4th of July weekend in Maderia Beach, FL

4th of July! What an incredibly fun holiday weekend. We signed up and trained for a 5k that was at 8:00 am in Gainesville, The Melon Run. PHEW. Let me tell you something. That may be the last 5k we do in the Florida summer. It was SOOOO hot! It had also torrentially down poured the entire day before AND the course went through the woods with a creek...can we say insanely humid? UGH...it was rough but we just kept saying "hurry up...the beach is next" because as soon as we finished we got in the truck and headed to Maderia Beach, FL. It's just south of Clearwater and west of Tampa.

 

 

We had a completely loaded truck with our kayaks, bikes, & all the beach essentials. We stayed at the adorable Snug Harbor Inn which was right on the bay and across the street from the beach. It was the perfect location for us to fully enjoy our weekend.

 

We quickly unloaded all our stuff into a garage they had attached to the Inn. At that time, we weren't sure about how "safe" our stuff was just sitting in there unlocked so I decided to lock our bikes together really quick. Well...I used my bike lock and didn't bring my keys...so we couldn't bike AT ALL the whole weekend. We were so bummed but the one thing that I LOVE about Clay is that he doesn't dwell on things. He said, "wow, that sucks" and then life goes on. I am the exact opposite and apologized for hours after...but that's why we work so well. Balance. 

We had lunch at a place called Gators located at John's Pass Village & Boardwalk.
Of course we needed photos!



 

Although it looked like it could storm any minute in the Gulf, we took our chances and relaxed on the beach. This was our first Gulf Beach experience and it was a great one. The water was a gorgeous green, the sand was soft, and it was quiet because there was NO ONE there!  I exaggerate a bit, so maybe a few families were there, but it was basically like our own beach all weekend. 



'Merica.

We got all "4thed up" (decked out in red, white, and blue) and walked about a mile down to dinner and where a good view of the fireworks would be that night. There were lots of people with chairs set up on the beach and a stage with bands playing. It was definitely a happening spot for the night. 

How gorgeous is this sunset? I just LOVED the way this turned out!

This is one of my favorite photos of us. So much love for this man. 

 

Yay! Happy 4th! The next morning we started early and got breakfast overlooking the bay.

 

Then back for our full beach day. The weather was beautiful and there was NO ONE out again. I took pictures this time to prove it (granted it was 10 AM.)

To our right...

To our left...



Of course we brought out the GoPro and played around with it! These pics are from my iPhone but you'll see our GoPro shots at the end of the post.



This was the point where Clay was getting sick of my selfies. What can I say?

I HAVE to document the trip for our blog! 

 



oysters at lunch. I could eat these all the time!

We headed right back out after lunch and right after I took this photo of our umbrella and the waves, a huge gust of wind blew up and the umbrella came completely out and smacked me in the head! I was covered in sand and was glad that minimal people were there to see it haha!

 

showing off my stellar hat from Clay! HULK SMASH!

 

I also love how this panorama turned out! Can you believe how deserted it was?

 

After our full beach day, we had Sushi and walked around the St. John's Village & Boardwalk. This definitely reminded me of Myrtle Beach. Lots of shops, restaurants, live music, and tons of people! 



On Sunday morning, we decided this would be a great day for some kayaking! Right behind our hotel was the bay where we put in. The dock was significantly higher than the water so it definitely made for a funny sight of us trying to get in!  The water was gorgeous and we even saw a few dolphins!

 

So we paddled all the way to the St. John's Pass and went under the bridge to go out into the Gulf. It was awesome! Then we paddled back to our hotel and rode the waves in and dragged our kayaks back across the sand.

Here are some shots from our GoPro. The difference is crystal clear.

 

 

   

 

 Sunday kayaking shots. I really like the contrast between the sky, gulf, and kayak.  

 

 

Here's my first attempt at uploading a video! I'm still playing around with the best way to add them to the blog. The longer files seem to have problems uploading.

 

East Coast Trip

Back in the spring, I booked a trip to head back to see friends and family in various states!  I got a great deal on a flight up to DC from Jacksonville, so I plugged in a trip for 11 days and decided I'd figure out all the details later! It ended up being a really fun trip even though there was lots of driving!

