For Memorial Day weekend this year we decided to head back to our favorite spot in Miami for a night and then from there head down to Turks & Caicos! We've been wanting to go to Turks & Caicos for a while now... we once saw something on the travel channel about it and fell in love! We closed out a busy Friday work day, packed and headed to LAX for a red-eye.
The red-eye was painless and we were in Miami before we knew it... Miami is beautiful at 7am!! We rented a small car and drove to our hotel via Collins Avenue during sunrise... the perfect way to start our vacation. We were immediately hit with the warm humid air... it was just what we needed after it being so cold back home.
We checked into the gorgeous One Bal Harbour Resort and to our surprise they upgraded us to a beautiful ocean-view room... it was breath taking!
We were right on the turquoise blue water... so beautiful.
It was time for breakfast so we headed downstairs for a very elegant breakfast buffet... we sat outside and enjoyed our coffee and breakfast... made us totally forget that we hadn't had any sleep!
In our package with our hotel room was included an outdoor cabana for the day... after breakfast we went straight to the pool and got comfy in our cabana, which had our very own jacuzzi too!
We rested, made trips to the beach (which was a couple feet away), swam in the bath water and had yummy drinks... the perfect way to un-wind!
When hunger struck, we went back to our room and had a delicious lunch out on our balcony... we just had to use our room since we were only there for a day! After lunch we went back to the pool for some more lounging and swimming... we also took naps which worked wonders for our tired bodies.
At night we got showered and dressed up and drove a couple miles up Collins Ave. for dinner, unbeknownst to us there was a hip-hop convention going on in town so what should of been a 10 minute drive turned into a 45 minute drive! What was even worse, we got to the restaurant and were just not impressed so rather than be unhappy at a restaurant we decided to leave and head back to our hotel! We ended up having a delicious dinner at one of the restaurants at One Bal Harbour... definitely should of never left!
Sunday morning was an early wake-up call in order to catch our flight to Turks & Caicos. We enjoyed one last breakfast on our balcony with some strong coffee and watched another beautiful sunrise... we just love Miami! We drove back to the airport and took a short hour and half flight to Turks & Caicos... and the adventure began! Right when we touched down onto the island, it started to drizzle and we hoped it would stay at that but... the airplane parked us about a half mile away from the airport so the moment we walked down the steps and onto the tarmac it started pouring like we've never seen it pour before! We walked that half mile in the pouring rain and once we got to the airport we were completely drenched... like we had just dunked ourselves in the ocean... our clothes, carry-ons, passports and all! Oh the joy of traveling! After waiting for our luggage for over an hour (they had to wait for the rain to die down) we managed to somehow recover... a taxi shuttle drove us to our hotel through floods of water all over the streets... I seriously thought we weren't going to make it! Well we did and got to our hotel, checked into our room and to our disappointment we didn't like it!!! How's that for an adventure?!
There was NO balcony and we were overlooking construction... we were paying an astronomical amount for this room and we couldn't believe this was it! After complaining and making a few phone calls, Ry said that's it- we are changing hotels! We packed back up, told the manger we were just not happy and a taxi picked us up and took us to the Veranda Resort... and finally our vacation began!
Funny how things work out sometimes but it was a GREAT call on Ry and we were in bliss from that moment on! This was an all-inclusive resort so everything was included... breakfast, lunch, dinner and great drinks! We headed straight to the beach and needed a couple of drinks after all that chaos.
There were three restaurants to choose from so the first night we went to the Grill and had a table right on the beach overlooking the breath-taking sunset...
The most beautiful sunsets we've ever seen. We had a great dinner and it was so nice to not have to worry about prices and all that... now I know why so many couples do all-inclusives! Finally by dinner time, we were ready to laugh about what had all happened that morning... thank goodness things ended up the way they did!
Monday was another early morning wake-up call for our snorkeling and conch cruise... we headed downstairs to a nice breakfast and then to the beach where our Caicos Dream Tour boat picked us up off shore... quite the experience!
We took a short boat ride to a Conch Farm and dove for conch! Well Ry did... I just snorkeled around of course. Since the conch were quite deep down, it took Ry several tries but finally he got one!! I was so proud!
