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You HAVE to try the food!

Miami had the most amazing food!  We at everything from Cuban sandwiches and Argentina prepared steaks, to sushi and pad thai.  To find the really good places to eat, don’t just ask the front desk.  They will give you the menus to the chain and a few of the bigger local restaurants.  Who you want to ask are the bartenders and the shuttle drivers.  They know where the REAL good, local food is.

So as soon as we arrived, we knew we wanted authentic Cuban food.  So the shuttle driver took us to La Rosa Restaurant.

This restaurant had the BEST Cuban sandwiches!

We arrived on a Wednesday, so at lunch it was filled with business men and women on their lunch breaks.  I’m pretty sure we were the only tourists there, which tells you it is good.  Hubby and I both ordered Cuban Sandwiches and while Hubby took a chance on the fried plantains, I went with good old fries.  I was wrong (shh…don’t tell anyone!).  The fried plantains were AMAZING!

The atmosphere of this place made you feel like you were walking into someone’s Cuban grandma’s dining room.  The wait staff were great too.  Hubby, as usual, rolled his eyes when I couldn’t decide what to order and left it up to the waiter to decide.  He did not steer me wrong!

La Rosa’s was SO good, we actually went back for dinner the last night we were in Miami.  It was a completely different atmosphere then.  When you walked in, you felt like you are in this local fine restaurant.  The food was still amazing, and we at a TON of plantains!

Another night for dinner, we went to an Argentinian Steakhouse.  Didn’t know Argentina was known for their steak?  Neither did we, so now you are in on the secret!

La Patagonia was wonderful.  The steaks were so juicy and flavorful, it threw this Midwestern girl for a loop!  I didn’t think we would get THAT good of steaks outside of the Midwest.

The atmosphere was very intimate, although there was a large extended family having a celebration at the table next to us!  When we paid the bill, they even gave us a coupon for the next time we were there.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get back.

Another night for dinner, Hubby decided he couldn’t be this close to the ocean and not have sushi.  I don’t touch the stuff myself, but as long as the menu had something else, I was good!  Suvi  was perfect and combined what both of us love!

Sushi and Thai!

Hubby ordered the sushi and was impressed by how well it tasted.  We actually got to watch them making the sushi.  I ate my good ole standby of pad thai.  Not going to lie, I have had better pad thai, but considering I didn’t get it very often, it definitely took care of the craving!

The atmosphere was completely different than the other restaurants we went to.  this was bright, white, with the typical Asian restaurant motifs.

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Caroline: Little House Revisited

If you loved reading the Little House on the Prairie series when you were younger (and seriously, who didn’t wish to be a member of the Ingalls family!), the more adult you will love Caroline.

This book tells the story of Little House on the Prairie from MA’s point of view. It really gives a different flavor to the story. I read this book right after reading Little House on the Prairie to K. The author did a great job taking parts of the book and showing you the same event from an adult prospective.

The book also does a fantastic job showing the stringent social rules hat women had to live under during that time period. The author showed how an intelligent woman had to hold her tongue and let her husband make the decisions, even though she may have better ideas.

This book is definitely a must read.

Here is where to buy it:Caroline Little House revisited by Sarah Miller

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The Kane Chronicles by Rick Ridorian

I started reading this series so I could get M reading it. (Ok, I also loved reading the Percy Jackson series too). The series consist of three books, The Red Pyramid, The Throne of Fire, and The Serpent’s Shadow, and follows the adventures of the Kane Children.

This book does a great job of explaining who the Egyptian Gods are and why they were so revered by the Egyptians. Kids (and parents too!) don’t even realize the learning they are doing. These are easy reads, but still really enjoyable.

This series does a great job showing how a sibling relationship actually is. There are so many books now that show sibling relationships either as really great or fighting and annoying each other constantly.

These are bigger books, so when traveling by plane, I would make sure they are in paperback or on e reader so that it won’t be so heavy.

You can buy them on Amazon here:

The Red Pyramid by Rick Roirdan

The Throne of Fire by Rick Roirdan

The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Roirdan

The entire Kane Chronicles box set

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Cozumel with M.

