Per her usual, someone tiny and hairy was an excellent flyer and such a joy! She stayed with my parents in Floria while hubby and I cruised the Bahamas for my 30th birthday present!
We actually got to have a small family reunion in Miami and it rocked. My brother and his girlfriend were visiting both sets of parents and showing off their new hairy baby, Riley, the French Mastiff. We all met up at Big Pink for some brunch and I even had some amazing old friends join too. It was such a wonderful way to start off a vacation, relaxing on South Beach with my amazing family and close friends!
This was CC Hubby's first time to South Beach and Miami so I showed him all my favorite places. I adore South Beach and even dream of living there one day so it was great that the Hubster seemed to enjoy this bustling and very cultured city as much as I do!
We booked our first cruise ever with Royal Caribbean and loved it. We did a four night, five day cruise and relaxed non-stop. With three big port stops in Key West, Nassau and CocoCay, neither hubby nor myself had ever been to the Bahamas so it was great to experience this together!
PS - The food on the boat was awesome! We literally ate our way through that cruise ship, ha!
It was a rainy, drizzly day in Key West so we slept it and leisurely made our way off the boat. We walked to the southernmost point and got a frozen drink at Fat Tuesday and saw everything from Sloppy Joe's to Hemingway's house. I also scored two pairs of Kinos...one for me, one for my Mom!
We had the honor of joining gorgeous friends in Nassau and celebrating their marriage! It was a stunning beach-side wedding and the bride was show-stopping gorgeous and this was our first time meeting her groom. She's an old friend and we adore her Mr. and hope to see more of them in the near future. Cheers to many years of marital bliss, Ikemeiers!
Lastly, one of our favorite days was spent relaxing on the shore on Royal Caribbean's own private island called CocoCay. All of the passengers hopped right off the ship and threw their towel on the closest seat. Seat saving isn't really our style so we ventured out and walked for about 20 minutes until we found this gorgeous and quiet beach. We laid there all day, reading our books, laughing, napping and relaxing. Truly, it was heaven and the weather was perfection! What...a...trip!
(Click to Enlarge or CLICK HERE to See Blisswood's Amazing Website)
Ladies and gentleman...meet Blisswood and get ready to have your senses rocked! I believe traveling is so good for the soul and is always money well spent. We here at CasaCullen adore traveling and spent a little over 24 hours this past weekend at Blisswood Rach Bed and Breakfast in Cat Spring, Texas. Cat Spring is about an hour and a half east of Austin and about an hour west of Houston. It's a one stop light town. You know, the kind if you blink...you miss. Serene, hospitable, relaxing and amazing...Blisswood provided us the staycation we needed and deserved.
CC Hubs and I have not been on a proper vacation (meaning, not staying with family, paying for a hotel and having it be just the two of us) for over a year. Our last overnight was just for one night in San Luis Opisbo driving from our home in San Francisco to visit my in-laws in the LA area. Regardless, way overdue and needed.
So how did we find out about this here Blisswood gorgeousness? Remember that amazing site I just highlighted recently in our Inbox Thrills category? Yep, you should've listened to me. Via Groupon's sweet inbox deals, we jumped on the chance to getaway for a night and splurge on a mini-vaca. When an open weekend in March sprung up in our calendar, CC Hubs went ahead and booked it and a dear friend took care of our sweet hairy angel baby. We were in business and ready for a good time.
Here we are below with Blisswood's gracious, gorgeous and witty owner, Miss Carol Davis. Hands down, one of the most interesting, intriguing and busy women I've ever met in my life...and that's saying a lot! Carol's entire outlook on life, nature and preservation is completely awe-inspiring. This is a woman that has been and is going...places! She owns the only restaurant in town (as far as I know) aptly called Carol's. Upon entering for our fancy dinner, she greeted us with a gorgeous smile, big hug and some fabulous service. Picture below:
(Here we are in all our dressed up glory with Carol Davis, owner of Blisswood Ranch B&B and also Carol's Restaurant...a busy woman, indeed! Click to enlarge and check out the branded leather walls at Carol's restaurant. So chic and creative...we both loved that idea!)
So instead of boring you with every single detail of our stay, as I could go on and on, I've decided to post my top 10 images way below that are sure to entice some sort of creative influence. The sheer idea that no television/phones exist at Blisswood should already have you realizing the type of mindsight Miss Carol wants her visitors to be in. Here's a few fantastic videos just to show you what Blisswood is catering to. Also, we stayed at the Lehmann House (second video) and I literally could not stop drooling at the gorgeousness of that accomodation, both inside and out. Take a peek...
We went antiquing in Cat Spring and loved our yummy candle we picked up at Mustang Alley Antiques. On the way back to Austin the next day, we stopped off at Smithville (where the movie Hope Floats was filmed) for some lunch at a sweet mexican restaurant and more downtown shopping. When I say downtown, I mean one stop light and tons of sweet antique stores. It was pure relaxation and we even picked up that sweet new shabby chic trunk for the guest room featured HERE.
I cannot say enough nice things about our time at Blisswood. We will be back there for sure, either as a couple or with other friends in tow to share this amazing retreat with them. I've added a slideshow underneath my top 10 pictures just because I couldn't share all the amazing images we captured. But if you're aching to see more, make sure to friend us on Facebook HERE and you'll find our trip entire album on there and right HERE! Enjoy and please do take advantage of Blisswood and their natural beauty if you're in the area.
Also, I can't end this post without sharing that we were in the company of fam. We had the lovely chance to meet an inspirational and wonderful man...Mr. Skeeter Hagler. Skeeter's actually a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and is nice, as nice can be. You'll see a few pics below of him and also his incredible collection of cowboy photos. His coffee table book can be purchased HERE on Amazon for $23 (I had a chance to peek in it at Blisswood and shhhh, just ordered it for the hubby for our upcoming anniversary) and it's chock-full of amazing ranch life/cowboy photos by Skeeter and creative poetry by Red Steagall. Enjoy and yee haw!
(Gorgeous interiors that inspire and yep, that's Miss Carol on the wall)
(Loved this sweet red wagon)
(Exterior shot from Smithville, TX)
(More gorgeous interior pieces from Lehmann House)
(Sweet store entrance in Smithville that caught my eye)
PS - Click HEREHEREHERE to follow CasaCullen on Twitter
FYI: We lovingly share our Tweets and Facebook page with our sister blog - RunwayDaily so don't be shy, and say hello. You can get all our great updates from both sources!!!
Recent Comments