February 28, 2013

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL
February, 2010

It's no secret that Creag & I like to travel.  We tend to take trips every few months.  It's something that we both love & feel very fortunate about.  Our First Anniversary is coming in April & we're finally taking the honeymoon that we never had.  I would love to say where we're going, but I have no idea.  It's a surprise, so I probably won't know until we get to the airport!  It's going to drive me crazy, but it's exciting to get surprised every once in awhile.

I thought that it'd be fun to think back on all of the trips that we've taken over the last few years & recap them leading up to our Anniversary trip.  I'm going to try to go back & think about each trip & try to find & post pictures of everything that we did while we were there. 

Our very first trip together was just a few short months after we started dating.  We flew out for a short weekend trip to Ft. Lauderdale, FL where I saw Jimmy Buffett in concert for the first time.  We weren't there for very long, but we definitely made the most of it. 

Obviously, I'm not going to remember everything that we did but I still remember quite a few details.  After we landed at the airport, we took a cab to the Hotel.  After we were dropped off, the driver tried to charge Creag way too much money so Creag gave him a piece of his mind & did not pay the entire fair.  That night, we went across the street to a small dive bar & had shots of tequila & I think pizza??  We decided to make this a tradition, but it hasn't held up. 

We spent a lot of our time at the Beachcomber, which was the hotel where we were staying.  The pool was fantastic.  I still remember the name the Bar Tender at the little Tiki Bar by the pool. It was Steve & he was awesome! He quoted Jimmy Buffett on several occasions & was just very friendly.   His favorite was "I bought enough money to buy Miami but I pissed it away so fast."  He said this one probably everyday.  We were there around St. Patrick's Day & he made me a green frozen concoction that was amazing. And I remember being soooo devastated when I spilled it all over our hotel room before a nap.  We took walks on the beach & Creag ran on the beach one morning.  I tried Sushi for the first time and actually liked it.  We had dinner one night in a cool little town called Lauderdale by the Sea & that was a great dinner.  We had oysters for starters & that's all I really remember.  We had breakfast at the hotel every morning & Creag remembers having a spicy omelet that "tore him up".  I had my first Buffett experience like I said before.  The concert was indoors, so Creag said that it wasn't the "true Buffett experience", but in my mind I thought it was perfect.  I spilled beer down the front of him at the beginning of the show & after the show he gave me a piggy back ride back to the car.  If that tells you anything about the night it should tell you that it was a mess of fun!    I remember another day, napping on our balcony together to the warm ocean breeze & the last day that we were there having Italian for lunch at a Mom & Pop restaurant and it was amazing.  After lunch, we walked back to the hotel on the beach & that's when we got the picture below. 

I may not remember every single detail, but I definitely have memories that I hope don't fade too much as the years pass by.  From that first trip to now we've realized that traveling is our thing, something I hope that we'll always be able to do together.