Enjoying the Small Things

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St. Augustine

June 21, 2019 By Kelle

(Long post warning, but I have so much to say about St. Augustine!)

We just returned from the first of our summer adventures–a trip that was originally going to be to North Georgia, but we decided we didn’t want to be in the car that long. Brett suggested St. Augustine (5 hours from us–8 if you count construction traffic and torrential rain on the way there) because I’ve been saying for years I wanted to visit. I’m so happy we ended up there because SO CHARMING–not to mention the fascinating history buried in every corner of the city.

I’ve never been so enraptured with a city’s history. After our historic carriage tour, I spent the evening in the Internet abyss of St. Augustine research, from the story of Henry Flagler who founded much of the city’s landmarks (and his three wives) to the important role the city played in the civil rights movement. Bonus–GHOSTS! St. Augustine is widely known for being haunted, a little fact we had a lot of fun with. We didn’t go on any of the ghost tours the city offers, but we did create our own nightly ghost explorations on our neighborhood walks, assisted by Lainey’s ghost app that alerted us to several ghosts lurking in deserted homes and properties.

Where do I even begin with this city? Let’s go back–way back to some of the history here. I took one historic tour and basically consider myself a St. Augustine tour guide now, so humor me. St. Augustine is our nation’s oldest continuously occupied city.

Many original houses and buildings restored from the city’s earliest days still stand, and most of the surrounding structures are reconstructions of buildings that were destroyed so that much of the city’s history and Spanish architecture has been preserved. You can feel that history everywhere–mostly on St. George Street and the narrow side streets that hold hours of exploration with restaurants and shops.

We knew we wanted to visit the fort on this trip, and it didn’t disappoint. Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest and largest masonry fort in the continental U.S., is now as a national park. Built in 1672 (when construction began–it took 20 years to build!) out of coquina stones, it served to protect and defend Spain’s claims in the new world. It can actually be classified as a castle, complete with thick walls, battlements, towers and a moat. Thank goodness the skies were a little gray the day we visited, cooling us down a bit (it was HOT).

As with everything else in St. Augustine, of course there is an interesting ghost history with the fort as well, especially the story of the secret lovers whose skeletons were found in the dungeon.

The top of the fort made me very nervous though–low walls, lots of openings, no railings…Dash.

 

Much of the city’s most impressive landmarks can be attributed to Henry Flagler, a Standard Oil partner with John Rockefeller, who arrived to St. Augustine in the 1880’s, bought up much of the local railroads and attempted to establish St. Augustine as a winter resort for elite Northerners. He poured money into the city, commissioning a fancy New York architectural firm to build a number of extravagant churches and buildings, including the Ponce de Leon Hotel  which is now Flagler College. I took the Flagler College tour alone one morning, and it was impressive–another opportunity to learn more about the fascinating stories behind the city’s history but also a great way to see inside the old hotel. It’s like Hogwarts inside! The college houses the largest collection of Tiffany glass, and the Tiffany windows alone in the building are insured for $132 million.

I highly suggest a historical tour of the city–Old Town Trolley offers many, but we took the horse and carriage route. It was one of Vacation Brett’s famous spontaneous splurges (I love this about him on vacation). He saw a woman stop to feed her horses where the kids were playing, walked up to her and whispered, “How much to take my family on a tour?” And two seconds later, we were all climbing in.

I think my favorite history of the city was found in Lincolnville, the neighborhood where we stayed and a community founded after the Civil War. It contains the city’s largest concentration of late Victorian Era homes and played an important role during the civil rights movement. A reader sent me this article while we were visiting, a story I did not know but am so glad I read. It made me appreciate so much more the history behind the charming streets we walked every day and the beautiful homes we passed, many of them looking no different than I imagined they did then.

And finally, all my favorites from this trip, so many of them suggested by you all on Instagram (I always get my best travel recs from you!):

First, as touristy as some of these destinations may be, there’s something about that old Florida tourist vibe that makes me feel so nostalgic. I grew up going to Florida on vacation, visiting my grandparents while they wintered here in their Airstream and later visiting cities like Tarpon Springs and Orlando with friends. I love how so many parts of Florida feel like they’ve never changed–the old seafood restaurants, the shell shops, the tourist boutiques that sell salt water taffy and orange bubble gum balls next to “Wish You Were Here” post cards and shell necklaces. We did all the touristy things, and we loved them.

