Our 12-Year Anniversary Staycation in Tampa
Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been married for 12 years! I still vividly remember the day Gary and I got married on April 3, 2010. I was both so excited to marry my best friend and super nervous to be a wife.
What if I didn’t measure up? Would we make it long term? How will we be as parents?
There are so many things I learned about myself in the first few years of marriage. Some good and…some not good ha! But I’m thankful for the journey, and super excited to see what the future holds for us as a couple and as a family.
We weren’t going to do anything extravagant this year, because it’s not really a milestone year, and we agreed to plan bigger trips on the milestone years (5, 10, 15, 20 years). Last year we stayed at the Vinoy for the weekend, hung out at the pier, went to a fancy dinner and I got an amazing massage.
I was totally fine with staying home this year, and ordering takeout while we watched a movie. But my husband Gary wanted to do a little something special. So, we decided to do an overnight staycation.
We dropped the kids off with their grandparents and went to our favorite brunch spot, First Watch. I had the waffle, bacon, potatoes and fruit. I could literally eat brunch any time of the day or night!
We stayed at the Westin hotel in Tampa. Fun fact, we almost had our wedding there! Our room had a nice bay view and the hotel has a small beach where you can sit by the water or ride jet skis. We didn’t ride the jet skis, but thoroughly enjoyed watching other people, drinking our strawberry daiquiris and soaking up the sun. It was a nice breeze, so it wasn’t too hot. Beautiful blue skies.
We also watched the new Liam Neeson movie (I’m a Neeson fan, Gary is not but he watched anyway) Blacklight. It was a typical LN movie, but I didn’t care, I loved it!
Then, we went to dinner at our favorite steakhouse, Fleming’s. We both had steak, mashed potatoes and I had the wedge salad (yum!) We had a champagne toast and ordered Loosen Brothers, a super sweet white wine. We finished off with a delicious chocolate butter cake for dessert.
We watched The Grammy’s after dinner back at the hotel, and watched a beautiful sunset.
Meanwhile, the kids stayed with their grandparents and enjoyed every minute of. So much so, they didn’t want to leave, but that isn’t new.
Although it was a short trip, it was much needed. With so much going on in our busy lives, I realize how important it is to take a break, get a change of scenery and rest.
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise, got ready, picked up the kiddos and got back to work!
How do you celebrate your anniversaries? Anything exciting coming up soon?
Shop our staycation outfits below:
