Hayley and I both agree that we have never, in our years as young professionals, had a vacation as relaxing as this one. No alarms, no set schedule… it was fabulous!

We kayaked through the canals of Cape Coral and marvelled at the mangroves, floating coconuts, dolphins and blonde pelicans. Another day, we sped (60 mph = untangling hair for just as many minutes!) out to an uninhabited island that faces the wide-open Gulf of Mexico and jumped ship to get to shore. After a little lounging and a little reading we walked around the scuttling sandpipers to look for a few mementos. The shelling was unlike anything we’ve seen in Maine, complete with miniature conchs and a teeny speckled crab shell. The tide made the trek back to the boat a bit more challenging so we got creative and tied our Turkish towels around our heads to keep them dry. That worked until we were about 10 feet away from the boat and our tippy toes didn’t get any taller.

It was just an amazing feeling to sit in a bathing suit and feel warmed by the breeze- quite a contrast to the chilly winds of winter in Maine. But, to our core, we love Maine. It was just as satisfying to step off the plane into Portland as it was to tred on the soft sands of Florida beaches for a weekend.

If you missed Monday’s post, in celebration of our third week blogging and inspired by our trip to Florida, we’re giving away three packs of custom greeting cards that Hayley designed. If you’re interested in entering to win, get all the details here!

Only slightly sunburned- Yours, Blair

The top photograph of Hayley and Blair was taken by our Florida host, Mark.