trip certainly had its hard moments. long travel days, solo parenting for me, managing the kids' emotions and expectations. azalea also suffers from horrible allergies every time we go down, which puts a damper on things, but we're going to look into more preventative measures for future trips. here's a recap of our days in paradise:
last monday we were out the door very early to catch our flight. the airport was pretty busy, but thankfully we did 'spot saver' so we got to skip most of the security line. the flight took about 5 hours, but the kids are easy to fly with nowadays, so it wasn't bad. we got into tampa at 4:30pm. my brother flew in from minneapolis earlier in the afternoon, so he and my mom picked us up. we went 'cigar city brewing' in tampa for dinner. they had great burgers/sandwiches and beers.
it takes almost an hour and a half to get to my mom's place from tampa, so we were all tired from a long day of travel.
tuesday morning we hung out in venice. we wanted to check out the waterfront in a couple different areas to see what the 'red tide' status was. thankfully it was mild/non-existent. first we went to the jetty, which is always a pretty spot. we watched people fishing and boats going by.
then we drove over to caspersen beach and walked on the board walk. it felt like a dream to soak up the warmth and sunshine. the red tide was causing a slight tickle in our throats, but not too bad.
we picked up lunch (publix hoagie sandwiches...i dream about them all year) and went back to my mom's to eat. grandma jan's neighborhood pool is one of the things the kids most look forward to each visit. they got a couple hours of swimming in and i took a dip too, but mostly read my book from a lounge chair.
that night we had dinner at my mom's on the lanai. and we played some uno and scrabble and had ice cream.
wednesday morning we were up bright and early to head to siesta key beach in sarasota. it gets really crowded there by the late morning, so we always go early. it doesn't matter how many times i've been there, it always amazes me. the soft sand, clear water, warm breeze. it's heaven on earth.
after a couple hours, we headed out and stopped at culver's for lunch on the way back. the kids swam again when we got back because they can't get enough. unfortunately they were pretty sunburned by the end of the day even though we applied sunscreen multiple times. for dinner we went to one of grandma jan's favorite spots - snook haven. it's a rustic outdoor bbq spot with live music. it was one of the places in the area that was damaged by the hurricane last fall (flooding halfway up the walls), but they managed to re-open a few months later. we ordered food and listened to the band and swatted a few mosquitoes. the kids were very tired from being in the sun all day, so they weren't the happiest to be there, but we made the best of it.
thursday morning we just hung around the house. it was nice to have a slow morning after going going going for the past couple of days. my mom made her fabulous french toast, which is always a treat. poor azalea's face got puffed up from the live oak tree pollen (we think). this happens every year about halfway through our trip even though she takes claritin every day. in the afternoon we took a trip to dairy queen.
for dinner we went to a favorite italian restaurant called 'allegro bistro.' the food was delicious, but it took forever because they are so short-staffed like a lot of other places these days. after dinner we dropped off brandon and the kids, and my mom and i headed to downtown venice. she took me by a quirky wine bar that she has told me about for years.
then we went to 'tj carney's' to see a singer that my mom has seen many times (virgil cain). he's a one man cover band who plays half a dozen instruments and is a great performer.
friday morning my mom took my brother to the airport in sarasota for his flight back to minneapolis. we were watching the weather all week because they got dumped with 16 inches of snow while he was away. thankfully his flight back was only delayed by 1 hour. the kids and i hung out at the house. in the afternoon we headed to the pool again and then we went to check out an italian festival that was happening near the venice airport. it had carnival rides and games, so we let the kids do some of that stuff. it was pretty overpriced and lackluster, but it was a fundraiser for the organization, so not a total waste.
we ate dinner back at my mom's and played another game of scrabble.
saturday morning we ventured out to downtown venice to go to a farmer's market and look in some of the shops. it was a hot morning, but we found shade where we could. we got a german pretzel and strawberry-blueberry smoothie, which were both good.
in the afternoon we headed to our friends dan and julie's house. they used to be my parents' neighbors across the street 20 years ago when the houses were built, but we haven't seen them for a long time. they have 3 girls now and have a really nice pool in their backyard so they invited us over. it was such a fun afternoon swimming and catching up. the kids were particularly thrilled to get to swim in another pool.
we picked up thai for dinner and watched 'matilda the musical' the rest of the night.
sunday was our last full day. azalea was feeling miserable from her allergies, so we mostly stayed at home. lots of screen time and some board games. ashford and i went to the pool for a little while in the afternoon. we decided to do one final outing to venice beach at sunset. it was pretty out and i was glad to get to go even though azalea didn't last long.
we made dinner back at my mom's and packed our stuff for our departure the next morning.
the trip back to seattle was long, but uneventful. we felt super tired/jet lagged when we got home from the airport. we missed thatcher all week and we were so happy to see him. i can't believe it's march 1st tomorrow. looking forward to spring happenings around here!
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