In the St. George Street area, we loved Pizalley’s Pizza…

Prohibition Kitchen late at night…

Mayday Ice Cream (the Parent Trap flavor with Oreos and Peanut Butter!)

Casa de Maya
We ran in the back covered patio there because it was the closest building when it started pouring and ended up trapped there for two hours. It was magic–kids played games and we drank cold beer.

Cousteau’s Waffle & Milkshake Bar (the Pele Dos Santos flavor–nutella and bananas–SO GOOD!)…

Theatre Magic Shop (the kids loved this sweet little place, and we came home with three tricks)

Hyppo Popsicle

We also loved Davenport Park with $1 carriage rides (made a sweet memory there watching the kids under the carousel while we huddled under an umbrella and it poured around us)

Vilano Beach

And our very favorites were tucked in our neighborhood. We walked to Preserved restaurant for dinner one night, around the corner from our house, and enjoyed an enchanting evening listening to old cocktail music with wine and the most delicious dinner ever.

My favorite from the whole trip was Ice Plant, a few blocks from our house–loved it so much, we went twice. It looks like an old factory (and originally was an old ice plant) and feels like something out of the Prohibition era. Vintage bar, cozy and dark at night and known for their cocktails and ice pairings (who knew–ice is an art!). We had the BEST salty dogs there. And all the food is farm to table.

And a block from our house was The Blue Hen, a famous breakfast favorite. Darling retro decor and out-of-this-world biscuits with peach butter. I was smitten with all the old Pyrex and Tupperware.

We walked a lot, felt safe everywhere we were–even late at night–and made a lot of sweet memories in the house we rented. Best hide-and-seek house ever.

Grateful for adventure and my favorite people to adventure with…

And now I just got off an hour phone conversation with my brother, the history buff of the family, gushing about every little detail of our trip, this city, and all the stories we learned.

Filed Under: Travel 15 Comments

The Best of Key West

January 24, 2019 By Kelle

If there’s one thing our family is good at, it’s spontaneity. In fact, we are much more likely to do something when asked last minute than to put it on our schedule months in advance because long term commitments scare us. When my dad asked me a few weeks ago if the kids and I wanted to come to Key West with him, I said it probably wouldn’t work out. But then he asked me again two days before he left, sweetening the deal with “I asked your sister, and she just got a ticket–she’s flying down tomorrow morning,” and the spontaneity thrilled me. So I made a few calls, arranged to bring some school work with us and then I pulled the kids out of school for three days to give the Internet Debbies something to talk about over coffee. I’m nice like that.

Key West is a five hour drive, and once the I-75 part is complete, it’s actually quite pleasant–a simple highway connected by numerous bridges and little beach towns sprinkled with old school motels, charming restaurants and tourist signs that lure passersby into shell shops and scuba dive bookings and dolphin excursions. The road ends at Mile 0…Key West.

We haven’t been to Key West in years–since Nella was a baby–so it was fun to come back and see how it’s changed. Really, when we return to these kind of places, we’re seeing how we’ve changed though.

Bikes have replaced strollers.

My dad loaded up six bikes and a bike trailer in his minivan, and I wouldn’t do Key West again without a bike. We biked along the ocean, through town, four miles to breakfast, four miles back, to the playground…and this one did it all, without complaint, on this itty bitty bike with training wheels.

Key West Favorites include…

Blue Heaven. Always Blue Heaven. We spent an entire morning there, playing ping pong, drinking mimosas, searching for cats and chickens…

This cat was a meanie. It’s all cute and fun until the cat scratches your eyes out.

Nella stayed glued to my sister to the point I had to ask my sister if she needed a break (she didn’t). I love how kids know their family–even if they don’t see them a lot.

And why yes, that is a small dog in a baby sling.

In other news, I finally found a donut to rival the best one I’ve ever eaten at Dough in Tampa…Glazed Donuts on Eaton Street, sweet Lord in heaven.

We balanced our few Go, Do, See! adventures with a lot downtime which was just what we needed.

…and managed to squeeze in one sunset at Mallory Square.

A people-watching dinner at Amigo’s…

I’ll never forget these decisions to pick up and go, to make the memories, to swap classroom math for life math.

