This Thanksgiving, instead of spending it at home eating stuffing and pumpkin pie, my family and I flew out to Florida. We ate so many delicious foods from multiple cuisines, and I didn’t ever want to leave. The way the water changed from purple to dark blue to turquoise, the cute beachfront houses and the amazing people, made me want to stay forever.
First, we drove up to West Palm Beach. My friend Brooke went for a week so I went by her travel guide and it was so helpful, even though we only stayed for a day!
She recommended a place called Nick & Johnnie’s to me and it was soooo good – their restaurant was even furnished with Lilly Pulitzer chairs, which I’ve never seen before. We ate there for Sunday Brunch and there were about ten items I wanted to order… but I settled with the Haight-Ashbury brunchy bowl (which had rice, egg whites, chicken, salsa, and avocado).
Then, we drove down to Miami and stayed at a hotel called Mandarin Oriental for a day, and we honestly didn’t do much there but kick back and relax. It was so cool to go to a place that many celebrities such as Geoffrey Rush and Morgan Freeman stayed at. The cafe was simple but had all I wanted – a refreshing green juice and veggie wrap! It wasn’t much, but since I woke up pretty late every day this week, we only had brunch and dinner, and I ended up eating a lot for brunch, not that much for dinner, and some snacks here and there.
Finally, we stayed at the Florida Keys for the rest of our stay, at it was one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. We went paragliding, snorkeling, dolphin hunting, and kayaking. We stayed at The Marker, which was a waterfront hotel and a little bit pricier than the hotels around it. However, it is a very convenient location and is located right next to the “main” eating/shopping/boating area on the island.
When we arrived, the first place we ate at was the Fisherman’s Cafe – it’s small but serves the most delicious island-worthy finger food. I ordered the lobster tacos and sweet potato fries on the very first day we arrived, and later also had the black bean burger. It was gigantic and matched my appetite on that particular day :)
On day 2, we went to a French cafe called Le Petit Paris, and it was so good that we went again on our last day. I got the granola bowl the first time we went, and later the lobster benedict. It was absolutely delicious and I’m definitely going to go again the next time I visit Key West.
We also stopped at the Eaton Street Seafood Market. This place is very pricey, but my dad insisted on going since he’d seen so many good reviews on Yelp. It turned out to be really good, but not worth the price in my opinion (my dad thought it was great though!)
Finally, my parents picked up some delicious treats from the main street (Duval) and got three flavors of fudge (pumpkin walnut, chocolate peanut butter, and key lime) from Kilwins, and six different flavored macaroons from Le Macaron French Pastries (which I believe were chocolate, caramel, pecan, lavender, lemon, and key lime pie). The fudge was so rich and melted right in my mouth, and the macaroons were soft and delicate.
I hope y’all had a safe Thanksgiving. I had so much fun on my trip to Florida – it was one of the most memorable trips of my life! I made so many memories here and I can’t wait to come back.
No Comments