Florida Keys
Justin has a client that owns this lovely resort there and he "had" to go there for an audit. (And of course, he didn't have to twist my arm to come along for the ride.) I know...I can hardly believe our luck. Who knew the life of a Rexburg accountant could be so glamorous? We are so grateful for opportunities like this. It's what I call a work/pleasure trip...work for Justin, pleasure for me.
No, this is not a screen saver. I took it with my cell phone out the back door of our resort. Isn't it lovely? Who wouldn't want to wake up to this every morning? It's seriously such a dream of mine to live somewhere so beautiful. I just love the whole Island feel...the laid back atmosphere, sand in between your toes, island music in the back ground, the sun hitting down on your skin, the soothing sound of the ocean, taking life at a slower pace....not a care in the world is how I feel when I'm in places like this. I love the simplicity of it all. Of course, once you throw reality into it all..it kindof takes the paradise out of it. Who would want to go to work if you lived here? Who coud afford a house on property like this? Who would want to cook or clean or do life in a place like this? I guess that's why it's so dreamy on vacation because you can just enjoy it!
The resort is called "Cheeca Lodge". It's located in a quaint little fishing village called Islamorada- in the Florida Keys. It's full of history and the walls of the lodge were scattered with old photos of people who have enjoyed Cheeca for generations. George Bush Sr. would frequent the resort and they used to do a fishing tournament named after him. A few years ago, the original resort had a fire and they had to re-build it, so it's all new and nice, yet has all this history, which made it so charming.
Ahhhh...we did a lot of this.
And the resort had some fun ammenitites- like these canoes that we took out on the ocean.
Or these cruisers. The resort is on a lot of acreage, so you can ride the bikes around the different parts of the resort as well as on the paved bike paths outside the resort, so we took a little ride around the town. One day I went out on my own and did some shopping in the local shops. I love a day where you can just take the time to see what you stumble upon.
 |
We got a little golf in. And I mean "a little". Sorry, but I just don't really get golf. A few swings of the clubs was enough for me. The course was at the resort, but the greens weren't very green. Golf was short lived for us.
This tree was on the property at the resort. Like I said, this place had history. It's a very old tree and the roots have essentially grown outside the trunk of the tree- very awesome! It reminds me of something that would be found in a swamp...or a haunted house.
|
It had two pools- one was right off the ocean and one was attached to the spa. It was absolutely beautiful. I love to people watch at the pool- this resort particularly had a lot of "sugar daddies" there. I couldn't believe how many younger women were with a lot of really older men. The men seemed to be trying to re-live their youth and well, the women seemed to be enjoying the perks of having someone pick up the tab on a lavish get-away. I liked making up stories in my head about these wealthy business-men who were having affairs on their wives...taking their Brazillian beauty to a quaint resort...soap opera stuff like that. Makes for an intriguing day. (I wouldn't be surprised if some of it were true though.) It's kindof a pricey place to stay, which was a little fun for me to observe how the wealthy live. They have a clothing boutique at the resort and I went in to browse. While I was blown away at how expensive it was, other guests were simply "charging" loads of clothes to their room. No worries...the sugar daddy will get it. {Reminds me of a time when we were first married. We went to Ruby River one night when we lived in Salt Lake. We opened the menu and started cringing a bit..."$20 for a steak?!" Then an older couple next to us sat down, opened the menu and said, "the prices aren't bad." I guess it's all perspective- what's expensive to one, is affordable to another.}
Another thing I observed was how entitled and bratty some people act. There was a seemingly wealthy woman and her daughter lounging in their big hats at the spa pool, drinking drink after drink. The mother gets up to move her lounge chair to another angle and she realized some glass on the pool deck. The next thing I know, she's got the manager out there just gasping at how she can't believe there is some broken glass and goes on and on about how she could have easily been cut. She is just in disbelief. I'm peeking behind my magazine, just laughing at how dramatic she's being. The pool hop/waitress comes over shortly with supplies to clean it up and the lady goes on and on about "be careful when you're sweeping that up, not to get cut, etc." The waitress looked at her and said, "don't you worry about me honey, even if I did get cut...it wouldn't be the worst things thats ever happened to me. I'll be just fine." I liked her response- I hope it brought that lady back to reality. Of course, the manager compt all their drinks, etc. I swear some people act like everyone owes them something. Pa-lease- it was a ridiculous encounter.
Just another day at the office for Justin.... {In all reality, this was rare. He really did have to work.}
When Justin was working, I would lay out, read or take the bike and go exploring. I would have to stop just to take it all in. This picture just captures how it felt to be there- beautiful, carefree and so relaxing. Loved it!
And Justin's...surfing. He won! Oh my heck, I can't even look at this without dyeing of laughter. Cheese Ball!
One night, we ventured away from the resort and drove down to Key West, Florida. I believe it was about 45 minutes from our resort. Yes, we were at the Southernmost point of the U.S.
Just a skip, hop and a jump away from Cuba.
That Key West is one colorful place (people included). I wish I would have gotten a picture of this whole street, but every house was a different, vibrant, cute color. Loved it- look how cute and charming this house is. Key West has a bunch of fun shops and interesting people. It's artsy and crazy and probably a good place for the party-ing crowd. I bought a few things: a pair of blinged out sandals, hot pink sunglasses and a giagantic chocolate chip cookie. You only live once, right? So fun seeing how out-loud some people live.
The drive to Key West was beautiful as well. Seriously..how can you not love a place that has turquois guard rails along the high way? Talk about Color Splash. I really did come home inspired to add some more color to my life- my home, wardrobe, etc.
{Nothing sticks out in the Florida Keys like a fully clothed white girl in neutral colors.}
We flew in and out of Miami and then drove down to the Keys. After we got our rental car, we went over to South Beach, drove past Dash (you know, the Kardashions store- Khloe & Courtney Take Miami? Anyone?) walked along the beach for a bit and ate at the colorful restaurant called Mangos. We had a front-row table to a live Jamaican band playing- wow- that place was loud. But I had an awesome salad. In fact, I ate so many good salads there. Before we went in, we had a star- sighting right by our car, however, it was some supposedly famous rapper that neither one of us had ever heard of. I can't even remember his name now. That makes us sound so old. I had to text my little sister and ask her what he sang. Still didn't ring a bell to me. We're not heavy rap listeners around here.
Just a side note to remember: Justin was lucky he even got there or home. When we went to rent the car, it was discovered that Justin's license was expired. News to us! Luckily I ws there to get the car. Then on our flight home, they barely let him through to board. He already gets double looked at any time we fly (he looks like a terrorist, apparently). Luckily I had went first and they asked if he was with me and well, the lady just kindof let it slide. People apparently trust me with potentially dangerous people. Ha, ha.
And there you have it...our vacation to the Florida Keys. (And another cheesy picture :)
Of course the best part of the whole get-away was spending some quality time with this guy. It's so fun being married to my best friend- always a good time.
Good bye Cheeca Lodge.....it was simply wonderful!
Wanna know the saddest part though.....Cheeca Lodge was sold last month to someone who is not Justin's client. I had visions of bringing the kids back with us to enjoy it and making this an ongoing vacation. Bohoo. I'm so grateful that I got to experience it atleast once. Who knows...maybe one day we'll go back.