And for anyone who doesn’t want to drive as far as Key West, Islamorada is closer and so full of charm. We stopped on our way home, and I tucked it away as the next place we want to explore. Until next time…

Filed Under: Travel 19 Comments

The Great Big Chicago Christmas Post

December 18, 2018 By Kelle

For the third year in a row, we escaped this past weekend for a heavy dose of holiday memories to a city that pours out festive feels from every corner, every storefront window, every street musician.

My kids look forward to our Christmas weekend in Chicago as much as Christmas itself, but this year perhaps no one was excited about this trip as much as Lainey. Her best friend Maggie moved to a Chicago suburb over the summer, and while the loss of her presence here has been patched over with FaceTime calls and daily texts, technology has nothing on the hug they shared an hour after we arrived and the three days that followed that included these two joined at the hip.

Christmas in Chicago musts for us include:

State Street Macy’s window displays.

Numerous stops for hot chocolate while we sightsee.

Riding the train.

Pictures on my friend’s apartment stoop.

…and so many night walks where we point out Christmas trees in windows and look for parties and pick which front door decorations are our favorites. We imagine the stories that are written in all the buildings we walk past, and my dad provides an ongoing soundtrack with the portable speaker he keeps in his pocket, full volume–all the Christmas carols, all the time.

New favorites this year:

Tea at the Drake Hotel with our friends and Brett’s sister (who is moving to Naples in just days, and we are so excited!).

A night time carriage ride through the city (we used Antique Coach & Carriage Co., just outside the old Water Tower). We all loved this one so much and will definitely do it again.

You bundle up beneath blankets and ride through the most festive streets, even a little stretch along Lake Shore Drive. We sang Christmas carols while the kids hollered to onlookers various holiday greetings that, I’m sorry to say, included “Tooty Christmas!”, “Happy Toots!” and “We Wish You a Merry Fart!” (followed by hysterical laughter).

Macy’s Santa. We’ve never attempted Santa in Chicago before because the lines were too long (because it’s the REAL Santa) and Nella isn’t much for seeing him face-to-face, but I was on a one-on-one date with Nella and ventured down to the enchanting Santa Land in Macy’s where Santa was visiting. I thought maybe we’d just check it out, but we came during a time when there were no lines, so I pushed it a little further, standing in line and suggesting we’d just “look at Santa.” not sit with him. When it was our turn, the red velvet curtain pulled back to reveal this magical festive nook and the kindest Santa, straight from the North Pole. When Nella was hesitant, sweet Santa suggested I sit with her alone while he walked away. Once she was comfortable, we asked if he could come back and she said yes. I asked if I could step away to take a picture, and she nodded yes again. And then Santa reached for a book and asked if he could read it to her. I didn’t think to check my camera settings–just started snapping. Magic, I tell you.

I don’t know how I missed the little playground tucked right next to the fire station near Michigan Ave all these years, but I’m so glad we found it this year. It was warm enough that the kids could actually enjoy a good half hour playing there before our next cocoa stop.

Another favorite this year was Christkindlmarket, an open-air German holiday village full of gift vendors and German food. I enjoyed my first (and hopefully not last) cup of Glühwein, the most delicious hot spiced wine, and picked up some keepsake treasures.

At the Bean, it was surprisingly warm enough for the kids to take off their coats for a bit.

Even though we didn’t end up with snow, we feel so lucky to have enjoyed such beautiful weather when we’ve experienced brutal winds on this weekend before. The sun allowed for more outdoor exploring.

And when the sun went to bed and the cold came creeping in, we made my favorite memories–the indoor kind, not dependent on what the city gave to us but what we brought to it.

Our wonder…

…our dance moves…

…and the suitcase of things we packed to “make it special.” Snowmen marshmallows for cocoa, a Christmas puzzle, our favorite jammies, card games and a candle that smells like a Christmas tree farm.

My dear friend lets us stay at her family’s apartment, and so many of our most memorable moments on this weekend happen inside this special place, set up with toys and so many little personal touches.

I think we could have skipped the city adventures altogether and let Nella play in this secret nook the whole weekend, and she would have been perfectly happy.

We’re smitten with this city and so grateful to tuck away another weekend of December memories together here.

…and even happier to come home to be together as a family, where we belong.

xo to you and yours.

Filed Under: Holiday, Travel Tagged With: chicago, Christmas 28 Comments

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