Hello everyone! I finally feel like i’m coming down from the high of my trip to Florida a month ago. This trip was perfect in every way imaginable. But let me preface – I never thought much of Florida…but when you’re best friend lives in Key West and she’s getting married, you GO! The timing of this trip was difficult because I was dead in the middle of student teaching and it was right around Thanksgiving, but since my boyfriend and I were flying out there anyways, we decided to stay and explore Key West and Miami for a few days past the wedding.
We decided to make the most of our time (and my bridesmaid schedule), so we took a red-eye from LAX to Miami and immediately rented a car and drove down the Keys. One thing that I do not feel like I was fully prepared for when driving down the Keys was the debris still out from Hurricane Irma. When that hurricane hit, I sat in front of my television and watched as it roared through Florida. I was very aware of the devastation it caused and the lives it wrecked. However, after hearing how quickly Key West cleaned up after the hurricane, I did not expect that the whole one hundred and something miles of the Florida Keys to be lined with the leftovers from the hurricane. This was very eye-opening to the resources available during the aftermath of a hurricane, and I am glad I was able to see it.
But on a happy note… Key West is a dream, and my friends wedding was even more of a dream. 
Where we stayed: Casa Marina
Since I was in Key West for a wedding, I did not spend a ton of time eating at restaurants, however, we did go out to quite a few spots. If you find ourself in Key West looking for something to do, head down Duval street. After recovering from the wedding and spending a few days relaxing in the keys, Grant (he has a name!) and I drove back up the keys to spend a few days in Miami. We had booked a really nice hotel, because we anticipated wanting to relax and spend our two days at the pool, but we did not quite understand how nice of a hotel we booked. Needless to say, we went out and walked around the neon light district for a little bit, but other then that, there was no reason to leave our hotel. It had absolutely everything we needed and it was so Instagramable! Just take a look for yourself:
Where we stayed: One Hotel South Beach
The beautiful and talented Hope Taylor Photography shot this wedding. How lovely are her wedding photos?!
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