Friday Favorites-Favorite Vacations

Happy Friday, friends! In the spirit of vacationing I’m doing something a little different with my favorites this week. I wanted to highlight some of my favorite trips and of course provide some throwback pics because we all know they’re fun to look at. This is probably the longest post ever, so I understand if you scroll through. But, if you have sometime and want to relive some memories with us, welcome along.

All of these trips are from before my blogging days so I thought it would be fun to document them here. 

1. Dominican Engagement Trip: Eric and I started traveling before we even got engaged (no judgements, please). Traveling has always been a passion of both of ours, so it only made sense he would propose to  me on a trip.

Before we left for our trip my friends kept asking me if they thought he was going to propose. I had no clue and was just excited to be going away. I kind of wish they never really asked me because that planted the idea in my head and I kept thinking about it. I even looked over his shoulder on the plane to see if he was claiming anything on the customs paperwork. He didn’t. I thought there was no way he had a ring and this was just another regular vacation.

The next day was my birthday and still no proposal. At that point I just figured it wasn’t happening and went on enjoying our trip. Well, the next day after we had an amazing dinner, still one of the best Italian dishes I had, we came back to our room and I ended up falling asleep. He must have scurried around while I was snoozing because he woke me up about an hour or so later and asked me if I wanted to come sit outside with him. The patio to our room had its own hot tube and when I went outside it was filled with bubbles, rose petals, and candles all around. At that moment I knew what was happening and couldn’t have been more excited to say yes. I also love that he didn’t do it on my actual birthday and now we have a separate day to celebrate.

2. Honeymoon: we traveled to Aruba for our honeymoon and spent 10 beautiful days in the sun. This was such a fun vacation because the planning of the wedding was over and the excitement of being Mr. and Mrs. was at an all time high. We left the Monday right after our wedding and it couldn’t have worked out more perfect. Along with our typical wedding registry items we also decided to setup a honeymoon registry. These were some of my favorite gifts we received. It was so much fun enjoying so many great excursions from our family and friends and memories that will last a lifetime.

One of the highlights of our trip was eating at the Flying Fishbone during sunset with our table at the edge of the water. It was so good that we went back and had dinner there again for our 5 year anniversary, and this time a nugget was with us and I was pregnant with number two 🙂

3. European cruise: in 2012 we went on a European cruise with Eric’s family. This was my first time on a cruise and I had no clue what to expect. I loved being able to see so many countries in one trip, but to be honest, I’m not sure I’m a cruise person. I like being on my own terms and not having to get back to the boat at a certain time etc. Now don’t get me wrong, I had a great time and some of these countries I would love to go back and visit again, I’m just not anxious to be cruising anytime soon.

We may or may not have missed our flights to Oslo to start the cruise. Not by our doing though. Actually, Eric and I were the only ones who could have gotten on that flight because we checked ourselves in at home. Anyway, long story short we all caught a flight to Paris to pickup the cruise there and just got to spend some more time in an awesome city.

Paris-oh my goodness, I would go back to Paris in a heartbeat. I loved everything about it from the food to the culture. There are so many sights to see and amazing things to take in.

Normandy-after Paris we traveled to Normandy which was a quaint little area known for their beaches and fishing. It was so windy there but rightfully so since we were near the water.

Liverpool-we got to see where the Beetles were first discovered, which was a really cool experience. Wouldn’t you know, the day we happened to be there the Queen was visiting. Never in a million years did I ever think I would have been able to see the Queen! That right there kind of made the cruise amazing.

Ireland-this is another country I would go back to in a heartbeat. It was easy to navigate with no real language barrier, the rolling hills were beautiful, and we had the best time on Temple St. doing our own pub crawl.

Scotland-this was another beautiful country with lush greenery and lots of sheep. There were also some really cool castles to checkout here as well.

Norway-this ended the cruise for us and we took some extra time exploring the area before we caught a flight to Amsterdam. Oslo seemed pretty cool but it was extremely expensive as our US dollar was nothing compared to their krone. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time here but what we did see was very pretty.

Amsterdam-we finished our time in Europe here and I think at this point I was happy to be done with cruising, and to get into some warmer weather. Amsterdam felt like a breath of fresh air and somewhere we could relax and not be on a schedule. Putting my moral convictions aside we just ignored the red light district (it’s really only one section) and enjoyed the city for what it is.

Overall it was very beautiful and a lot to do there. We went to local markets, enjoyed some delicious food, and went to the Heineken factory. Eric’s work conference will actually be taking place here in a few months and if you remember, I said I was going to be tagging along if I could. So guess who’s going back to Amsterdam?! This girl 🙂

4. St. Maarten/St. Martin: to celebrate our one year anniversary we knew we wanted to spend it somewhere laying on the beach and enjoying each others company. We wanted an island that was easy to navigate on our own yet didn’t feel overwhelming or unsafe. 

St. Martin was perfect for us! We stayed on the Dutch side but rented a car our last few days and explored some of the nicest beaches I have ever seen. The water was crystal clear and you could see all the way to the bottom. I remember wearing pinkish nail polish and fish coming up to peck at my toes. I wasn’t as freaked out as I thought I would  be and once I dug my toes in the sand they swam away. The food was also really good on the French side and it almost felt like you were on two different islands with the split culture.

If you ever visit, you have to check out the Sunset Beach Bar that is right at the end of the runway. You see the planes coming in and taking off and they literally look like they are coming right at you! We also took a catamaran over to Anguilla for the day since the islands were so close. We enjoyed the beaches over there and even found a starfish in the water.

5. Bahamas Babymoon: we decided we wanted to do a babymoon before A was born and wanted to go somewhere that had a quick flight. Neither of us had ever been to the Bahamas before so it seemed like a nice island to check out.

We decided to leave on Memorial Day and if I could travel on a holiday every time, I would. There was no one in the airport. That is, except for the Jonas Brothers. They had the right idea of traveling at a less crowded time too. Wouldn’t you know, they were on our plane and going to the same place.  They were nice enough to take a pic with me, I just can’t believe Eric took it so blurry. I’ve since given him a pass and let’s just say his photog skills have drastically improved 🙂 All of them congratulated me on my pregnancy and Kevin’s wife Dani also came up to me and said congrats.

We had such a great time relaxing in the Bahamas, but I will say, aside from enjoying our resort and enjoying the beaches, this wasn’t the most amazing Island for me. It’s still a favorite though because of what we celebrated. We have also considered going back here with the boys because we know they would love all the attractions at the Atlantis.