We did a quick family trip not too long ago to the west coast of Florida. Yeahs ago (maybe ten of them), this wouldn’t have been a big deal for me. I would easily put 3,000 miles on my car within a week, no problem. Now, I seldom drive anywhere very far— with the furthest distance being Miami (usually an hour— but two hours lately due to accidents and crappy drivers). I’ve never been to the west coast of Florida. Which is a little crazy to me– I mean, it’s right there– and supposedly very different than the east coast. I was nervous to put the time and the money in and be disappointed by our trip, but at the end of it, I think we all agreed: the west coast of Florida was pretty rad. We’d totally go back again.


I had originally wanted to drive up the east coast and visit st Augustine (never been there either)— I thought it would be a good idea for our first week of homeschooling too. But the Frida exhibit at the Dali Museum was ending soon — and I did not want to miss that. And of course, I knew Marlowe would enjoy seeing the museum as well– she’s still very much into art (she’s working on an art project as I type this). Her review? The Frida stuff was cool– but she did not like the creepy Dali art. Fair enough. I think I’d mostly agree. I mean, I like Dali stuff alright. I think its cool—- but Frida art is more in line with my real life— while the Dali stuff is more my troubled sleep life. 😉

Hi.

Also can I just say how helpful the internet is? I love that I can post asking for food help and have so many amazing food (and activity) suggestions right there in front of me. (THANK YOU GUYS!!!) St. Pete had a lot more food choices than West Palm for sure. I mean, I like West Palm and all, don’t get me wrong, but I sometimes (often) I wonder why we don’t have better options. It seems like the city is working on building more things right now–  so I’m just crossing my fingers that more means better in this situation. So yeah, St. Pete had lot more choices in general– but especially better choices. Right down the street from the vegan cafe we tried was a store that was all completely organic and sustainable clothing. So like, obviously I found my new block, haha.

post lunch pop at the hyppo for my lady.




We didn’t plan a lot of this trip. We didn’t have a hotel room or really know where to go— we just took off. The only thing we really planned was to see the sunset— see on the east coast we can only see sunrises on the beach. Which are beautiful, of course— but also at a far earlier time than I will ever wake up, haha. So after a fun day at the museum, lunch, and roaming we headed off to catch a west coast sunset. It was cold, thats for sure, but it was pretty!

Oranges. I actually usually order my oranges from California. We have A LOT of orange growers in Florida– but not organic ones. I was SO happy to see a guy selling organic ones on the side of the road. I loaded up and ate at least 10 for breakfast. I got all these + more for 10$ (the apple came from home, haha).

The next day the weather was insanely gorgeous. We had acai bowls in the park— probably the best acai bowls we’ve EVER had. We’re super food critics (if you haven’t noticed)– but especially when it comes to acai bowls– we dissect every part of them. I was just saying this week how I think it would be hilarious if someone was secretly filming us every time we ate acai bowls. How we discuss everything from ratio, to the granola, to sweetness, and the texture. I mean, I won’t even go to places if I know they don’t use real acai (and they use the sherbet stuff). I actually accidentally tried the sherbet stuff the other day– and it confirmed it– not only is the pre-blended stuff not good for you– it also doesn’t taste as good! But yeah, the ones in St. Pete were the best ones we’ve ever tried (at soho juice company) — we still talk about them!

(jeans — shoes years are old, they don’t sell them anymore. sorry.)


After the acai we decided to head bandit coffee co. I rarely drink coffee anymore– it actually makes me more sleepy than awake (I’m an odd bird, I know) — but it’s just so delicious. So on vacation I treat myself. Marlowe loves it too. She can drink straight espresso— no milk, no sugar, no problem.

botanical garden hangs.

You guys are starting to see that we spent most of our trip eating– haha.