 

 I flew into DC on a Sunday night and stayed with my bestie Kimberlee who lives there. Then we met my parents in Richmond, VA for lunch and to spend time with my family the first part of the trip. We went to lunch at Kitchen 64 (super yummy,) Kimberlee headed home, and then we went to visit my Grandma Carlton. We had a lovely afternoon but I totally forgot to take any photos of us!

 

 

After our visit, we drove home through the gorgeous mountains! I seriously miss these bad boys.







 

It was SO nice to spend time with my parents at home, especially with these two cuties!

On Tuesday we drove to my Grandma Stephens' house for a visit and then to Danville for lunch with my Aunt Joan & Uncle David and Aunt Susan & Uncle Calvin. We had quite the lunch crew! Once again, I didn't get ANY pics of us all together. I was NOT in blogger mode apparently.  Here are some gorgeous photos of some spots around grandma's yard.

The next morning, I went on a run on this gorgeous trail across from our house and then we headed to Raleigh.

 



 

We spent the afternoon with my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece and nephews and then ended the night at Sugarland for a delicious cupcake!

 

At the hotel, we saw some fellow GATORS!

 

The next morning, we went to the GO PACK store and picked up some goodies for Clay who couldn't come with me. :(  Then we went and watched the US Soccer game at Carolina Ale House. After the game, my friend Jessica met up with us and I rode with her back up to DC for a girls weekend to NY.

best. parents. ever. seriously.

Our NY road trip crew: Kimberlee, Jessica, Kristen (all friends post-college!) We had mentioned going on a girls trip for a while and Kimberlee said the Finger Lake wineries were just the place to go. We left Friday morning from DC and got there just in time to visit a couple wineries before they closed for the night. My best friend from college, Katherine, and her whole family live in Rochester, NY and we haven't seen each other since my wedding in 2011. They drove down and we met up with them Friday afternoon for a few hours! I was thrilled that we were able to see her and Ben, and meet their two beautiful daughters Grace and Emma. 

Katherine and I

Grace showing me her ballet moves!

Isn't it beautiful there? This photo has NO filter and was taken with my iPhone. WOW!

When we went back to the hotel for check-in, Kimberlee insisted that we check for bed bugs.

Haha...the place wasn't gross or anything so don't worry and we didn't find any.

We had dinner at Viva Cantina and enjoyed some yummy Mexican!

After dinner we literally hiked up to The Chapter House, a recommendation from Cathy (my sis-in-law's sister) who went to Cornell and met her gymnastics coach who works there. We were not expecting Ithaca to be so hilly but there were quite a few steep streets, right Kristen? :) 

 

 

Saturday, we went to breakfast at Collegetown Bagels right beside Cornell's campus. We also drove around and found a HUGE waterfall close to campus.

 

 

Then we got started on our winery tours. It was $3 for each tasting and every winery had something that made it unique from the others. I had no idea that there were so many around the Finger Lakes!

   



 We stopped at a Goat Cheese Farm and had some of the best cheese I've ever eaten. We loaded up for an afternoon snack later on!

 

This little guy was asleep in the trough. TOO cute!

 

 

 

Idol Ridge

 

 King's Garden

Leidenfrost 

 

Pompous Ass Winery - definitely the most interesting name but the wines were terrible. 

 

For dinner we went to Just A Taste for tapas and had SO much food! It was so good and we were stuffed! What a great way to end our trip! 



We drove back to DC and Kristen's family scooped her up on their way home. I was trying to teach Kellan how to take a selfie and Alden was playing airplane. So cute. 

I stayed in DC with Kimberlee for the next few days and we did all sorts of touristy things while I was there. My favorite was renting these bikes and hauling it all over the city. We biked everywhere!

 



Hey Obama

 

 

Biking to Georgetown for some delicious cupcakes! 

After a few hours of walking around and "shopping" we just HAD to get in line for the famous Georgetown Cupcakes. We did NOT eat these until the next day!

 

 

We took the bus over to a spot for tapas specials and then biked back to her house. 

Tuesday was the big US Soccer game day - round 2! We had lunch at a Sushi place and watched the game at a German bar that was slam packed! Unfortunately we lost...

  

    

 

After the game, I had my very first Ethiopian experience at Etete. It was delicious! You take the spongy bread that's rolled up and tear off pieces to pick up the meat and veggies with. Mmmm!

 

I had a fun-filled 11 days up and down the East coast! Love you all!