After diving for conch, we snorkeled around a sand dollar farm and then some coral where we saw beautiful fish, huge lobster and a really big fish with huge teeth that I immediately swam away from upon seeing! It was a great snorkel experience.
After snorkeling, the boat took us to a beautiful little island where we disembarked to open up our conch! The boat guide took a hammer to our conch and showed us how to expose the flesh... very interesting can we say...
As he opened up each one of our conchs, he took out the reproductive organ- which was shaped like a noodle and known to the area as the greatest delicacy- and made each conch owner eat it!!! Ry represented and was brave enough to eat it... described it as a salty al dente noodle... can we say gross!!! Regardless, it was an adventure that we will never forget!
After opening up all the conch, the boat guides got busy preparing a conch salad for all of us and we got time to walk around the untouched island.
There were gorgeous white sea shells all over the powder white sand... so simple yet beautiful. This place is truly special.
After exploring we got back on the boat and had lunch... they cut up the conch into small pieces and made a cerviche out of it with chips and rum punch! The classic Caicos meal. I was surprised as to how good the conch actually was... I was very hesitant at first but I ended up really enjoying it. It was very mild and sweet!
Our boat tour came to an end and then let us back off at our hotel... what a neat activity to do, we really had fun! We went back to our hotel, had a quick lunch and parked ourselves back on the beach... we just couldn't get enough of the warm water and pristine beaches... no where else is it like this but the Caribbean.
Another amazing sunset and it was time for dinner... we chose the more elegant spot for our last night and had a 5 star meal with all the works... a perfect last dinner in Turks & Caicos. After dinner we had drinks by the fire-pits and then called it a night... all that swimming made us ready for some sleep!
On our last day before our afternoon flight, we had a couple more hours to spend swimming in the water and soaking up the sun. Then is was time to pack up, say good-bye to the amazing Veranda Resort and head back home.
After a very busy Memorial Weekend day of travel back home, we finally made it to our own bed late Tuesday night. What an amazing couple of days full for R&R, new adventures, great food and quality time together... made us realize how much we need to take more breaks like this! Hopefully someday again soon... :)
In honor of Ashley's birthday, we had a little birthday party for her at our place! Started off with our favorite champagne of course...
The boys just love catching up :)
I made Ash her favorite Red Roasted Pepper Tortilla soup...
And we ended with a "healthy" fruit tart! I am SO thankful for Ash, she is one special girl and and I just love her! Happy Birthday Ashley!
We are enjoying our beautiful Southern California summers by taking lots of beach walks along the coast and hanging out in Laguna Beach! Saturday we had a fun date night at Tommy Bahama's in Laguna.
They have great food and a very Hawaiian atmosphere... makes us feel like we are on vacation!
It's been a busy summer with lots of visits with friends, which is always fun! Gabe, Diana and Zander came down from Sacramento to get some dental work and stayed a couple days to hang out with us.
Friday night we met them at the Renaissance for drinks, it was so great to finally catch up.
Saturday they came over to our place for a tour and then we drove to Fashion Island and had an early dinner at True Foods on the patio... perfect summer night out!
Zander was so active and playful, he loved giving me kisses and I loved receiving them! It was so nice to spend a weekend with the Niles, they plan to move to LA in the next couple years so we are excited to have them close by.
I also visited with Jason and Kelli to see how much baby Sabrina has grown... she is so cute and it was so fun playing with her. It's so neat seeing all of our friends' families grow, it's definitely that time of our life!
My Daddy turning SIXTY called for a GRAND celebration!! We drove to the Four Season's in Westlake Village Saturday morning to begin the festivities. Just a short drive and we arrived to our hotel, checked in and strolled around the beautiful resort.
They have the prettiest gardens with tons of flowers, fruit trees and even vegetable beds where they pick veggie's for their restaurants.
We relaxed in the hammock...
Explored all the pools and spas...
The breath-taking waterfalls...
And took lots of pictures of course!
We went back to our room and had lunch... my mom baked bread and made a fresh salad from her garden... no better lunch then that!
After lunch it was pool time... we managed to secure the last four lounge chairs in the pool area... we got lucky, it was very busy! We had drinks, relaxed, my mom and Ry swam (water was too cold for my dad and I!)
After sunbathing, we cleaned up and got ready for my dad's birthday dinner. We toasted to my daddy's 60th with a nice bottle of champagne to start!
