My goodness, where have I been?
All around Ponte Vedra and Jacksonville, Florida with my family, apparently!
Exploring and spending quality time with the fam left me no time to blog, but I’m comin’ atcha with a recap now because I just can’t stay away too long…
Plus Ryan and I have a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us which makes for optimum blogging time, assuming I don’t get car sick, which happens nearly every time I read in a car.
Maybe I’ll just neglect proof reading this post? 😉 Even when I do proof read, I always seem to notice typos and random errors in my posts later on which irritates the heck out of me, so I thank you for overlooking when I mistype from time to time.
I digress… on to the good stuff! 
My sister snapped the above picture early this morning on the beach right outside our hotel room. We spent Friday night in Ponte Vedra at the beach because my parents had a Christmas party to attend in Jacksonville and invited all of us up to spend the night and enjoy a weekend of family fun.
Ryan, my dad and I woke up relatively early this morning to get in a quick workout before showering up for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. 
My sister, mom and I all ordered the same meal that included two poached eggs, fruit, Canadian bacon and an English muffin.
I put one of the poached eggs and a slice of the Canadian bacon in between the English muffin halves to create a breakfast sandwich, which was very satisfying. I cleared my plate and helped my dad with some of his breakfast potatoes.
Once we were all finished eating, we headed to Jacksonville beach to look at a couple of condos my parents wanted to check out, as they have future dreams of moving out to the beach when they retire.
We spent the large part of the morning checking out two condos and weighing the pros and cons of each before working up an appetite for lunch.
Lunch
My dad drove us to Cap’s, seafood restaurant on the water, where were elected to dine outside among the heater lamps. 
(Yes, my sister and I are wearing the same boots. 😀 )
The moment I saw oysters on the menu, my mind was made up! I ordered a dozen oysters and split the fish tacos with Ryan. 
My sister was kind enough to share her sweet potato tater tots with me!
I’ve never seen anyone offer sweet potato tater tots, so I was quite intrigued. They were much better than standard tater tots… especially when dipped in ketchup.
I also sipped on a Peroni, which came highly recommended by Ryan. I liked it a lot! 
Since my family is never one to skip dessert, we all ordered a chocolate lava cake and coconut cake to split. 
Both were sweet, moist and perfectly rich. Though I am normally a chocolate girl through and through, I actually preferred the coconut cake. I love coconut anything and this cake was the jam.
After lunch we came back to our hotel for a chilly walk on the beach. 
We stayed on the beach, walking up and down the shoreline collecting shells until the sun set. 
We nabbed some good ones! 
Once the sun dipped below the horizon, we headed back to the hotel to sit out by a big bonfire to relax and warm up.
With our buns officially toasted, we headed back out to explore Jacksonville a little more before stopping at Cruisers for burgers for dinner.
Since burgers from Cruisers came highly recommended, I opted for a medium-rare burger topped with Swiss cheese. 
It was totally greasy and totally delicious.
Very tasty!
Now I’ve gotta get back to being a good navigator and keep my driver company… aka: Try not to fall asleep.
See ya from Orlando! 😀
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Gorgeous pictures- how good-looking are you and your sis?! 🙂
Wow, what a great way to begin the holiday season….at the beach! Lucky you! I think your lunch looks totally tasty, btw.
The sunset on the beach looks so beautiful. Still can’t believe it’s that cold in Florida
Those beach pictures are gorgeous! It has been way too long since I’ve been on a beach.
What a great day! Sweet potato tater tots, interesting, I would love to try!
Yours/your sisters boots are so cute! Where did you get them?
thank you! they’re actually REALLY comfy & pretty cheap, too! the brand is miss me & i bought them from urbanog.com last year.
Aww looks like such a fun day!! I love the pics of you guys bundled up on the beach. Going to the shore when it’s chilly is the best- it’s so peaceful!
I’m loving those boots too!
And sweet potato tots???! How cool is that?