St. Pete apparently has a huge gay community. I had no idea. I thought Miami and Fort Lauderdale was mostly known for that– but apparently St. Pete too. I’m not mad– I’m all about gay flags and tacos. Also, I have no idea what this taco place is called– but there are about ten million there (Slight exaggeration) if you’re interested in tacos haha,

The other fun adventure we had was buying a kite. First of all, it took us FOREVER to actually find a place that sold kites. Then when we found one we had to look for a place to find one. Someone recommended this park for dolphin seeing– and it turned out to be a pretty decent kite flying place as well. All until Alex flew the kite right into a tree/pole. Then we spent about 45 minutes trying to get it back, and failing, haha. BUT on the upside– the weather was AMAZING— ANDDDD we saw wild dolphins! That was fun! IT’s also amazing how much you can cram into one day without even trying too, right?


For dinner we tried the cuban place, bodega. I was super skeptical– but a few people recommended it. I didn’t want greasy cuban food. But you know what? This wasn’t greasy. It was delicious. We were all very pleased with our meals. Also– without me really asking him too– Alex has started ordering more and more vegan + veg food at restaurants– it’s been great 🙂

Ended our beautiful day with dessert and alley way photographs before driving the three-isa hours home 🙂

Cant wait to head back– and eat more 😉

Alright time for me to eat, gym, clean, and pack for our next adventure! 🙂 Hope your week is off to a good start!

10 Comments

  1. I would never give coffee to a child Marlowe's age. Now, reading that you offer it to your kiddo I am sure it is not as damaging as we believe. Could you explain a little bit more on this please? I guess it's caffeine and coffee's adictivness that worries us.
    Also…I never thought of you as a gym person!

    • well, not that this means it's good, but kids get coffee starting at the age of one in Colombia haha. I think coffee does have SOME benefits– but I personally think that the benefits may not be worth the downsides of it. Like, I def. don't suggest giving your kids coffee or caffeine at all! She'll just get maybe one sip every two weeks or so! She likes the taste of espresso— but theres no way in hell I'd give her a whole shot of it haha. Caffiene is a hell of a drug, for real. For me, like I said, it makes me sleepy– but if I have it three days in a row and then not the fourth, I have a blinding migraine the next day to the point where I can't even function. So thats a pretty good indicator that I should not in any way be having it regularly. So yeah, it's like wine really. Sure, maybe it's got some antioxidants, but its not necessarily worth it for the other stuff. But like a cup a month for me is worth the deliciousness and for Marlowe a sip here and there is okay with me.

      Gym: I KNOW. I just started about am month ago. I planned on writing about it soon. I meet with a trainer twice a week, thats it 🙂

    • Gym: want to hear it all, please share more 🙂
      Coffee: My grandmother used to make coffee for all of her grandchildren in order to 'appreciate' more her cookies, crazy hah?? It wasn't a proper coffee though, it was so light and had probably the smallest amount of coffee in a large mug of water, so not so harmful but not healthy either – just pointing out it didn't harm any of the 5 grandkids and neither turned us to coffee-holics 😛

    • Now that I think of it, her sugar-y and butter-y (but OH GOD delicious) cookies were probably the worst diet for kids:)

  2. Awe, this looks like so much fun! We used to live in the St. Pete area and now we live about an hour from it in a tiny fishing village called Ozona, which is in the Palm Harbor/North Tampa. It's very quaint.There is definitely a lot to do in St. Pete and where I live. Love it that you live in Florida too!

    ~Laurali Star

    http://www.lauralistarxo.com

  3. Would you mind sharing an update on your romantic life? ,) are you and Alex back together or simply co parenting?

    • Hi!

      So– umm— well— I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to keep an open mind about everything and seeing how it goes. I can see Alex making an effort to better himself (as someone who makes a personal effort for growth in all aspects everyday, I appreciate this) so if he's willing to try to grow himself than I'm willing to try to grow with him 🙂

    • You're such a cute couple! I was so sad reading about your love story ending but I'm happy to hear that it is something going on slowly… 🙂