The Palm Beaches Travel Journal

Disclaimer – This is a trip that was sponsored by The Palm Beaches.  All opinions are 100% my own. 

We had such a fun time in The Palm Beaches last week and I wanted to share a whole BUNCH of info just in case you were planning your own family vacation.  I already talked about visiting the Lion Country Safari and what a blast that was!  You can read about that here. You can also read about our visit to the most amazing playground  HERE. But there was soooo much more.  Like tons and tons more.  So here we go!  Get your bathing suit and your shorts on!  We are gonna have so much fun!

HYATT PLACE HOTEL

The hotel we stayed at was the Hyatt Place in Boca Raton.  It was a beautiful hotel that suited us really well!  We had a double queen and a pull out couch so all seven of us fit comfortably in our room.

It also had a great view of the hotel rooftop pool.  Seriously guys…I love me a rooftop pool.  Especially when the white buildings behind it pop.  Isn’t that an amazing view?!

Each morning we started off the day with breakfast in the hotel (it was one of those really generous breakfasts with lots of options).

LOUIE BOSSI’S RISTORANTE BAR PIZZERIA

Around the corner from the hotel, there was a really cute pizzeria that we loved.  We got to eat there for one dinner and it blew us away.  I really just want to show you how cute it is.

The outside patio is where we sat and it was PERFECT weather.  The food was homemade in house pasta and pizza’s as large as your face.

Seriously guys.  Wipe your droll off your phone.  Quick.  You don’t want to break it.

And this might be my favorite photo of the night.  Max’s face is the best thing ever….

EVERGLADES SWAMP TOUR

The first day we went to the Lion Country Safari Adventure park.  On the second day we hit up the swamps of the Everglades.  This has been a bucket list item for Jeremy and I for EVER and when we found out that we could get a tour in a boat that is sunken vs a boat with a high deck….it seemed like a sign.

This is actually the dry season so the water is very shallow (at some points I thought there was no water!) and our boat captain said that it’s very common to see deer or panthers out there.

My kids loved seeing the gators (we ended up seeing about seven!) and the boat driver was super knowledgable – like could recall alligator sizes from all over the world.  The most unexpected part was being able to go through the sawgrass and even tasting it.  Will was my brave kiddo who tried it!  It tastes like celery but less stringy.

We were laughing that we went on the retirees tour because we had all five of our kids and then everyone else was over 70.  It was perfect for us though….we were most interested in seeing wildlife and keeping a safe distance!  Speaking of wildlife – we saw so many cool critters…even at the dock!

The place we saw the most gators was also the deepest.  We rode right up to this one area that was perfectly round and deeper waters that was apparently where a meteor had hit!  They said it was the deepest part of the whole area of swamp (miles and miles!) and it went down 100 ft!  Crazy huh?!

Thank goodness for zoom lenses 🙂

The kids thought the entire thing was so cool.  The squeals of delight were something I will always remember!

THE OLD KEY LIME HOUSE

That night we ate at one of your recommendations – the Old Key Lime House.  We asked you all for places that we needed to hit while we were there and I gotta give you some mad props for this one.

This place was right on the water and it was super festive!  Of course, the kids weren’t allow out here because we were nervous about the docks 🙂

I mean seriously!  That view!

I would say that this was my favorite food of the trip – I had the coconut shrimp and the calamari.

Then I finished things off with the lobster and shrimp roll.  SO GOOD.  I am dreaming about it right now.  Then Jeremy ordered key lime pie and it was probably the best I’ve ever had.  We rarely order desserts (who has room?!) so the kids even tried it and loved it.  Needless to say, I did not lose weight on vacation 🙂

GUMBO LIMBO NATURE CENTER

Y’all told me about the Gumbo Limbo (a nature center that also rehabilitates sea turtles)….so we had to check it out.

The kids loved it but I think we had already done so many ‘animal’ things that they were ready to see the beach.