We took lots of pictures, as usual...
It's a very special occasion, you know!
After champagne and pictures, we finally headed down to dinner at Onyx Sushi Bar.
We all shared a fancy sushi dinner with all the works... everything was delicious!
My dad was presented with a birthday dessert... Happy 60th!! Hope he made a good wish ;)
After dinner we headed back to our rooms for more dessert and presents but we decided to lose the nice clothes and change into our pj's and robes!
We had chocolate covered strawberries delivered for present time :)
My daddy got some dapper clothing and then I gave him an album of each of my family members here and in Czech holding a 60 sign... regardless of distance, we were all there with him! He was very touched.
We all slept like babies and woke up Sunday morning ready for another day of fun! We had a nice breakfast and headed back to the pool and then hit up the spa. We rested and enjoyed the first nice weekend of summer.
After lunch it was time to pack and go... what a great time... we love this hotel so much! No better way to celebrate my dad's big milestone.
On our way home we decided to stop by the new Santa Monica Place Mall for some afternoon treats. We tackled traffic for a good hour (made us thankful that we don't live there anymore!)
We finally made it to the new Market, a smaller scale version of the SF Ferry building, which we LOVE! There were a handful of gourmet purveyors... we didn't know what to treat ourselves to first! We settled on the best hand-made gelato we've ever had, we even went back for seconds, had an organic latte and then finished off with gourmet chocolates... how's that for a feast! We had to try it all.
Afterwards, we walked around the mall and then out to 3rd Street Promenade where the boys were mesmerized by the crazy street performers (as you can see!) Unfortunately it was time to head back home... it was the perfect weekend get-a-way and we had so much fun celebrating my dad... we love you so much, Daddy, thank you for being the very best dad there is and Happy 60th Birthday, hope you had fun!
In honor of Steve's 31st Birthday, we were invited to celebrate over drinks and dinner!
We started off with our favorite... South Coast Sparkling Ruby Cuvee... cheers to Steve!
We had a lovely tri-tip dinner... everything was delicious!
After dinner we had an ice-cream Coldstone cake... the best way to celebrate!
We are so thankful for Steve and Ash and love celebrating events of our lives together... Happy 31st Steve... cheers to many more!
For Memorial Day weekend this year we decided to head back to our favorite spot in Miami for a night and then from there head down to Turks & Caicos! We've been wanting to go to Turks & Caicos for a while now... we once saw something on the travel channel about it and fell in love! We closed out a busy Friday work day, packed and headed to LAX for a red-eye.
The red-eye was painless and we were in Miami before we knew it... Miami is beautiful at 7am!! We rented a small car and drove to our hotel via Collins Avenue during sunrise... the perfect way to start our vacation. We were immediately hit with the warm humid air... it was just what we needed after it being so cold back home.
We checked into the gorgeous One Bal Harbour Resort and to our surprise they upgraded us to a beautiful ocean-view room... it was breath taking!
We were right on the turquoise blue water... so beautiful.
It was time for breakfast so we headed downstairs for a very elegant breakfast buffet... we sat outside and enjoyed our coffee and breakfast... made us totally forget that we hadn't had any sleep!
In our package with our hotel room was included an outdoor cabana for the day... after breakfast we went straight to the pool and got comfy in our cabana, which had our very own jacuzzi too!
We rested, made trips to the beach (which was a couple feet away), swam in the bath water and had yummy drinks... the perfect way to un-wind!
When hunger struck, we went back to our room and had a delicious lunch out on our balcony... we just had to use our room since we were only there for a day! After lunch we went back to the pool for some more lounging and swimming... we also took naps which worked wonders for our tired bodies.
At night we got showered and dressed up and drove a couple miles up Collins Ave. for dinner, unbeknownst to us there was a hip-hop convention going on in town so what should of been a 10 minute drive turned into a 45 minute drive! What was even worse, we got to the restaurant and were just not impressed so rather than be unhappy at a restaurant we decided to leave and head back to our hotel! We ended up having a delicious dinner at one of the restaurants at One Bal Harbour... definitely should of never left!
