Since I first started visiting my sister-in-law in Pensacola, I fell in love with the beaches in Florida’s Panhandle. I grew up 10 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and it still has my heart, but something about the serenity and beautiful clear water of the Emerald Coast area has won me over.

Today I wanted to share with you some photos from last summer’s family beach vacation to 30A and the Seaside and Blue Mountain Beach area!

Last summer, my family drove up to the northwest part of our state to visit some beaches we’ve never been to before. Scenic 30-A is a small stretch of quaint beach communities up in the northwest area of Florida. It’s literally like driving through small town paradise. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Seaside is probably the more popular town of the cluster and has the most crowd, shops, traffic, restaurants etc. We stayed in Blue Mountain Beach which was a little further north (7 minutes to be exact) and it was perfectly isolated and quiet, just how I like it. Blue Mountain Beach (and the other little towns nearby) is close enough to see it all from Seaside to Destin.

Here are some pics from the week we spent in the area last summer – we are happily heading back to the exact same place in just a little less than a month!

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This post is part of a series sponsored by Princess Cruises.

One of the many fun parts of cruising is the getting off the ship to explore whatever destination your ship docks at. The West Coast Getaway Princess Cruise I sailed on earlier this fall hugged the California Coast and took us to Santa Barbara and Ensenada wine country. I am smitten with wine country and loved seeing new (to me) places and of course experience their food and wine.

One of our ports during our cruise was Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is just north of Los Angeles and commonly referred to as the “American Riviera”. How enticing does that sound? We docked off shore and took tenders into the port where there were plenty of boats (big and small), people, mountains and palm trees surrounding us.

Really gorgeous. The sky was perfectly blue for us that day as we drove through Santa Barbara and into the Santa Ynez Valley on our wine tasting excursion to family owned Fess Parker Winery where we would be spending the afternoon enjoying local wine and food.

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It’s not very often that one has the opportunity to really catch a glimpse of what goes on behind-the-scenes of a company as well known and with so much history as Harry and David. I was fortunate to have been given an opportunity like this last week to visit this gourmet gift and fruit company when I flew cross country from balmy Florida to “fall-is-in-full-effect” Oregon and boy, did I soak in every single minute.

We were hosted by the totally charming Magnolia Inn in Jacksonville, a small eclectic town near the home offices of Harry and David. There were 11 of us – Brenda, Brian, Carrie, Dara, Gaby, Heather, Julie, Maggie, Matt, Sommer and myself – staying at the bed and breakfast; we took up all the rooms and let me tell you it was one good ‘ole time.

We woke up to coffee and breakfast just a few steps from our rooms every morning, and came back from our full days to a table full of goodies including milk & homemade treats and wine & cheese…there was something for everyone, lots of special touches and not a detail was missed. Susan and Robert, the innkeepers, were so hospitable and friendly, I was actually really sad to leave…I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to come back and visit with my family one day.

Speaking of hospitality, my dear friend Sandy (who lives in Medford and was our trip coordinator), hosted us in her home for dinner the night we arrived. That’s right, she had all 11 of us (bloggers with cameras!) over to her house for dinner…how special is that? She welcomed us all into her home, and into her sprawling backyard where we dined outside in the crisp fall air under the stars – yes, it was exactly as dreamy as it sounds.

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(Forsyth Park – Savannah, GA)

A couple weekends ago, my husband and I celebrated our 10th anniversary (which is actually today – happy anniversary babe!) with a getaway to Savannah, Georgia. It was my second time visiting and my husband’s first time. I think it’s safe to say it will not be our last time. We fell completely in love with this little city and all of it’s charm. We stayed on Jones Street on the historic side of town and spent our 2 days there walking the streets and eating. It was perfect.

(Front Entrance to Eliza Thompson House, Jones Street)

Where we stayed:

Eliza Thompson House – a very charming historic bed and breakfast right on Jones Street, which is exactly what I was looking for. Our room was called The Savannah Room and the front door literally opened up right to the street under the stairway to get into the main house. Breakfast was served in a beautiful open courtyard every morning. We thoroughly enjoyed starting off our days eating outdoors, reading the newspaper in the rockers with our coffee when we were done. Breakfast was close to the same both days – a variety of egg casserole, hash browns, bacon & sausage, assorted breakfast breads, yogurt, berry compote and granola. In the late afternoons, wine and appetizers were set out in the sitting room and dessert was served later in the evening. It was such a nice touch and I’m glad we were able to enjoy it at least once both days.

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It’s hard to believe that its been almost 3 weeks since we got back from our vacation to Sanibel. I’ve been wanting to post up some pics from our time there, so here we go (finally).

This was our 3rd time visiting the island and each time we’ve stayed in a different place. I would have to say that the condo we stayed at this time around was my favorite. We rented a unit at Loggerhead Cay through a site called VRBO and to be honest, the unit we found was a complete gem. The owners keep it up extremely well, we found it so comfortable and clean and stocked well for the unexpected (flashlights that were needed during a storm, tennis rackets, beach and pool toys, cabinets and drawers full of movies, books and board games, a stocked wine rack).

I just loved this…

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Sloooooooow down pleeeeeease.

Part of the reason March flew by was that it was busier than usual. The kids had a week off for Spring Break and I had a couple of blog-related trips scheduled. All of that happening within the same 10 days.

One of the blog-related trips I had planned happened to be taking place in my backyard, a little place called Walt Disney World and the best part? My family was able to come with me.

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Let me tell you, NY and FL could not be any more different. I didn’t realize how slow and laid back I was until this weekend. I missed my flip flops and I missed grass. And one of the first things I noticed when I got back into town last night was the moon…I could see the moon. I don’t know if it was the tall buildings or being afraid of stopping in the street to actually look up at the sky, but I don’t recall seeing the moon at all this weekend. Living in the city is so different… it’s exciting, I love the culture, the food, and being able to walk and walk and walk instead of driving. But let’s face it, there’s no place like home. And the Sunshine State is my home.

We were in NY for my husband’s company holiday party (they are based up there). We traveled with his team which just happen to be a group of our closest friends. We ate, drank and laughed our hearts out (picture a group of 20 clueless people trying to figure out the subway, oof!). We had some serious grown up fun, people. And gosh…can I just tell you, the food…the food rocked my world.

I think I was in city shock the first two days I was there, because I honestly forgot to take pictures of any food. It wasn’t until the last meal that I finally pulled out the camera (on my phone) and snapped away. It happened to be my favorite meal too, so it worked out pretty good.

Gail recommended I try this place in TriBeca near where we were staying…for brunch. So Sunday morning, we walked a few blocks coffee in hand to Laconda Verde. It was busy but we found a couple spots at the bar. We ordered Bloodies and the ricotta plate that reviews (and Gail) raved about.

Straight from the menu… Sheep’s Milk Ricotta with truffle honey and burnt orange toast.

Goodness gracious…I will dream about this until I can have it again.

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