Looks like ya’ll had a fun time!!!!!! =D
Looks like a great time!
Curious about the oysters only because it appears you had to shuck them open yourself. I have never seen that. Here in New Orleans they are already opened and on the half shell when brought to the table. I have seen my husband shuck them for when he grills them up with Parmesan butter sauce and it is no joke to crack open those bad boys. That could be some serious work during a sit down meal. Anyways, it looks like a fantastic weekend spent with your family.
they came w/ a shucker knife and were steamed, so they were already fairly opened. it wasn’t too hard to get to the good stuff!
I just found your blog a few weeks ago and love your take on healthy tasty food. The hoodie fleece your wearing on the beach, where did you get that? My hubby is asking for Christmas present ideas and I want something like that.
I get car sick if I read in the car (or bus) too! The best thing I ever figured out was to chew gum while reading in a vehicle. I’ve not really gotten car sick while reading since. I don’t know how it works, but I really appreciate it.
Looks like a really fun day! I am so jealous of people who live near the ocean.
Sweet potato tots sound amazing! I had sweet potato fries with my dinner last night – but I bet those tots are even better!
what a fun weekend with your family! i’m really thankful i don’t get carsick, but i hardly ever use a computer in the car. hope y’all have a safe drive back home!
Sweet potato tater tots?!?!? WANT!
Looks like you had a wonderful day. How cold was it? I was putting Christmas lights out in 30ish degree weather so I was bundled up from head to toe and I was still cold. My dad does the same English muffin thing that you did. He calls it his own version of an egg mcmuffin (with some hollandaise sauce on the side). The sweet potato tater tots looked amazing. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
i LOVE hollandaise sauce!
your family (new and old) are too cute for words !! have a safe trip back !
My grandparents live in Ponte Vedra! I am there all the time! We spent last christmas down there…I LOVE how beautifully they decorate. That tree is my favorite! Wish I could be there now hah!
i know!! the whole community is gorgeous around the holidays!
What a fun time!! I’m glad you got to relax and enjoy. 🙂
Good to hear that you had a great time in Ponte Vedra/ Jacksonville! 🙂 I need to try Cap’s still. People are always telling me about it!
aww so cute! yall look so fun!! looks like you had a really nice family time in ponte vedra and j-ville!! have a safe trip back homee!! 🙂
I really kind of want your whole outfit (especially the boots!)
Sweet tator tots? Those sound goooooood!
Love that you and your sis are wearing the same boots =)
Ugh I get sick when I read in a car, too. Makes me so nauseous.
OMG Julie, I’m an editing/proofreading freak, too. I can’t STAND typos, and it takes me way too long to write a post sometimes.
Actually, along these lines, I’ve been meaning to email you about your job. I’m thinking it’s a field I should be looking into, and I have a few questions…
It’s on my to-do list, so hopefully I’ll get to it soon!
You and your sis look so much alike!!!
how fun 🙂
Looks like an awesome family weekend!
Has anyone ever told your sister that she looks like Blake Lively?? I can’t stop staring at her…the resemblance is uncanny (to me, at least ;))
haha only other blog readers! so funny!
What kind of Northface jacket are you wearing? It’s soooo cute!
Oh how I wish my natural body clock would choose 7am for a wake up time! Glad you had a great weekend with your family.
the pic of you & ryan on the beach – ADORABLE!
Looks like an awesome weekend! Try using Sea-bands when your in the car, they help prevent car sickness. My MIL first told me about the and I thought she was crazy but they really work. I read Harry Potter on a long drive and didn’t get sick once (rare cuz I always use to get car sick when I’d read in the car). Anyway, I found mine at Walmart in the Pharmacy $10ish. You wear them on your wrist and there is a bead that touches the inside of your wrist, like acupuncture.
Julie, your pictures are amazing. I’m glad you had such a nice weekend
So this is so materialistic of me, but I totally love your boots!!!!!!! I am search for a good pair myself right now. It’s too cold for just simple flats anymore!