Sunday morning was an early wake-up call in order to catch our flight to Turks & Caicos. We enjoyed one last breakfast on our balcony with some strong coffee and watched another beautiful sunrise... we just love Miami! We drove back to the airport and took a short hour and half flight to Turks & Caicos... and the adventure began! Right when we touched down onto the island, it started to drizzle and we hoped it would stay at that but... the airplane parked us about a half mile away from the airport so the moment we walked down the steps and onto the tarmac it started pouring like we've never seen it pour before! We walked that half mile in the pouring rain and once we got to the airport we were completely drenched... like we had just dunked ourselves in the ocean... our clothes, carry-ons, passports and all! Oh the joy of traveling! After waiting for our luggage for over an hour (they had to wait for the rain to die down) we managed to somehow recover... a taxi shuttle drove us to our hotel through floods of water all over the streets... I seriously thought we weren't going to make it! Well we did and got to our hotel, checked into our room and to our disappointment we didn't like it!!! How's that for an adventure?!
There was NO balcony and we were overlooking construction... we were paying an astronomical amount for this room and we couldn't believe this was it! After complaining and making a few phone calls, Ry said that's it- we are changing hotels! We packed back up, told the manger we were just not happy and a taxi picked us up and took us to the Veranda Resort... and finally our vacation began!
Funny how things work out sometimes but it was a GREAT call on Ry and we were in bliss from that moment on! This was an all-inclusive resort so everything was included... breakfast, lunch, dinner and great drinks! We headed straight to the beach and needed a couple of drinks after all that chaos.
There were three restaurants to choose from so the first night we went to the Grill and had a table right on the beach overlooking the breath-taking sunset...
The most beautiful sunsets we've ever seen. We had a great dinner and it was so nice to not have to worry about prices and all that... now I know why so many couples do all-inclusives! Finally by dinner time, we were ready to laugh about what had all happened that morning... thank goodness things ended up the way they did!
Monday was another early morning wake-up call for our snorkeling and conch cruise... we headed downstairs to a nice breakfast and then to the beach where our Caicos Dream Tour boat picked us up off shore... quite the experience!
We took a short boat ride to a Conch Farm and dove for conch! Well Ry did... I just snorkeled around of course. Since the conch were quite deep down, it took Ry several tries but finally he got one!! I was so proud!
After diving for conch, we snorkeled around a sand dollar farm and then some coral where we saw beautiful fish, huge lobster and a really big fish with huge teeth that I immediately swam away from upon seeing! It was a great snorkel experience.
After snorkeling, the boat took us to a beautiful little island where we disembarked to open up our conch! The boat guide took a hammer to our conch and showed us how to expose the flesh... very interesting can we say...
As he opened up each one of our conchs, he took out the reproductive organ- which was shaped like a noodle and known to the area as the greatest delicacy- and made each conch owner eat it!!! Ry represented and was brave enough to eat it... described it as a salty al dente noodle... can we say gross!!! Regardless, it was an adventure that we will never forget!
After opening up all the conch, the boat guides got busy preparing a conch salad for all of us and we got time to walk around the untouched island.
There were gorgeous white sea shells all over the powder white sand... so simple yet beautiful. This place is truly special.
After exploring we got back on the boat and had lunch... they cut up the conch into small pieces and made a cerviche out of it with chips and rum punch! The classic Caicos meal. I was surprised as to how good the conch actually was... I was very hesitant at first but I ended up really enjoying it. It was very mild and sweet!
Our boat tour came to an end and then let us back off at our hotel... what a neat activity to do, we really had fun! We went back to our hotel, had a quick lunch and parked ourselves back on the beach... we just couldn't get enough of the warm water and pristine beaches... no where else is it like this but the Caribbean.
Another amazing sunset and it was time for dinner... we chose the more elegant spot for our last night and had a 5 star meal with all the works... a perfect last dinner in Turks & Caicos. After dinner we had drinks by the fire-pits and then called it a night... all that swimming made us ready for some sleep!
On our last day before our afternoon flight, we had a couple more hours to spend swimming in the water and soaking up the sun. Then is was time to pack up, say good-bye to the amazing Veranda Resort and head back home.
After a very busy Memorial Weekend day of travel back home, we finally made it to our own bed late Tuesday night. What an amazing couple of days full for R&R, new adventures, great food and quality time together... made us realize how much we need to take more breaks like this! Hopefully someday again soon... :)
