A trip South

By wheremyfeetare on May 19, 2015 • ( 29 Comments )

It’s May, the month my sister, mom, aunt and I spend an extended weekend in South Beach celebrating mom’s birthday. My aunt flew from Westchester to West Palm Beach on Wednesday and spent the day with mom. They picked me up in Ft Lauderdale on Thursday morning and we continued on to Miami airport to pick up my sister. My flight was early, Liz’s was late but we arrived at our hotel in time for lunch.

Our view from the 10th floor.

We’ve been vacationing in South Beach for years in different combinations: my mom and I have been several times and have stayed in different hotels, my sister and mom have traveled together there as well and I think my mom and aunt have been. But for the past three years it’s been the four of us – two sisters and two sisters – staying in the same hotel. We started planning our trip in February, giving us all something to look forward to during the last cold, snowy weeks of winter.

When we arrived last year the rainy, windy weather was less than ideal. This trip offered up sunny skies and hot, humid temps. It rained one afternoon, sending us inside for about a half hour. Once the winds died off and the sky cleared we took our post poolside once again.

Palm trees and sandy beach…..view from the pool

This is where we could be found everyday

We spoiled ourselves with pedicures and facials but, mostly, alternated our time between a chaise lounge and the pool. For three days. There was a run one morning followed by boot camp on the beach and another run the following morning but that’s as hard as I worked. The staff knew it was mom’s birthday; similar to last year there was a chocolate cake in the room upon our arrival, chocolate cake left in the room again on Saturday and macarons served as a surprise after dinner Saturday night. I shouldn’t mention the giant cookie I ate everyday – chocolate chip, peanut butter, cranberry white chocolate (and chocolate chocolate chip for the trip home).

On Saturday night I started lamenting that our weekend was coming to an end. I stopped myself, reminded myself to stay present and enjoy every moment as it unfolded. We had a delicious celebratory dinner followed by dessert and coffee. We had a lot of laughs, too. Once one of us gets a good laugh going the rest of us join in and we’re lost. We laughed until the tears ran down our cheeks. People around us looked and smiled, nodded. A few even commented on how much fun we were having. And we do. We enjoy each other’s company and appreciate our quirks and silliness. I don’t know if we’ll be able to continue our May tradition, if not, I’ve got great memories. Thanks (especially) Liz, Auntie and Mom. It was a blast! What I don’t understand is why I’ve been tired since getting home when all I did was relax!

With Aunt Sylvia, Liz and Mom

Sisters in South Beach

Categories: Travel

Tagged as: beach, birthday celebration, facials, Family, pedicures, Poolside, present moment, South Beach, staying present, vacation