honeymoon part 3: disney world!

The grande finale... Disney! After our fabulous stay in South Beach, we headed north to Orlando. Richard had never been to Disney World (and went to Disneyland when he was too little to remember) and since we were in the area, a 3 hour drive was fine by me! :D The Disney Parks are, hands down, some of my favorite places on the planet. I become giddy and stupidly happy. What Richard feels about Christmas, I feel about Disney. Should we ever do Christmas at Disney, we our energy would be hazardous. ;P One day!

We stayed at one of the little "Marriott-esque" resorts on the Disney property, which was perfect. We arrived in the afternoon, ordered pizza and geared up for a full day of Disney the next day!

Given that he'd never been to Disney World, and this was our honeymoon, Richard was wonderfully supportive of going ALL IN for our day. It was the finale, after all! We went to sleep early and got up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast. I was told a bus leaves to go to the parks 30 minutes before opening, so we got in line for the bus... an hour before opening. We were the only ones there. ;P This sounds nuts BUT it completely worked out in our favor! A bus came around and the driver offered to drive us alone to the park so he wouldn't run an empty route. Private bus ride to the Magic Kingdom, yes please! :D

Then when we got to the Magic Kingdom, Richard wiggled us all the way to the VERY front of the line. WHAT A SWEET HUSBAND. We were literally first in line as the parks opened! Ahh!

So a private bus ride to the Magic Kingdom, FIRST in line at the entrance and thennn we got to ride every single thing I was dying to show Richard (sans Pirates of the Carribbean, because it was closed for renovations, but whatevs!). We were the very first ones to ride Peter Pan's Magic Flight, and it only got better from there. :D The Haunted Mansion, It's A Small World, The Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain... deeeee!

We made a lunch reservation at the castle, and this is where we really noticed how awesome it is to go to a Disney park as two grown adults without any kids. (Meaning everyone was just as sweet and kind as normally, but they would drop the "act" and be very real with us in completely awesome ways.)

(Like our server giving us the "kiddie" toys usually reserved for the children at meal time. He just got us, you guys.)

We met nearly every Disney Princess at lunch time, which provided numerous photo ops and hilarious conversations.

Like Snow White telling me that we're dressed similarly. ;P I told her I'd save my leftovers for her to take to the dwarves, and she said "Oh, how every kind of you!" (Look at her hands!)

When Aurora came around, Richard said, "Goodness, you're awake!" To which she replied, "I am! That's how I'm doing today, how are you?!" Hahahaha.

Ariel told us, "Father let me have my land legs today." And when I said, "My sweet husband would like a picture, too," she replied, "Oh yes, a picture with the captain." (I LOVE THIS PLACE.)

My favorite was Jasmine, who completely killed it by asking, "Was he a street rat before meeting you?"And then told Richard how to pose for his picture. ;P

After lunch, we walked went on a few more rides and walked around. This photo op was too good to pass up. ;P

We were JUST MOMENTS too late to take pictures with Peter Pan, and weren't planning on being back in the Magic Kingdom when he returned. Oh well! Candid photos!

Once exiting the Magic Kingdom, we shuttled over to Hollywood Studios for the remainder of the day. I was so excited to show Richard The Hollywood Tower of Terror, Muppets 3D, Star Tours, Aerosmith coaster and Fantasmic light shows. DISNEY IS MY TURF.

For dinner we had an amazing dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby, which even had a scotch flight for my sweet man! He certainly deserved it after getting us to everywhere we wanted to go. We stayed in the park until close and shuttled back to our hotel to prepare for an early flight home the next day.

Seriously: best. honeymoon. ever.

honeymoon part 2: south beach!

We left the Florida Keys in the afternoon and drove to our next destination... South Beach! We were using an AirBnB apartment for our stay, and considering it still wasn't ready by the time we made it to Miami we stopped in Little Havana for lunch and sight-seeing. It certainly delivered! 

We ate at Exquisito Restaurant, which had the most delicious plantain chips (they were like plantain ribbons!). 

After a tasty lunch, we just walked around the main strip - watching the domino players at the park, admiring all the beautiful graffiti... we even stopped at a little boutique to get Richard a "Cuban-style" button down, but couldn't find just the right one. ;) 

While taking a butt-load of pictures and obviously looking like tourists, we were "roped" into a little shop that hand-rolls cigars and sells traditional Cuban coffee. Richard bought a few cigars, of course! And for someone who doesn't like coffee at all (tea all the way), I have to admit that the sample I tried was reeeally good.

Once we were alerted our place was clean & ready, we made our way down to South Beach! I'm delighted to inform you that our place was a very, very cute little dump two blocks from the beach. We had to go outside to a shady-looking alley to do laundry and the light in our bathroom had to be held up with duct-tape to stay on. It was amazing. (And how could I ever feel anything but completely safe with a big bearded & tattooed husband by my side the entire time. ;))

Gettin' settled! ;P After we relaxed a little from our drive and got some provisions, we walked around the main strips and stopped at a bar for drinks. The whole trip put me in a dreamy Art Deco coma, so there will be no shortage of architectural shots in this post! 

The next day, we rented an adorable little scooter to make puttering around South Beach a little easier (driving/parking is not pleasant with all the crowds!!). I'm not going to lie, I was in pure heaven sitting behind my gorgeous husband looking at all the beautiful architecture and supreme people watching. It was just so dreamy. :)

The beach in South Beach. Warning: the following pictures required zero editing and are almost too beautiful for words...

(Told ya! ;))

When our tummies were rumbling enough, we stopped at the EPIC Big Pink diner. I'm not even sure where I heard of this place (TV? Trip Advisor? A magical dream?) but I'm SO HAPPY I did. This place is ridiculous. Prices are a little high, but when you get the food you see why... the portions are GINORMOUS. 

My mushroom burger had FIVE portobellos on it. We saw salads and wraps the size of small children. The cheesecake slices were as tall as your hands AND had a cupcake garnish. This is the epitome of capitalistic indulgence and was delicious. We'll definitely be back. ;)

Following lunch, we rolled ourselves back to our little apartment to chill, nap and get ready for the evening. For me, this meant laying in bed with a steady supply of pina coladas while I caught up on real-estate paperwork. ;P Then, we were out again!

We had dinner and a show at the UNBELIEVABLE Palace Bar. The food was extremely sub-par, but the girls... I can die in peace. There are no words. Just... amazing.

Our beautiful MC...

... that stuffed my husband's head in her crotch after R gave her dollar bills out of his mouth. (While in South Beach!)

He was very proud of himself. ;P

Our table was right at the end of the catwalk, so during a performance I was asked to dance in front of everyone with this beauty. Yes, please!  (Who am I kidding, my husband feeding drag queens dollars with his teeth is what most likely really encouraged my participation.)

And then there was this girl. Oh my goodness. RIP me. She was unbelievable. See video here. (Not for the faint of heart, and truly NSFW! And yes, that is me spanking her. #noregrets)

After we got our fill, we walked around some more and went into a few shops for treats. Drag queens followed by Art Deco? Kylie's in heaven. *heart eyes* 

We were so wound up when we got back to our apartment, we went back out for a little more scooterin'! Just up and down the streets, people watching and being insufferable. ;) We ended up at Insomnia Cookies for a late-night treat, which was was another big win in a day full of wins. ;)

You see how we're parked? This is why having a scooter is useful. ;)

The next day we packed up, returned our beloved scooter, and stopped at Under the Mango Tree for acai bowls and fresh juices before heading to Orlando. Gotta balance all that vacation gluttony! ;) 

Bottom line: We're totally coming back to South Beach again. ;D Last but not least... Disney World!