Visiting Naples, Florida

My family and I are big fans of Florida (with the sun, sand, and beaches, who wouldn't be?) and have visited there many times. Recently, we were able to go to Naples, Florida and stay at a friend of the family's place who so generously let us invade for a week! This vacation was more of a laid-back, relax in the sun kind of a trip (one of my favorites), so we didn't really have set plans. Sometimes, those are the best! 


The forecast for the week was looking good, partly cloudy and in the upper 70's. We went in May, so the weather wasn't too humid at this time. We spent our first day unpacking and laying by the pool, listening to some music and enjoying drinks. The pool area had been recently renovated and included a swim up bar, jacuzzi waterfall, and a beautiful grill and bar area. Being from the Midwest, we were not used to this type of luxury, so we took full advantage of it! My dad took the role as bartender and made some awesome drinks while us girls enjoyed some pool floats. This day was also my Graduation day from college (which I didn't mind missing), so we took a moment to do a mock "ceremony" complete with my latest read Mockingjay as my diploma. We ended the day a little earlier than usual, exhausted from getting sun all day (not a problem I mind having). We ended up ordering Chinese food for dinner from a place not far (Jasmine's, if you must know) which had AMAZING general tso's chicken. I'm not kidding, it was the best I've ever had. I could probably eat that stuff every day of my life. Anywho, after dinner we chatted a bit about what we'd like to do during the week and went to bed.

Soaking up the sun!

The next day turned out to be more cloudy than expected, so we went to the Naples Zoo. Original ticket prices were $19.95 per person, but you could purchase online for a discount of $16.95, which we ended up doing. We got there pretty early so it wasn't very crowded (yay), and we began the day with a show in their Open Air Theater, featuring a baby sloth, an owl, and some more fun creatures. 

What's sweeter than a baby sloth holding a teddy?

We also got a chance to see a live feeding of alligators which was so awesome; those guys were huge!! And to my amazement they responded when called by name! After that, I really wanted to check out the Primate Expedition Cruise which for me was the highlight of the zoo trip. We got on a boat and our guide took us on a 15 minute cruise past some different islands all filled with various primates. They were all pretty active during our cruise time and it was so fun to see their natural behavior. 

Primate Expedition Cruise

After a few hours of being there and seeing a LOT of animals, we decided to head to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. I'd never been before, so I was curious to check it out. I actually got it confused with Dick's Last Resort for some odd reason and was prepared to be insulted by our waiter, but it never came (obviously). We enjoyed each other's company, the food, and the great view from the deck. 

View of Naples Bay

We then went to downtown Naples to do a bit of shopping. It was fun to check out the cute local stores, and we happened upon one of my favorites, Pucci and Catana. Pucci and Catana is a luxury pet boutique, and I just so happen to have a puppy of my own I love to spoil. We stopped inside and had a lot of fun looking at all the cute accessories and we even got to talk to the owner for a bit. I signed up for their email list and awhile later found out about a photo contest they put on in search of a new face for their website. I entered my dog's photo and he ended up making the top 10 with this picture (yes I'm a proud mama):

My Benny Boy

We ended the night at McCabe's Irish Pub and Grill for a drink and enjoyed people-watching amid the twinkling lights that were set up around the street. We were amused by a street-dancing extraordinaire, earbuds in and loving life, truly dancing like no one was watching (though we all were). One of the things I enjoy most is being outside on a beautiful summer night with good food, drinks, and company, and this was one of those nights. 


The next day we enjoyed another day at the pool, and then went downtown to Roy's for happy hour (called Aloha hour). The special was $5 specialty cocktails and a variety of their appetizers. The girls got a Hawaiian Martini (pineapple, vodka, coconut rum, YUM) and we all shared Beef Sliders with sweet potato fries; double yum. We chatted with our waiter for awhile and enjoyed the scenery outside of the Naples Bay. 

Outside of Roy's-Downtown Naples

We then finished the dining experience at Naples Boathouse, which was truly waterfront dining. The decor was just right and they had not only amazing seafood but steak as well. Being so close to the water, we were able to see boaters going every which way, and some wildlife too. It was a great experience! 

After that, we decided to check out some local real estate (aka being somewhat creepy and driving around posh neighborhoods). I'm so glad we did though, because we saw some humongous monsters of houses. I did notice that a good 50% were on the market, and I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to own one of those things, and how much the mortgage alone would be. Daydreaming aside, the sun was about to set and I remembered that we were told to get to the Naples Pier for some great pictures. We rushed over and made it just in time before the sun went down (literally with less than a minute left). 

Sunset at Naples Pier

Our vacation eventually came to an end, and I can't wait to visit Naples again. There is a lot there that we didn't get to see, and next time I hope to see as much as I can, after getting my dose of pool-time in, of course!

Homage to Harry Potter-Land

Okay, so I admit it. I have loved and always will love Harry Potter. Ever since my little adolescent hands got a hold of the first book, I've been enchanted by the Boy Who Lived. You can imagine my thrill when my sister and I planned a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. If you're a fan of Harry Potter, either the books or the movies (or both), I very much suggest you go! I daresay you will not be disappointed. 


The excitement began as we walked through Universal to the entrance of Hogsmeade. I looked up and saw this sign and geeked out a bit:

Respect the spell limits!

Once inside, you can take a walk through Zonko's and Honeydukes. Both looked like what I imagined they would, and sold all the candies and merchandise that were mentioned in the books. My sister was tempted to buy an extendable ear. We decided against it. 

We soon spotted the Butterbeer truck and went running to it. We'd only been waiting 10 years to try it! As expected it was quite pricey, I think about $10 bucks for a mug. But, you got to keep the mug, so obviously it was worth it. Even though I use the mug as a junk collector now. Oh, well. The point is it was absolutely delicious and I will genuinely miss the taste. 

