Travel Diaries: Ponte Vedra, Florida
The four of us LOVE to travel Memorial Day weekend! It always marks the beginning of summer break for the girls. I know some schools go past Memorial Day, but as for the girl’s school, they are out right before the long weekend! I love picking up the girls and picking up Matthew at work and heading to the beach to kick off summer! Whoohoo! We usually start summer on Sea Island, but we decided to change it up this year! We booked our stay at The Ponte Vedra Inn. Matthew and I use to go there quite a bit before having the girlies, so we were really excited to go back. We really had the best time this trip!! I think part of the fun was trying a place with the girls they had never been to (Caroline went with us when she was two, but I don’t think that counts)! It’s about a seven hour drive from Chattanooga (took us 10…yikes, but we hit Atlanta traffic at the wrong time), but really not a bad drive at all!
Ponte Vedra is beyond perfect for kids. From the “passport” they give the kids to get stamped around the resort during the stay to the awesome slide at the family beachside pool, we love it all! The beachside cafe has a great menu for lunch with activities for kids during the day when you need a break from the sun. This is also where we fell in love with the local popsicles, Hyppo Pops, which they offer a selection of each day at the Beach Side Snack Bar. Plus, all the hotel rooms are right on the beach, so with children, it’s super easy to run up to the room for more sunscreen, pool toys, sandcastle toys, forgotten googles, etc. The convenience to everything is perfect ….it feels luxurious, yet laid back, basically family-oriented beachside perfection!
Sun hat / pool shoes but also found this pair cheap / blue plaid cover-up free people, can’t find exact one, but love this one and this one / Caroline’s terry cover-up / Caroline’s bow shoes and you won’t believe how cheap they are!
The Memorial Day kids activities were a hit with all the kids. My kids always love crafts and the staff working with the children was amazing. They offer a kids camp and parent’s night out too. We opted to not do either of these, but Caroline and Sarah took part in the daily craft, glitter tattoos, limbo on the beach, musical hula hoop game and more!
girl’s shoes / love these white dresses for the girl’s if the ones they are wearing are still sold out / girl’s dresses / headbands / my top / my shorts are old, but these are this year’s version / my shoes / shell earrings / my favorite sunglasses I wear all the time
Lulu’s Waterfront Grille is a super fun family spot for dinner, where the kids can enjoy walking around on the dock before and after dinner. Plus, the seafood and veggies are delicious too! I had fabulous key lime pie here too!!
Caroline’s cover up, could also be a cute dress!
My top is Willow Park Boutique, a perfect go to online shop for everyday wear and basics to complete outfits.
This white dress is one I have worn non-stop this summer with the girls. / Tuckernuck lemon earrings are sold out, but I love these lemon ones / Sarah’s yellow dress is Haley and the Hound / Caroline’s romper is Sandbox Boutique and you can use “Tracy20” for 20% off your online purchase / Headbands
This was the third night of the trip, when we stayed on the beach until 6:30, then got ready really quick and ate dinner at the casual hotel restaurant overlooking the beach. Our food was delicious! I had the coastal cocktail with avocado, tomato, lobster and shrimp and I know Matthew enjoyed his Mayport shrimp! I also devoured a slice of key lime pie that was some of the best I’ve ever had! Overall, I definitely recommend eating at the Surf Deck Grille one night.
LOVE these stripe pool beach shoes which can be found here and here!
My most asked about swimsuit can be found here! / Sarah’s is Sandbox Boutique in Chattanooga
Our last night of the trip, we ate at North Beach Fish Camp, where we had a fabulous southern meal and had so much fun! By this point in the trip, we were all so relaxed and this entire meal we played a funny game of “Would You Rather?” ….if you have not played this silly kids game based on the Disney show “Coop and Cami” you should as a time to laugh with your kiddos. Sarah comes up with some crazy “Would You Rather?” questions, all of which had us belly laughing and Caroline’s “Would You Rather?” questions are perfect conversation starters at the ten year old level. On a different note, even if you don’t want to play this crazy game at dinner, if you’re heading to Ponte Vedra, we highly recommend North Beach Fish Camp, which is about a ten minute drive from the hotel.
Caroline’s rashguard swimsuit, which will be perfect for sleep away camp at the end of summer
This picture is from our last morning and how long is too long to have the girls always wear matching pajamas? I don’t think they’ll stop until one of them gets married….They love this as much as I do and they picked out these precious nightgowns to order before this trip. Hope you enjoyed our beach pictures….off to Sea Island next week. Oh, and I am working on my photo editing skills. I like doing some of it myself, but it is definitely a work in progress, so bear with me….the pictures in this post look a bit blurry, but I love learning about photography and editing lighting, etc….so hope to be posting better pictures in the next post, but this is what I have for now and I love being honest with you on my blogging journey! Happy weekend! XOXO, Tracy