So for the first week of May I went down to Florida and Alabama with my mom to visit some family and my best friend. The trip to see family in Florida was especially fun due to the fact that it was eleven years to the day that we were last down there, and it’s weird how so much has changed. Of course, seeing my best friend was just as much fun since I got to meet my nephew, finally. It only took (nearly) two years, haha.

Over the week I ended up having four (yes, four) cakes/celebrations for my birthday, though one was with my dad and step-mom the day before I left. So my dad and I figured that I’m actually 128 years old now, and I’m good on birthdays for a while. At least each cake was different so I didn’t get bored (ice cream cake, strawberry shortcake, salted caramel cheesecake, and white/vanilla cake), and the strawberry one was a surprise from my aunt, which was really slick of her!

Florida

So I have family that lives in Florida, as I feel a lot of people do. You mention Florida to anyone and they’ll tell you that they have some family there. It is a big state after all. In any case, this was the first part of the trip. We spent three nights at my aunt’s condo and got to see a good part of Jacksonville, including San Marco, which is where my cousins’ business is located. The most exhausting day was getting the tour from my cousins, which included going to Downtown Jacksonville and walking around… a lot. The main attractions that day were the Jacksonville Public Library – Downtown (gorgeous and huge!), a bookstore/café right across the street from the library, and some other sites around the city.

The day with my aunt and uncle was more low-key, but we did go to San Marco Square, which is home to a lot of independent businesses. My favorite stops were the San Marco Bookstore (obviously), Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, and The Spice & Tea Exchange. Also, Firehouse Subs.

Alabama

On my birthday I was in three different states. I started in Florida, flew to a quick layover in Georgia (Atlanta Airport is too big!), and ended in Alabama to see my best friend (V) and her family. She moved there nearly six years ago with her husband and I’ve only seen her a handful of times since. It’s been about three years since she was last up here, and I knew it was time to visit her for once. I also had the not-so hidden agenda of wanting to see my niece and nephew.

The visit there was a lot more low-key than Florida, as there wasn’t much we wanted to do there other than visit. We did go to The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner, and though my best friend failed to tell me there’s a Barnes & Noble right next door, we went there afterward. The next day we just hung around and had my birthday cake that she and my niece made for me, and that night V and I went to see The Super Mario Bros Movie, which we both enjoyed a lot more than we thought we would. Then the next day we went to 2nd & Charles, which is amazing, plus a few other places, then V came over sans kids and husband for us to just hang out and watch a movie at the hotel.

So the trip was a lot of traveling and seeing people, which meant I barely read anything, but I did buy quite a few books (which will be shown in a later post). I did enjoy my people though, and it was fun to meet some new ones that were added to the family since the last time I’d seen them.

However, five planes in six days is too much and I’ll gladly not fly for another eleven years unless it’s completely necessary. Nothing against Alabama, but I really loved Jacksonville/San Marco and would love to visit again!

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