We had so much fun in Cozumel the first time, but we spent most of the five days saying M would love this, or what would M think of this?  So the next year we decided to take M there!

This was M’s first real vacation, first time flying, first time out of the country.  We learned our lesson and went a full seven days this time.  M fell in love with traveling at the tender age of seven years old.  I have to admit, it was definitely different bringing M, but definitely still fun.  Hubby and M would go snorkeling three or four times that week.  We also did a lot of excursions with M, so that he could learn so much more about the Mexico culture.

M really loved all of the animals that were all over the resort.  He said hello and goodnight to the flamingos every day!

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Snorkeling

Some of the fish that are all over.

The Hubby and I wanted to try our hand at snorkeling, so we went on the snorkeling excursion through the resort.  It was a great experience, and we saw a lot of different marine life that we didn’t see right at the resort.  My favorite was seeing a sea turtle!  We were gone for the afternoon, and the snorkeling was led by a guide who did a great job pointing out all the different marine life that we found.  We used the snorkel gear that the hotel provided, and mine worked great.  Hubby had a few problems getting a good seal on his, which led us to buy our own snorkel gear when we got home.  That was one of the best purchases we have made for our trips. 

The snorkeling right off the beach was just as good.  Hubby saw a lobster, and there were so many fish around the dock.  There were even sting rays right off the beach, which is the main reason you want to wear swim shoes or sandals.  The coral went literally right up to the beach, so you could snorkel deep or shallow.

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Cozumel, Mexico

Cozumel was the first trip that the Hubby and I took after we got married.  Okay, so it took us eight years to take a trip after we got married, but who’s counting.

We only went for five days, but it was FANTASTIC!!  We stayed at the Iberostar Cozumel, and the place was amazing.  This all inclusive resort had amazing food, great drinks, and the staff was amazing!

The best part of this resort is that it is located on a National Park that is located in the Ocean.  Having a coral reef right off the beach means fantastic snorkeling, without having to pay a lot or travel on a boat for a while.  There is a $2.00 fee to use the National Park, but it is well worth it.  Just make sure that you have shoes or sandals that you can wear in the water, and if you are looking for a beach that is sandy into the water, this isn’t the place, but the marine life we saw was so great.

We fell in love with the bungalow style rooms.  They were so much more intimate and quiet.  The layout of the rooms were really neat, in that they were circular!  The room was a fourth of a circle!  The only entry into the room was through the sliding glass doors, and each bungalow had a patio and a hammock.  The patio was great for hanging out and reading a good book when I woke up early and Hubby slept in.  It also was good for drying our swimsuits after all the snorkeling we did!

Cozumel, Mexico
The pool and swim up bar.
A look out the door of the our room. (No, it wasn’t raining, but that is how much humidity was in the air!)
Our room and one of the many great towel designs that were made for us every single day.
Another angle of our room.
The great bathroom in our bungalow.

 

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Katie Says JUST GO!!!

If your like me, life is WAY to busy!  Between work, kids, the house, and then trying to keep up with everything else, there is never any time.

No matter what you do or where you live, you need to make time to get away. Whether it is with your significant other, your friends, or the whole family, getting out of your every day routine and sometimes your comfort zone is always a good thing!

That is why KATIE SAYS GO!  Make that bucket list, and then start checking them off!  Whether it is seeing some of the amazing national parks, or going all out and wanting to show your kids the world, there are ways you can do it without breaking the bank!

The Hubby and I have agreed that our kids don’t need more “things”. We want to give them experiences and memories.  I know what your thinking, it is so expensive and we don’t have the time!  I get it.  Hubby and I went EIGHT YEARS before we took our first vacation.  Yeah, that’s right.  We started small with a five day trip to Mexico, just the two of us, over New Year’s Eve.  It was AMAZING.  Ever since then we got the travel bug.

We are passing that down to our kids, M and K.  M first traveled internationally at the age of 7.  K was a little luckier and turned 6 two days before she travelled internationally the first time.   Since then, we haven’t turned back.

So feel free to take a look at our travels and reviews of all the places we have been.   I will give you all my little tips and tricks that I have used to get the most out of each trip.  Most importantly, stop putting it off and JUST GO!!