I’ve come to realize that I’ve become many of my friend’s go to person for spontaneous trips and/or travel advice. And you know what? I’m perfectly okay with that.
This trip is a perfect example of that.
One of my friends, Alex, texted me at the end of February and said, “what are you doing the first week of March?” –which for context, this was a VERY normal thing for her. She is one of those people who plans her social live weeks in advance. Ironic because I’m the ‘doesn’t know what I’m doing in 20 minutes’ type.
So I initially thought she wanted to grab dinner or something. Instead, however, she said “Do you want to go to Florida? I have a hotel for five days and just need flights.” So, I said yes and booked plane tickets for us.
We joked on our way that we MAYBE exchanged 200 words about the trip before we were headed to the airport. Which to me is a testament to how good of friends we are.
Day 1
We caught an early flight (hallelujah, I love morning flights) and landed in Fort Lauderdale by noon. It is a miraculous feeling to trade the white snow for white sandy beaches…
Within minutes of checking into our hotel, I was on the beach. I mean, can you blame me? I think a lot of people feel a pull towards the ocean… I am one of those people for sure. But ask me which I like better, beaches or mountains and I think I’d have to plead the 5th.
After spending a couple hours on the beach, it became clear that food was necessary. So we decided to go to the Publix down the street to get some snacks and sandwiches for dinner. If you haven’t had the Publix deli sandwiches, you MUST.
After dinner we took a walk on the beach and then called it an early night because it had been a very long, but sweet day.
Day 2
For Alex, the trip was 100% a work-free trip. That girl hasn’t had more than a day off in a week for 2 years and works like 50 hour weeks so this trip was quite literally a God-send.
As for me, however, I had to work a little bit. I’m not complaining however because these were my morning work views… once I could get beach chairs, I headed down and took the rest of my morning work calls about 20 feet from the water. I’m absolutely okay with those working conditions.
Can we talk about how incredible spending time on the beach is? We spent probably 4 hours not talking but either reading or just watching the ocean and it was the most relaxed I have been in a LONG time.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but typically I take ‘trips’ not ‘vacations’. I have a desire to see all of the things, do all of the things, and learn all of the things of wherever I go. And typically, ‘relaxing’ is what happens after you enter into a food coma wherever you had dinner.
So having the space to 100% relax and not have a single plan besides food the whole trip was wonderful. The last time I did that was in Cancun 6 years ago and even then I was always swimming or running around!
The big thing on the agenda for this day was walking down to the Pompano beach lighthouse. We couldn’t walk all the way to it, but man did it feel good to just walk in the sand and move a little bit!
We headed back and spent some more time relaxing on the beach. Like us humans, even the sky gets a little moody.
When in Florida, I think it should be mandatory to walk to dinner on the beach whenever possible, so that’s what we did!
We stopped at Lucky Fish for dinner. Tell me these aren’t just the best views? It felt like we were somewhere further from home.
And for the record, the blackened chicken tacos were incredible. Although at dinner, we decided that ice cream was necessary.
The excitement was almost too much for Alex:
We walked to Razzleberry’s ice cream and then walked the beach *at sunset* back to the hotel. Seriously though, tell me this isn’t a dream…
Day 3
I just love the morning sun when it glows low like this.
Like you could imagine, we spent the morning again just hanging out on the beach. I LOVE the freedom to do absolutely nothing and just enjoy the views like this. The noise, the smell, the feeling, the views, all brought me back to the ship and it made my heart happy.
We walked back to the pier and explored a little more of Pompano beach before grabbing lunch.
Let me tell you, my favorite mode of transportation now is walking the beach to get where I need to go. So that is exactly what we did– of to get smoothies we went, specifically, Bambu Juice Bar.
Later, we headed to the Foundry for dinner. Pro tip: order the Margherita, the bruschetta, and the burger– AMAZING.
Day 4
A late start to the day meant a later start to relaxing on the beach, but that was A-Okay with us. I am an avid reader, especially while traveling, so being able to read as much as I did on this trip was exactly what I needed.
What a vibe was this swimsuit/coverup/sunglasses/beach chair…
But also B/W is a vibe too.
For our last dinner, we headed to Beach House right on the water. I got the cedar plank salmon and it was quite possibly one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I WISH I had a picture, but I left my phone in an Uber and it was a saga to get it back. *Luckily* I did get it back, but I’ll save you the story.
Day 5
Our flight didn’t leave til late in the afternoon so we just hung out on the beach before grabbing an Uber for the airport.
I’ll miss this view!!!!!
I’m sure this is the least action-pack blog post I’ve ever had, but truly it was one of my favorite trips (which I say about every trip). I was reminded to relax and I was also reminded how refreshing it is to simply be still
Hopefully, it reminds you to do the same!
See you next time,
Katelyn
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