The White House takes over FLO-RI-DA: Week 1

Hello Everyone and welcome back to my blog! My oh my... me and my hubby are on an adventure! He and I had planned to go to Florida for four, YES 4 WEEKS! But... We had some issues with the place we were staying (renovations and not clean) and my hubby had some issues on his project from work, so we decided to cut our vacation short! We were out there, because my allergies are so bad in Arizona and they needed a break... plus the ocean air will do my asthma some good! Another reason is... I just plain wanted to go! Lol... So here we go!

First, out the gate DAY 1... The views from the plane were AMAZING! Beautiful sunset and great views of the Florida Everglades! Once we got to the Dollar Rental Car, we picked up our SUV and the adventure began. First stop was our resort. We stayed in the beautiful Marriott Beach Place Towers oceanfront property... Wow!!! The views were spectacular!

Day 2... Today we visited the beautiful and historic Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami, Florida. The building dates back to 1906, but has been modified to enclose the center of it to preserve the integrity and protect it from the environment, this will allow it to be experienced for 100 more years. The building came straight from Italy, France and you notice all the amazing architecture of France. From the intricate and detailed moldings, ceilings, wallpaper, flooring and furnishings... It is clear why this place is on the national historic registry.

Then you go outside and the views from the back are incredible! The building is stunningly beautiful and the details are breathtaking! The museum is surrounded by the ocean far and wide, which adds to it's alluring beauty! There is a stone shipwreck boat, that appears to be sliced in half... so mesmerizing! Again, if you turn around and face the museum, you are taken back to France! It is absolutely gorgeous!!!!

Then you head into the gardens... OH MY WOW!!!!! I have never seen nothing like it! There are no words!!!! There are so many areas of the garden that are more beautiful the previous ones. The gardens are manicured and carefully cared for. Plan to spend hours to a half-day at the museum and garden... There is so much to see, you just can't take it in, in just a couple of hours. The pictures don't do this place justice, but it will give you a good overview of how beautiful Vizcaya Museum & Gardens are... I hope you visit!

Also on this day we went to the Everglades National Park. There are CROCKODILES AND MANATEES IN THIS WATER!!! While in the Everglades we did a boat tour and seen some crockadiles and the everglades... Did you know there are thousands of miles of them?... You could see how massive the everglades are from the airplane, but man... They are amazing! After we were done, we stopped on the side of the road to see something that captured our focus... A wooden deck leading into the everglades with hundresds of Cypress Trees. What was unique about the trees is how barron they were. The trees lose their leaves in the winter and then they appear white in color. In the setting with the everglades (swamp), it was a very erie affect, but oh so beautiful... This was my favorite place so far!

Day 3... Our journey continued as we ventured off to the Flamingo Botanical Gardens & Wildlife Sanctuary. This place was amazing! Flamingo Gardens is a hidden gem in Davie, Florida... The flamingos and prey are so well fed with fish and meat, they turn their noses up at the pebbled, hard bird food. But the scavengers (crows), ate it up and was very thankful! Lol...

It was difficult to watch the birds of prey eat; They eat baby chicks. They are meat eaters I know, but still hard to watch them eat these poor defensless baby chickidies; they weren't alive, but still! And... There were "50" wild kitty cats that live here... each one has a name. Some were friendly, others... not so much! A wonderful place to visit. So nice to see the sanctuary rescuing so many displaced or injured animals and give them a nice, safe place to call home!

After the Flamingo Gardens we headed to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. You may ask what is so special about this place? Well... for starters, you can see it from the airplane. When we flew into Fort Lauderdale, it caught my eye from the plane. A large blue guitar surrounded by a resort. I wondered what was this place? So, I had to investigate. Turns out the large guitar is an actual hotel itself (hotel guitar) filled with hotel rooms. And every night the hotel (guitar side) lights up and does a huge light display to music! Very cool!!!

We are not gamblers but I did try my hand at the slots... I won $7.50... Woohoo! So I cashed out and stayed ahead. We visited some beautiful places in the massive hotel. There was a unique waterfall and lighting. We had a great time!

Day 4... On this day we went into downtown Fort Lauderdale to visit the Riverwalk. It was very cool watching the boats come in and out, see all the tall buildings & condos and watch the bridge rise up/down to let in taller boats. The Riverwalk is very beautiful and a nice place to relax and have a picnic lunch! On this day, I logged a whopping 17,120 steps! OMGoodness!

On Day 5... Vel and I went to the downtown area again, this time to Las Olas Riverfront Historic District. Man, the area is really pretty and the food was so gooood and so fresh! I enjoyed looking at and visiting the historic buildings and chatting with people. This was for sure a highlight of this trip!

On Day 6 & 7... We took a well needed rest and just hung out at the Marriott Beach Place Towers Resort. We did some walking, souvenir shopping and got some pics of the beach and local area around us! The sunsets & sunrises were amazing! We had great oceanfront views from our suite. Our first week was wonderful! Although the weather, was cooler some days, due to a storm that came in, we enjoyed our time in Fort lauderdale.... Next stop, flying to Orlando. We sill be staying 3 weeks there!