Hey friends, happy Friday! I do believe in living your best life each day but something about a Friday gets me excited! I’m also thinking about last Friday and next Friday! Last Friday I woke up for our first full day in St. Augustine, FL and next Friday both of my sons will be home. Today I thought it would be fun to recap my weekend away visiting St. Augustine, FL.
Friday Favorites – Weekend Away
Our older son was in the wedding of a college roommate in St. Augustine. Although we had talked about it for over a year, I never realized it was Easter weekend. Of course as soon as I did, I started scheming – how can we make this a little vacay for our family? Since our son lives in Philadelphia we don’t get to see him often so you better believe if he is in the same state as us, we are going to see him! I booked the cutest little cottage and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
What I Wore
St. Augustine is roughly two hours north of us. Since we could drive I was able to bring as much as I want! To be honest though, I prefer less chaos. I brought 3 dresses, one pair of printed pants, a pair of black shorts, a no-iron button up, a white tee, and my denim jacket. I wore my Vionic flip flops, brought a pair of slides (I never wore), and a pair of sneakers. I also brought a pair of exercise shorts and a tank just in case I felt like taking a long walk.
I wore my Vionic flip flops every day and walked miles in them! No pain, no rubbing, no PF flare ups. I have said it before but I will say it again – buy a good pair of Vionics for your aging feet. The best way to deal with foot pain is to prevent it in the 1st place.
My dresses were comfortable in the heat and I felt put together. I wore the pants at night when it cooled off and changed into the sneakers as well.
Where We Stayed
Although it would have been less expensive to book a hotel, I wanted a space we could all enjoy. I wanted to be able to prepare an Easter dinner and space for us to relax and unwind. The VRBO I booked was in walking distance to all the sites, had a full kitchen and my favorite part – a front porch! Since we were able to cook breakfast at home each morning and had dinner on Easter I think we came out ahead expense wise.
What We Did
Our son and his girlfriend flew into Jacksonville so we drove up there on Thursday. Their flight didn’t get in until late that night but we had to pick up his tuxedo and I wanted to take advantage of the great shopping in that area.
Friday we all slept in! We dropped our son, Nolan off to the rehearsal that morning and then brought his girlfriend to meet him for the luncheon afterwards. My husband and I made a Target run to grab food we’d need for the weekend. Then we had lunch at a great restaurant in the historic area of St. Augustine.
Our younger son drove over from Gainesville so we had dinner with him that night. Nolan and Emma had a welcome party to attend for the wedding.
Saturday was wedding day! Nolan met up with the groom and the rest of the wedding party early to get photos. We walked to the Lightner Museum and then had lunch. Later that afternoon we drove Emma to the wedding venue and then hit up a distillery with Collin. It was fun – we tasted 10 different flavored whiskeys! Afterwards we walked around and then ended up having dinner at Prohibition Kitchen. The food was great and they had live music.
Easter Sunday meant no more wedding obligations! However, Nolan and Emma were very anxious to get to the beach. Living in chilly Philly had them longing for the warm sun and sand. So we dropped them off and then walked the downtown area with Collin. We stopped at the Fountain of Youth and the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not.
A late lunch followed for us back at the cottage. The beach bums were ready to be picked up by that time. We snapped a quick photo and then said goodbye to Collin. I made dinner and then we celebrated Emma’s birthday. We ended the night with a game of Phase10.
Monday morning we enjoyed a lazy start to the day. After having breakfast we loaded the car and headed home. Nolan and Emma flew back to Philly from Orlando on Tuesday afternoon. As much as I hated to see them leave, they will be back next Friday for Collin’s graduation weekend!
The takeaway for me was that this was a very different kind of Easter for us. But it may well have been one of the best. Being able to spend time with my kids was the best and so important. I don’t need all the traditional trappings of the holiday, my heart was full and happy all weekend long!
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