We did a quick tour inside and also saw the butterfly garden.  That was actually pretty cool because we hadn’t seen any yet!

The grounds are so beautiful – they have beautiful trees and even a picnic area that looks like a tiki hut.

RED REEF PARK & BEACH

We couldn’t wait even a single second longer.  After a quick wardrobe change in the car, we did exactly what they were all begging to do.  IT WAS BEACH TIME!

Girlfriend was digging it!  I mean seriously guys.  I was dying seeing her at the beach.  It was EVERYTHING.

The boys got busy digging because that is what my boys do at the beach.  They dig.  And dig.  And dig.  I always joke that one day they are gonna dig to the other side of the earth.

There isn’t anything cuter than those rolls in a baby bathing suit.

I told Jeremy that I had one goal at the beach….get a good photo of Ella and then one of me and her together.

Yes that drool fully extended down to my face eventually 🙂  Best. Drool. Ever.

Max was hilarious with the sand.  We kept having to remind him that it wasn’t fun to bury his face in it.  He would just pause and then face plant….it was like he didn’t realize how uncomfortable having sand on your eyeballs would be.

This little one really loved the water.  Also – bonnets.  You guys I need ALL the bonnets because this fair skinned little one stressed me out!  I was constantly putting sunscreen on her but the bonnet really saved her little scalp!

OH THE SQUISH!

After the beach, we headed back to the hotel and worked that pool into the schedule.  The kids were loving it!  Even Weston who doesn’t really like the water, he did some big jumps and went off the steps!  I love seeing him try to be brave with something he is so uncomfortable about.

Ella must have exerted herself a little too much at the beach because she zonked out and it was like a straight movie scene with the glowing lights from downtown and the pergola and the pool lights.

Will told me that we should have a pool on our roof too.  Kids always have the best ideas 🙂

DEERFIELD BEACH & PIER

The last day we were there, we snagged some lunch at JB’s on The Beach and then hit up the pier before heading to a local park.

A lot of you asked if the weather was good enough for going to the beach.  Let me tell you about the public beaches and how everyone was ready for summer!

The water was definitely warm enough and the sun definitely required sunscreen but you never got really hot because the breeze.  It was exactly the kind of weather I love.

The boys loved watching the guys on the paddleboards and seeing people attempt to surf.

Also Will took a picture of me that made me realize how out of shape I really am.  This picture singlehandedly has encouraged me to exercise more.

Love seeing them all four together.  It’s funny.  I always think how fun it must be for them to have brothers but really, the fun may not have even started yet.  I mean…they have so many new things in front of them.  I know it is gonna be a blast for many ore years to come!

We had checked out of our hotel before heading to the park and then back to the beach.  It was a little stressful – not having a spot to go back to to finish getting dressed but totally worth it….the boys are so good at the beach now.  It occupies them so well.  And I seriously could not have thought of a better getaway.  It had so many activities, such good food, and we honestly REALLY needed to get away from all the yucky.  January and the beginning of February were filled with flu and colds and all sorts of yucky.  I NEEDED THIS.  We snapped a quick pic before heading out.  Obviously Ella didn’t want to leave.

We highly recommend this area as a family friendly spot….it has a little bit of everything!  And if nothing else – the photo opportunities are endless.  Seriously….I could have taken a picture of the kids anywhere and it would have been frame worthy.

So all that to say – I have one more post about Sugar Sand Park – it was my personal favorite park and I wish our town had something so amazing.  Stay tuned to read about that!  And if you have any other questions about this vacation, I would love to hear it!

Also – one of the running jokes was that everyone that saw us was shocked at the number of kids we had.  They would audibly count out each kid and were in genuine disbelief.  I have never been asked so many times if we had twins, if they were all ours, and if we knew how this happened.  HA!  I think the boys liked the attention though because they would proudly announce that there was four boys and one girl and YES, mommy and daddy got their girl 🙂  All that to say – it was incredibly fun to meet so many new people and explore a new-to-us area of the country.