Memorial Day on the Gulf

Dress (also) || Wedges || Handbag || Earrings || Bracelet

Hey there! Before I get into the meat of this blog post, I want to address the elephant in the room. David and I made the choice to escape St. Pete for the long weekend to a small beach town about an hour and a half south of us. This is something that we had planned since February and had long been looking forward to. Back in March, I was fully anticipating and prepared to cancel if conditions in Florida remained dire. While I am relieved that Florida has begun the march to normalcy, I am extremely empathetic to how this pandemic has taken its toll across the nation.

At the same time, I believe in the importance of supporting our local service industry and tourism workers, who have been hit particularly hard. While on this trip, we followed CDC distancing guidelines, wore masks when appropriate, and showed the staff our immense appreciation. If you would like to know more about our mini vacation, keep reading! If not, I invite you to return at another time for some travel inspiration when you’re able to plan your next trip.

Okay, if you’re still with me, I want to give you the most sincerest thank you. Now, let’s chat long weekends! Over the Memorial Day holiday, David and I (over) packed our bags for a quick trip to the glamorous Gasparilla Inn in Boca Grande, Florida. This has been on my travel bucket list for some time now. I simply can’t believe I’ve lived so close to a place as picturesque and idyllic as this. Sure, St. Pete is great, but Boca Grande was absolutely pristine!

I joked with David that I almost wanted to keep this destination a secret and not share. While it’s a quick drive down the interstate, it seems to be set in a time capsule. St. Pete melted away to open grasslands and cow pastures. We drove through the outskirts of a small town and passed very young housing developments. Once we began to cross the Boca Grande Causeway, I couldn’t believe my eyes. We had reached the most vibrant shade of turquoise water on the Gulf of Mexico. The town was free of street lights, traffic, and was exactly the kind of escape we needed!

Throughout this week and next week, I’ll be going into detail about the hotel and village on this tiny barrier island. I have oodles of pictures to go through and so many summer inspired outfits that I just can’t wait to share! I hope this can be a little virtual vacation for you and instill the feeling of wanderlust for “Florida as it was meant be”.

Love from Florida,
Katie

As always, thanks for stopping by! To keep up with all things about the Sunshine State, be sure to visit my exclusive Florida page, here.