Thanksgiving Vacation, Florida Style

 Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

As you may have noticed if you follow me on Instagram, the boy and I spent last week in Florida. On the Friday before Thanksgiving we flew down to Ft. Walton Beach in the Florida panhandle and drove to Rosemary Beach to celebrate the wedding of a couple friends. We splurged a bit and stayed at The Pearl, the luxury boutique hotel where the bride and groom has reserved a room block. It was AWESOME. We don't get to travel much, and when we do it's always on a budget. So when we walked into a hotel where they immediately offered us champagne and gave us a tour of the facilities while the valet parked our car and the bellman took our belongings upstairs made us feel slightly like Kevin McAllister in Home Alone 2. Make it three, I'm not driving. I was looking so grungy after our six hour indirect flight and drive to the hotel that I seriously expected them to say, "I'm sorry, I think the budget motel you're looking for is down the street." Thankfully, they didn't.

Turn down service comes with fresh baked cookies, naturally.

The bathroom had a TV in the mirror and the boy was OBSESSED with it.

The Rosemary Beach town square was all lit up and gorgeous.

My hair looks like shiznit in this picture which is a total result of being so sick that I slept as long as possible and basically stuck my hair in a damp pony for the wedding. NOT a proud moment.

I was actually quite sick for the beginning of the trip, so unfortunately I could hardly enjoy our plush king bed and the wonderful little shops and restaurants at our doorstep (more on that sickness to come later). I also struggled through the wedding reception and had about one glass of champagne all weekend. Lucky for me, I started to feel much better in time for us to drive from Rosemary down to Clearwater on Sunday, where we spent the rest of the week with the boy's parents who live down there during part of the year.

It was the first Thanksgiving I've ever spent away from my family which made me sad, but I was happy that the boy and I could spend our first real holiday together. After spending countless Thanksgivings in Syracuse with family I'm used to seeing my first snow over Thanksgiving, so it felt kind of funny eating turkey with a palm tree right outside our door. Although considering the kind of weather the rest of the east coast was getting over the holiday, I'm happy I was able to stay warm(ish) and dry in Florida.

This is the view from the boy's grandma's apartment in a retirement community. Not bad, eh?

Despite being sick and enjoying unseasonably cold weather in Florida, I had a great time. Now I'm home and kicking it into high gear so that I can get all my grad school projects finished in the next two weeks. Wish me luck!