Cheers!

It was around lunchtime when we decided to head to The Three Broomsticks for some food. They had a few options to choose from, and I think both of us opted for turkey legs and some sort of potato side. It was a little cafeteria style, but the decor was awesome. 

The Three Broomsticks

We then moved further into Hogsmeade and came across the Owl Post and Ollivanders. The Owl Post was pretty cute, and I think you could even drop off mail there and it would be stamped with some Harry Potter-esque mark. At Ollivanders you could get matched with your own wand, and purchase ones seen in the movie. We didn't have the time to wait in line to get "chosen" by a wand, but I imagine I would have a nice cherry wood with Veela hair in the middle. I'm just guessing, of course...


After all that browsing, we were ready to finally get to Hogwarts! It was a short trek down the path and all of a sudden, there it was in all its glory:

Hogwarts Castle

We proceeded to get in line for the main event, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Thankfully the line wasn't too long and we were inside the castle in no time. We got to see Dumbledore's office, the Dark Arts classroom, and a lot of other fun rooms before getting to the ride. The ride was sort of like an interactive roller coaster, not anything extremely fast, but it had so many twists and turns and things popping out at you that I actually got a bit scared! It was so much fun that we went on it again, and if we had the time I probably would have just kept going. We also went on the actual roller coaster in the park, called Dragon Challenge. You could pick one of two Dragons to ride, and it was definitely a rush! After the ride we decided we'd had enough thrill for one day, and got our Harry Potter fix, so we headed back to the hotel. 


And so concludes my review of Harry Potter-Land, aka The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I give it two-wands up! Okay, I'm done with the puns. 


Have you been to to Universal and/or WW of HP? What did you think?

How to Have the Best New Year's Eve Ever

If you are planning on spending New Year's Eve in the States, I highly suggest traveling to Miami. Obviously every big city will have over-the-top celebrations, but Miami is perfect if you enjoy warm weather, glitz and glamour. I had the best NYE of my life, and didn't even end up spending all that much. You can too, if you plan appropriately and don't mind taking some risks. Here's how below:

Me and some friends were on vacation at the end of December and had a few days to spend in Miami before boarding our cruise. We ended up staying at a pretty cheap hotel by the airport and it turned into a sort-of nightmare, but we powered through it. Apart from the extremely rude front desk worker who would not accommodate us in the least, our room never being cleaned once in a 3 day period, and most of the room falling apart, we had a pretty good time.

We had decided to stay a few days in Miami before the cruise because we had tickets to a New Year's Eve party downtown with Nicki Minaj and figured we would want some recovery time. Tip: If you're looking to go to an amazing New Year's Party in a big city, go to newyearseve.com (I'm 90% sure that's the website we used). I googled "New Year's Eve Miami" and a few sites came up, and this website had a huge list, and a couple clubs that featured big name acts. It came down to Nicki Minaj or Lil' John, and it didn't take long to decide we'd rather party with the Queen Barb herself. We purchased the tickets around the 1st or 2nd of December and at that time tickets were at $50.00 for ladies, and I think around $100 for guys. We were a little apprehensive about these tickets, so we called the club beforehand to ensure they take these tickets we purchased online and they would have them at will-call. They did, so we decided to buy them, and it's a good thing we did because a few days later they went up to $100, and then a few days after that to $150! If you can plan in advance for New Year's, it's always best to do so as it may save you a ton of money.

After spending a couple hours getting ready, we called a cab and headed for downtown Miami. We were staying by the airport, so it was probably a 10 to 15 minute drive downtown, but so worth it to see the lights from the city as we drove over the bridge. The party was at a club called the Mansion, and we probably arrived around 10 pm or so. We wanted to make sure we could take advantage of the free drinks as long as possible. Oh, I didn't mention before they were free?!? Well, they were, and we certainly made use of that. The theme of the party was "All Pink Everything", and Nicki was not kidding. Everything was pink and sparkly and what I imagine heaven looks like. We had a blast walking around and taking everything in, taking a bunch of pictures with strangers, and getting excited for Nicki to show up. We also noticed people from the VIP had masks and hats, and we wanted some as well. We ended up meeting some people that so very nicely gave us the masks, and the hats. Either that or we stole them, I can't remember. That part's a little fuzzy.

It was nearing midnight, and by that time we were in the main room of the club dancing the night away. Pretty soon we heard that Nicki had arrived and the whole club went crazy, and then she made her appearance. She then led the countdown to midnight and it looked something like this:

New Year's Eve at the Mansion

Soon after, me and my friend decided we wanted to get a little closer to Nicki and ended up sneaking our way into VIP. We were already dancing on a platform, so we "snuck" into VIP by stepping down onto a couch and into the VIP area. Pretty stealthy work, I know. No one ended up seeing us, or no one cared, and we got right up to the stage. Nicki was sitting at the side of the stage and I really wanted her attention, so I started jumping up and down and waving my arms and screaming her name. It worked! She looked over and actually stared at me for a few seconds. I was happy with that, so I stopped. She then came to the front of the stage and everyone went crazy trying to climb up and take a picture with her. Naturally, we wanted one too, so we ended up asking some strangers if they would so kindly lift us up so we could get some pics, and they did. Both of us had her sign our hands and got a picture with her, and my friend actually got a hug from her! It was a-maze-ing.

Nicki arriving to the club

So, to recap, we spent just $50 each and got admission into the most beautiful club I've ever been to, free drinks all night, souvenir masks and hats, and meeting Nicki Minaj. It was the best NYE ever, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.