The Rest Of Spring Break 2014

The Tuesday after we got back from FL was a day to recuperate from our travel day and to do laundry. But starting Wednesday, we filled our days up with fun.

Wednesday, Bri and I ran some errands and then we saw the Lego movie in the afternoon...

On Thursday, we went a new upscale outlet mall that was built recently near my parents' house. My mom's birthday landed on the weekend we went out of town, so Bri and I had a special birthday shopping day with Gramma on Thursday...

Gramma and Briana...

Ghirardelli sundae - yum!!!

Make a wish...

I won Bri that hippo out of a crane machine. I was awesome with those as a kid. I still got it :) ...

Friday, we met Bri's friend Taylor at Sky Zone for some jumping...

Saturday morning was Briana's church retreat before she gets her First Communion...

After picking Bri up from her retreat, we all went to see the musical "The Lion King." Doug and I saw it years ago and it was amazing. Again, it was extraordinary...

Doug took me and Miss B to a restaurant after the show for dinner that he frequents when he has meetings in midtown and it was so yummy...

The shrimp fried rice was awesome...

She gobbled up Pad See Ew noodles and then this chocolate mousse dessert...

Sunday was a day to rest a bit and catch our breath. We met one of our favorite families (the B family) for dinner that evening. Bri always loves spending time with ML...

It was finally back to school time on Monday.

As Briana likes to say "Awwwwww."

Spring Break 2014 - The Food

Other than basking in the sun on vacation, food is the next most important thing. Am I right? ;)

On our beach days, we just ate a quick breakfast in the room and grabbed a sandwich or salad from the food cart for lunch. But we did manage to eat at several delicious restaurants while we were on vacation (thanks to recommendations by my sweet hubby).

We were pretty tired from our long day when we arrived Friday night and opted to just eat at the hotel. There was an Italian night at the Island Grille and we decided to eat there. 

Skip it - it wasn't good. 

I don't know how someone can mess up pasta, but they did. The pasta was overcooked and the sauces were not good. Briana was literally gagging (I don't think it was THAT bad, but Bri is 7 and really didn't like hers). We tried to get her peanut butter and jelly after that, but she ended up not wanting that either. I was pretty disappointed that ended up being our first meal on vacation, but luckily we had better luck after that!

Our next big meal was at the Columbia (Spanish) Restaurant in Ybon City. There is a Columbia Restaurant in Clearwater Beach, but Doug wanted to take us to the oldest restaurant in Florida...

The traffic stunk getting there (lots of construction), but it was worth it when we did. The atmosphere was beautiful...

My beauty waiting for dinner...

Doug reserved seats for us in the room where they have flamenco dancers. We had delicious food and drinks and enjoyed fantastic entertainment.

The Sangria de Cava was amazing...

We really enjoyed the dancing...

Torching our dessert...

Two thumbs up for the Columbia!!

The next night we headed to Guppy's...

The food was delicious and the atmosphere was laid back. Briana loved her fried shrimp. :)

Monday was our last day in Clearwater and we had both breakfast and lunch out before heading to the airport.

Maggie Mae's Waterfront restaurant was small and cramped but the food was delish! The only person that didn't like her food was Briana - again. She didn't like her eggs or peanut butter toast. (I swear she is getting finickier by the day.) She did like her strawberry milk at least. But, I loved my breakfast and so did Doug. It is super popular, so call ahead to get your name on the wait list. We only had to wait a minute or two before we were seated...

We decided to head to Tampa to eat lunch so we could be near the airport. Doug has eaten at the Chart House in Tampa before, so he recommended we go there...

The view was beautiful - we sat outside and enjoyed the weather.

We had the nicest waitress. The food took a while to come out, but once it did, it was delish.

I couldn't decide between the lobster grilled cheese with lobster bisque and the blue crab sandwich. I asked our waitress which she recommended. She smiled and said "I'll surprise you." She served me half of each sandwich. How nice is that???

The blue crab ended up being my favorite. :)

So overall, other than the first night, our meals were awesome. Thus the couple of pounds I gained on vacation. Whoops.

So, that is my vacation wrap up. I would visit Clearwater Beach again in a second. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip!!!

Spring Break 2014 - All About The Pool

We would spend a few hours at the beach from morning until right after lunch. There was a food truck that drove up and down the beach so we could buy sandwiches and salads without leaving our little cabana. It was so nice!

The ocean was way too chilly to swim/submerge in, so we would go to the pool for a swim early afternoon. The pool was temperature controlled, so the water stayed a cool, perfect temperature...

Bri would get chilled after a while (especially on the windy day because she has like negative body fat; wish I had that problem), so she loved sitting in the heated whirlpool...

A fruity drink...

On the second day, there was music by the pool. I felt like I was in the Caribbean. Take a listen...

After hanging at the pool, we would eventually head back up to our room to rest a while and get ready for dinner. Next post ~ the food!