Florida - Part 1

Thank you US Airways for the First Class upgrade once again! Check in was one of the shortest waits in our travel history, as was the security line with the ability to go through the priority line. Unfortunately Brian’s luck brought him to be chosen for the random security search and pat down, and due to my floor length sundress I was patted down as well. My thoughts darted off to the show “Locked up Abroad” where women wore the same outfit I was wearing, only difference is they were carrying 10+ pounds of some kind of white powdery drug. Meanwhile my purse was also being run through the x-ray machine 3x plus a manual search. Surprise surprise, nothing turned up, and we walked off to grab some breakfast before boarding the plane.


I love the US Airways magazines that are offered in the airplane seat holders, they are great travel and business reads. With the US Airways hub being in Philadelphia, it’s not surprising to see all the features of the area, this particular magazine featured Brian’s home hometown of Skippack and a few featured restaurants in Philadelphia. It also included a good deal of golf courses around the US…which I’m not particularly interested in but I’m sure a lot are.

While visiting family in Ft Lauderdale, we decided to stay for the second time at the Ramada: Hollywood Beach Resort in Hollywood Beach a bit south of Ft Lauderdale. The resort itself is pretty outdated but the rooms are clean, prices are good and the resort Beach Bar is well worth the return. We did however upgrade our room category from our last stay to a 1 bedroom suite in hopes that the rooms would be a bit more insulated and quiet in the evenings to promote a better night sleep. At check-in it turns out the only suite room available was a 2 floor loft with the 2nd floor on the penthouse level. It couldn’t have been any quieter! The 1st floor consisted of a bathroom, closet, kitchenette and living area. Upstairs another bathroom closet and bedroom, and an ocean view to top it all off!

A large resort pool, many shops and resort bar O’Malley’s it’s all you need for a nice long weekend vacation. The surrounding area of Hollywood isn’t the most glamorous, but with O’Malley’s there’s no reason to stray too far. We haven’t tried any of the restaurants in the area, but we passed plenty of Seafood Restaurants right by the water which I’m sure are worth a try. Parking was $18/valet or $15 self park for 24hrs. $2/hr for short term parking, or street parking if you’re able to find anything.

Weekend in New York City

Our friend Katja is here visiting from Barcelona and we were very excited to join her in a weekend trip to NYC a few days ago. We chose to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Chelsea, just about 4 blocks from Penn Station. We were also half a block from the 6th Ave Street Fair which spanned 23rd – 32nd streets.

The fair was filled with local artists, crafters and amazing food to name a few. We enjoyed some corn on the cob, pastries, and Spanish Rice, pork and empanadas...yum!!! Katja bought several t-shirts from Rock Star Revolution , who creates and sells t-shirts with original designs, hand drawn and hand screened. We also ran into friends Meghan and Kyle Weber at their table for Ivy Haus Designs , where Meghan was showcasing her vintage and handmade jewelry line. Katja grabbed a handmade necklace and pair of earrings, while my outfit was missing some accessories so I went with a vintage piece and wore it that afternoon!


After a short nap, we had a few cocktails at the hotel bar (any house drink $5 happy hour special) then it was out to meet friends Heather and Kim for more drinks. They had just seen the matinee show of Phantom of the Opera so we met at Times Square and decided on the Hard Rock. Sure it may be a touristy, but it was close, convenient and not priced too bad either! Heather and Kim left for the train around 9pm and we headed off to dinner at Mezzaluna, an amazing little Italian pizzeria Meghan and Kyle had recommended to us earlier that day.
They had mentioned it was small, but thank goodness we went when we did because there was only seating for about 8-10 people! The atmosphere was great and super cozy and very friendly staff. Calamari appetizer, prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella, one veal meatball and pasta and 2 gourmet pizzas later...and a few beers and glasses of wine thrown in there...we were sufficiently stuffed and decided to skip the cab and walk the 28 blocks back to the hotel where we rested up for another full day of exploring the city the following morning.

A quick stop for coffee and a small breakfast, we hopped on the metro to the World Trade Center and Wall street. We then walked across Brooklyn bridge, took a few stops for photos and Katja picked up another hand drawn t-shirt.
By the time we made it to Brooklyn, our feet were begging for a break so we took a seat on a park bench and took out our iphone and used the “AroundMe” app to find a nice restaurant for lunch. At random, we chose The Horse Tavern and it turned out to be a great choice! Being Sunday afternoon the Tavern was offering a special Sunday Brunch menu including an assortment of mimosas and bloody mary’s, but Brian and I decided on a locally brewed Pilsner. Everyone’s meal with delicious and again the service was excellent! On our way out we showed our inner tourist as we asked for directions to the closes metro and snapped a picture of the restaurant from across the street.

We picked up our luggage from the hotel and walked the short 4 blocks to Penn Station. Even though our final destination was Philadelphia, we took the train to and from Hamilton NJ train station which was only $15 per person (one way) opposed to around $100 out of Philly. A good option if you’re open to a bit of a car ride in addition to the train.

All in all a great trip to the Big Apple! We can’t wait to go back and try out even more restaurants, bars and hotels in other areas of the city!!