Florida Part Two

The beach, the bride, the beauty part two. 

Recapping our recent trek to Florida for a July 4th wedding. If you missed part one you'll find it here (Salt In My Hair Love In The Air). 

Saturday. July 4th. Happy birthday America! 

The wedding wasn't until later in the day so we started the morning on the beach. I had booked an appointment at Spa Oceana in the Don Cesar to have my hair put up for the evening's festivities. My hair is heavy and there's a lot of it and it was one million degrees. 

Best decision I made all weekend. We made our way over to the spa at noon and I liked the way the girl styled it very much. There might have been one hundred bobby pins and a full can of spray on it, but it stayed put which was the main thing. 

Hubs hung out in the hotel and then met me after for lunch. We opted to eat inside because I had fresh hair. We shared the most fabulous caesar salad ever and a flatbread topped with poached pear, endive, rosemary, pecans, and mozzarella. Yum! 

We headed back to the hotel to change and last minute decided to book an Uber to the venue. Reviews said parking was limited and while there was public parking not too far away it was July 4th and we were worried about not finding a spot. The Uber was nice and we went ahead and reserved one for the return trip too, which worked out well. 

Yes hubs did take a selfie in the Uber. Don't tell our kids. 

The wedding and reception were held at The Davis Islands Garden Club, a lovely outdoor space with an old Florida feel. 

The venue overlooks Seddon Channel and the gorgeous homes on Harbor Island. You get a glimpse of downtown Tampa too. That's a cruise ship passing behind those houses...

The ceremony was outside and it was toasty.

The bride looked stunning and all of the flowers were beautiful. 

She embraced the colors of the day in a nice way. Everyone was invited to wear red, white, and blue (light on the white) and any stars, stripes, or sparkles they wanted, and there truly was a little bit of everything. 

That jacket came off after the ceremony. 

The father of the bride got the memo and the bride and her dad both had patriotic tennis shoes on for the occasion. 

After the ceremony there were hors d'oeuvres on the patio and themed drinks from the bars. 

The mother of the bride and me. We had our babies at the same time and now those babies are both grown married women. 

The venue did have some indoor space, with A.C. (that's important!), that held tables and chairs for dining. We had dinner inside after the bride and groom had their first dance. There were speeches made, and a sweets table for dessert instead of the traditional wedding cake.

The DJ and dancing were set up on the covered porch and you could see the Tampa fireworks if you went to the water's edge. It was a fun night and we're so happy we were there to celebrate the newlyweds on their special day. 

Sunday morning was a little drizzly so we drove a few miles down the road to a place called The Buoy for brunch. Guess what we had? 

If you guessed a grouper sandwich you would not be wrong. It came with coconut rice which was different and tasty. I also had a bloody mary which was my appetizer too, since it was served with a shrimp skewer. 

The view was pretty and the pelicans put on a show here diving in and out of the water for fish.  The skies cleared as we got back to the hotel so we made our way to the beach and relaxed, walked, and swam. A family sat down beside us and they had British accents and we're kind of like that Progressive commercial where they tell you how not to be your parents, except we're the parents. Hi girls! 

Anyway, turns out the mom in the family went to school in the small village we lived in while in the UK, so it was fun chatting with them. We eventually made our way to the pool and bemoaned the fact we were heading home the next day. 

That evening we went to a place called John's Pass in Madeira Beach which is more or less a boardwalk village with lots of shops, food, and 'stuff'. 

We had lobster rolls at a little dive called The Boardwalk Grill, and they were scrumptious. 

We walked around some and it's possible I ended up with three pounds of salt water taffy because the seller told me if you bought 2 pounds the third was free. Three pounds of taffy is a lot of taffy, but I planned to share with my girls. 

We got back to the beach just in time for one more Gulf sunset. 

The drive home Monday was long, but uneventful. We made two stops, the first in Florida at one of the orange vendors where I bought a big bag of oranges to bring home. 

They had all sorts of Florida related items in this little shop but we passed on the alligator head. 

We made another stop further up the road in Tifton Georgia at Adcocks which is billed as a pecan grocery store.  

Went a little crazy in here and I bought pecans for baking, a bag for my youngest grandson for snacking (they're his favorite), two kinds of salad dressing made with Vidalia onions, some Georgia peach preserves and a jar of hot peach preserves for pouring over cream cheese, all while hubs grabbed chocolate covered pecans, coconut bites, and salted caramel chocolates. Go big or go home, right? 

It was a great little beach getaway and we loved our time away. Now back to reality...

...which is pretty nice too.