A Week in Vero Beach

Hello!

We are back from a little paternity leave escape to Florida.  We decided to go on a road trip since Matt is off this month – we picked Vero Beach because we wanted a cute, walkable beach town. Vero was just far enough south to get warm temperatures, but still within somewhat reasonable driving distance.

We stopped in Savannah for two nights on the way down and literally booked a hotel room the night before we left.  The drive to Savannah was smooth and we were there in time for an early dinner at Fox & Fig – an amazing  vegan restaurant.

We had the most incredible cashew cheese board – I still cannot believe this was all vegan.  We also had a mushroom pizza with the best GF crust I’ve ever had.

The next day, we had a later breakfast at a coffee shop,  strolled along the river and looked at boats, and went to an awesome playground in Forsyth Park.

At some point during the first night or nap, Emerson had a bad dream about a man coming into the hotel and eating her.  She was absolutely terrified and couldn’t even be a couple inches away from us for days, even during daylight. We managed to get her to bed that second night in Savannah (laying beside her), but then she woke up hysterical at 2:30 AM and was up for maybe 2 hours.  Looking back, we should have just let her sleep with us right away, but we tried to stand our ground so that she didn’t need to sleep with us the whole trip.  We tried a lot of things – reading books, holding hands while she fell asleep, turning on all the lights on and explaining that the dream wasn’t real – but as she got more tired, she got more hysterical until she was literally screaming that the man’s hands were coming over the door (there were two metal things above the door).  She dove out of the crib, so we let her sleep with us.  After that, it took about five more nights until she slept through the night in her crib again.  I was expecting crazy nights like this when we traveled to Maui or Portugal when she was younger, but she’s usually such a good sleeper now.

We continued on our journey south and stopped for lunch and a playground in St. Augustine.  I definitely want to come back here!

Overall, the drive down went smoothly and it was pretty easy breaking it up over two days (minus the hotel situation). We were very excited to arrive at the Kimpton Vero Beach!!

The hotel was a lovely boutique property with great service! We choose it because we got a great rate (Kimpton annual sale in the fall) on a one bedroom room with kitchen and because we could walk everywhere (LOVE never using a car on vacation). We stocked up on groceries that first day and ate all of our breakfasts in our room.  We also got beer for Matt and lots of snacks/smaller meals for Emerson since she’s not a huge fan of restaurant kid food.

The rooms were a little dated, but we didn’t really mind since it was a huge room with lots of space to hang out. We also had a big balcony with a lovely view out onto the beach. Sadly, the county decided to start a 2 week beach replenishment project in front of the hotel and did not notify the Kimpton (they were pretty mad too).  We had to walk a couple of blocks into town to a different beach access.  It wasn’t a huge deal since this wasn’t really bathing suit/sunscreen/swimming kind of trip, but we were definitely bummed and the sound of trucks outside got really old.

We had gorgeous blue skies almost every day and temps in the 70’s all week.  Some days were pretty windy, but we did manage to swim in the heated pool a couple of times.

We loved the town of Vero – there were beachy restaurants for dinners, cute shops, a wonderful park right in town, a Kilwin’s for ice cream, and a couple of causal lunch spots with  sandwiches & salads. Also, The Book Center  just across the bridge had an amazing children’s book/toy section.

We spent almost every morning at the park or beach and then picked up lunch to eat as a picnic most days. Unfortunately, I felt bad almost every day (body aches + exhaustion + some nausea). I’m not sure if I had a weird virus or what. I kept thinking I was getting a cold but never had any traditional symptoms.  It wasn’t horrible and would kind of come and go so I was to still enjoy the trip, but I spent some mornings and all of Em’s naps resting in the room.  And I’d always feel fine by dinner time – it was strange.  Fingers crossed it’s not the reactivated mono I had two Januarys ago.

Avery was a piece of cake to travel with!

New sand going in:

I was a little nervous to dine out so many nights with two kids, but it went great!  We did takeout and ate in our room two of the nights, and somehow managed to enjoy the rest of the nights at restaurants.  I packed a bunch of little surprises (sticker books, games, coloring) for Emerson and that really helped. Avery either slept or sat on someone’s lap until the food came, so it was more like eating out with just Em.

We ate tons of fish and the Kimpton even had GF fried calamari. Em shockingly ate an octopus, but only because she was pretending it was Ursula:) Restaurants we liked were Ocean Grill (fancier), Waldos (causal),  Orchid Island Brewery, El Sid Taqueria, Citron Bistron, Grind + Grape, and Chelsea’s Gourmet (market for sandwiches or smoothies).

Em and her beloved turtle, Vero, who has helped her sleep through the night:

I actually loved that we didn’t sunscreen up everyday and wear bathing suits – it was soo much more relaxing and comfortable just playing on the beach in regular clothes.

Allen family of 4!!

We hit up two parks, a starbucks, and two gas stations on the way home.  It was kind of a brutal day, but we decided not to stop because we figured Em might freak out again in a new hotel room and we just wanted to get home.

I already miss the sunshine and beach vibes, but I’m so happy to be home. I know a lot of people think traveling with kids is not a vacation, but any time I don’t have to cook and clean and Matt is not working, it’s a vacation to me!