Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Florida Revisited!

As you all know, L and I were lucky enough to venture back to Orlando again this year. We went last year and had an amazing time (well, on the first part of our trip;), and it was so great to have the chance to go again. We each got a $300 flight voucher last year for taking a one hour later flight, so we used those vouchers to cover our tickets for this trip. Amazingly, our tickets were $299 a piece, so the entire flight was covered. Does that really happen?! ;) Yep, it does, and it happened to us. Honestly, we probably wouldn't have thought about going back again so soon, but the vouchers had to be used within a year, and use 'em we did!

As you may recall, we stayed at the Blue Heron Beach Resort in Orlando for the first part of our trip last year. It was a condo style place where we had full amenities, and it was suuuuuuuuper cheap! We absolutely loved it. We decided to go back to the same place again this year, and since L didn't have a conference to go to this time, we made it our sole mission to relax and enjoy. Thankfully, we did just that, and it was perfect! We also aimed to make it a relatively cheap trip, so we cooked in our room a lot and took advantage of a couple happy hours when we could. Our room, which was pretty huge, was only $118/night. We came home under budget (not like we were that concerned about it), so that was exciting too. Overall, it was an amazing trip with an amazing person, and I hope we can go back! I took tons of photos and thought I'd share a bunch with you here. Hope you enjoy taking a peek at our adventures!
Excited to hit the road to the airport bright and early!
We parked in the Super Saver lot for only $6.50/day!! This is us waiting to be shuttled to the airport.
This sign after you go through airport security cracks me up every time!
No joke, we packed rice and fried chicken in ziploc bags and ate it in the airport at 8:00am. To say we got some strange looks (and even a few questions) would be an understatement! I felt weird at first, but I kinda loved that we were so smart. And it was tasty, ha!
Excited to be on the plane. ;)
Adios, Milwaukee!
 We made it! Here come a series of photos from our huge two bedroom condo room!
(The view when you walk in the door.)
Set of bunk beds off to the right when you walk in the room.
 Kitchen (above and below)
Walking into the 'small' bedroom.
Beds in the small bedroom.
Spare bathroom.
Master bedroom, eeeeeee!
Master bathroom! It had a whirlpool tub too! I used it. :)
Balcony views!
Enjoying a drink on the patio:).
Cheers with our beers we bought from Linda in the Tiki Hut! She even remembered us from last year!
Pool time!

Beautiful lake views from our balcony on day two! It looks like the sky beyond the trees, but it's actually the lake reflecting the sky. What a pretty sight! 
Sorry for so many early morning pics. I just couldn't stop myself from capturing the beauty!
The life:).
We had a fun day drinking with a new friend by the pool. And we built a pyramid like we're 21 again;)
 Stud:).
A little tipsy, wearing L's hat and sunglasses!
One of many lizard friends we saw! :)
View from the other side of our hotel. I'm obsessed with that balloon and WILL ride it someday!
Another cool view!
Another fun pool day!
Pretty much stayed outside all day just because I could! Yes, my legs were a little red;).
We did get one HUGE rainfall spurt that day, but other than that, the weather was perfect in the upper 80s and low 90s. Loved it!
Same view from the balcony. Could hardly see the lake!
Like I said, we dined on the cheap. Nothing like a little Tuna Helper from the dollar store! :)
I was up really early one morning and got this beautiful sunrise pic!
We got ourselves a little Starbucks treat with a gift card L had. Yum!
On the first full day of our trip, we met an awesome woman named Kelly. She's from Ohio, and we spent the whole day chatting with her by the pool. Well, on the day she left, we got a call from her as they were checking out and she said she had all this stuff they were going to leave behind in their room, but she wanted to give it to us if we were interested. Here it all is! What a damn sweetheart! Love meeting cool strangers!
 L taking in the view! 
Love this pic!
The one place we really wanted to try was Landry's Seafood. We went there for happy hour (they have an amazing happy hour menu, by the way), and it was SUCH a great deal. The food was excellent and we had a great time! We'll definitely go back!
Enjoying my drink called Captain's Punch. I may or may not have had 3 of them! ;)
Cutie:). <3
We got all this AMAZING food (shrimp and crawfish queso, shrimp po boy, fish tacos, and fried crab balls) for $20! What a friggin' steal.
Here come some fun views from the area surrounding our hotel. Seriously gorgeous!
The above picture is probably one of my favorite pictures of the trip!
Another date night! This time we went to Bahama Breeze for another happy hour. So good!
Another cheap happy hour meal that stuffed us to the max and was delicious! Beef empanadas, firecracker shrimp (my fave!), and shrimp and lobster quesadillas. SO good!!
L loves pina coladas! :)
Last day at the pool! We spent lots of time out there. :)
Lore likes to let all his air out and sink to the bottom. 
 
My phone got too hot outside and I got this message. I've never seen it before!
 Last morning in Florida! :(
 Cool views from the shuttle that took us from one part of the Orlando airport to the next!
 
We got on the plane, and then the sky looked like this. Ahhhhh! Fortunately, the flight was perfect. :)

 That face! ;)
Not sure why, but I felt compelled to get a Corona on the plane. I unexpectedly got it for free too. A fun way to end our trip home.

Seriously, people. One of the best trips I've ever been on! We were not committed to anything and we did exactly what we wanted, when we wanted. That's what I call heaven. :)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

The trip looked like it was PERFECT!!!! I can't wait to go on a trip where we have NO plans, no expectations AND I can drink;) SOON!
And my phone did that while in FL too! Our phones are used to WI weather;)

Renee said...

Thanks Casey! It was such an amazing time; I feel like I can't even put it into words! I loved every second of it. I hope you guys are able to take an awesome trip (Hawaii??;) soon! Well deserved. And yes, I imagine these phones weren't built with FL weather in mind, haha!

Unknown said...

yup, my phone did that on the beach in FL as well. ooohhh, how I miss you FLORIDA!!! looks like an amazing trip. LOVE the photos! have I said I miss FL? yeah, well… it's sure beautiful!