Puerto Rico: 5 Year Anniversary Vacation

For our five year wedding anniversary we went to Puerto Rico for 7 days of fun! I feel like written recaps are better kept for journals and reading, so here is our photographic journey with a video at the end!

A few honorable mentions and things learned along the way:

  • If you are going to Rincon, get there for the first time while it is still light outside. Trust us.
  • The driving in Puerto Rico is not fun.
  • The water is out of control awesome and amazing and necessary in your lifetime. Go see this ocean.
  • We got to see Flaming June in person.
  • No sunburns!
  • I had a cold for most of the trip, and I needed to go to the hotel more than once a day to rest. Not cool.
  • We spent only a few hours in San Juan and are really looking forward to going back.
  • Apparently, car sale lots are also discos. People LOVE some car buying and love to play loud dance music while you shop.
  • I wanted to take one of the random dogs home with me.
  • When we travel, we don’t need to take the nice camera since apparently we only use the iPhone. (but we will always take it. Let’s be honest)
  • Eggs benedict is good everywhere.
  • We want to go back and photograph a couple in San Juan.
  • I love Dan Cox more and more everyday.
  • We missed Hattie a lot… like too much.

Anniversary Getaway: Martha’s Vineyard

When Dan came home from work on Thursday, he told me to pack a bag and get ready because we were heading out for the weekend in 30 min! Talk about a surprise!!! I was so excited I didn’t know what to do with myself. I packed my seabag and got Hattie ready for our friend Casey to watch, and got in the car. At this point I still didn’t know where we were headed, I just knew that we were headed somewhere.

We dropped Hattie off and headed south. It wasn’t until we hit the ferry docks that I realized we were heading to Martha’s Vineyard! How romantic right? We got to the Harbor View Hotel and Resort late that night. In the morning I actually got to lay eyes on the adorableness that is Edgartown.

Our four year anniversary was spent exploring the island. It was a day that reminded me a lot of our wedding day, meaning the weather was less than desirable to the average person. I actually like weather like this though. Overcast, drizzle, chill… the sky was white. The mood created in weather like that it calm for me. I always feel like I can focus better on days like this. My snugly sweater and snugly husband were exactly what I wanted on that day. There was no one out and about and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Talk about perfect, at least in my opinion. We visited Oak Bluffs and the impossibly small little gingerbread houses that litter the town.  They were born of tents pitched when the Methodist Church and its members would gather for the summer and have open air meetings. Eventually they decided to make some more permanent structures.  Dan thought it was a bit eerie, because it just didn’t seem real. However that could have a lot to do with the fact that it was foggy, drizzling, and cold. Tiny little houses can seem that way in that kind of weather. We also went to Gay Head, where there are huge clay cliffs meeting the ocean on a pebble beach. Dan said it was his favorite part of the trip, just walking on the path to the beach and then walking on the beach together, (he’s so romantic!). We had dinner at the Newes from America Pub, in Edgartown. There was an Irish band playing there and I cried. Shocking I know… but it was just so awesome!

The next day, St. Patrick’s Day, we got to see the First Annual, First Ever, Edgartown St. Patty’s Day Parade. It was under two min. long, and adorable. We then went shopping and found a vintage shop with aluminum letters for sale, which we scooped up as our souvenir/gift to one another. There are definitely perks to having a 3 letter last name. The ferry back was a joy. Dan and I love being on the water, any way shape or form. It was fun to point out the land and places we have been and wanted to go. Dan told me all about the currents and all the places he wanted to kayak with me. I love that man.

What a fantastic Anniversary. I have always wanted to go on a surprise trip and Dan delivered. I had no idea it was coming and I have to hand it to him. Well done Dan!!

Las Vegas with Annie

The west is wild. They weren’t kidding! My good friend Annie and I took a little trip to Las Vegas to see Maroon 5, Death Valley, the Vegas Strip, and each other. I had never been that far west before and I was so surprised at how STARKLY different it is from the East Coast. Of course I have “seen” it in photos and I know how it is via movies and photos all my life, however… being there it a totally different ball of tricks. I was amazed at the lights and the SCALE of everything in Vegas. I had no idea that the casinos were basically cruise ships that were not on the water.  We stayed at the Palms Casino where we got to enjoy the greatness that is Maroon 5 in concert. We also took a day trip out to Death Valley, where it was 106 degrees, silent, alone, and enormous. I can’t even begin to make you understand the way it feels to be there. Annie read me an excerpt from her book about death valley and they described it to have “deep solitude” and “awful silence.” I absolutely could not have said it better. I felt like our car was a space ship that we could only exit from for short moments of time and then needed to rush back to the car for safety. It truly felt like another planet. I was so thankful that I wasn’t a person in a covered wagon- lost in death valley. It was awesome and terrible all at the same time.

Things I learned in Nevada:

  • Never take children with you when visiting Las Vegas, nuff said. What were those parents thinking??
  • Make sure to bring water with you to the desert.
  • Just because something looks like it really that far away doesn’t mean it’s close.
  • Neon signs are scrumptious.
  • I am not a club going party girl. I have no real interest in it at all, which was evident by my reading of Harry Potter in the hotel room.
  • The iPhone camera really is pretty darn sufficient for snapshots. Don’t try and make something amazing out of it however. I need to force myself to take out the huge 10lb camera when I really really want to take a photo for keeps.
  • I love the east coast.

So… we had an amazing time.