For Thanksgiving Week, our family got away for another road trip, this time back to sunny Florida with The Ritz Carlton. Talking about our road trip history, please allow us to remind you of all the fun time we had on our East Coast road trip last summer, also with The Ritz Carlton. You can see the Boston post here, New York post here, Philadelphia post here, and Georgetown, D.C., post here. Once again, we give many thanks to The Ritz Carlton for being a wonderful host again, this time for our family road trip in Key Biscayne, Sarasota, and Orlando.
Our family really likes to take road trips, and we have our own system for them. We fly to one city, rent a car at the airport there, drive wherever our interests take us, then fly home from a different city. This time, we started by flying to Miami, stayed 2 nights nearby in Key Biscayne, then drove to the Gulf Coast and stayed 2 nights in Sarasota, and finally drove to Orlando, and stayed 2 more nights there. Then we flew home on one of the busiest travel days of the year. All in all, we had another really fun and memorable road trip!
Map picture via: Worldatlas
First Stop: Miami / Key Biscayne
There are many flights from L.A. to Miami, and the flight time is about 5 hours. According to our son, Red Bear, that flight is just 2 movies long, and it’s kind of easy to fly when watching movies. Snacks are hard to come by on most airlines in America these days, so we bring some of our favorites to keep the party going, like Chex Mix and trail mix or nuts.
Florida’s weather was very nice when we were there, 80F, and sunny; we felt the summer has never ended there. I like that warm Florida weather a lot; I can’t stand the chill nor snow most of the time, and only for a little while. Another benefit of traveling to sunny Florida: travel packing is so much easier than packing to travel to some cold or snowy place, don’t you agree?
Where We Stayed:
The Ritz Carlton at Key Biscayne
The Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne is located just a few minutes from Miami Beach and downtown, stretching right on the beachfront on a quiet little island. We had a super nice ocean view suite. The view is fantastic as you may see from the pictures.
What I Wore: Carolina Herrera Dress // Earrings
We all love the ocean, any ocean, so we spent a lot of time walking right out to the sand. My husband and I even got up early on our last morning in Key Biscayne to watch the sun rise in the East over the Atlantic Ocean – so beautiful and inspiring to experience! That same afternoon we drove across Florida to Sarasota, where we watched the same sun go down in the West over the Gulf of Mexico on the same day! There are not too many places in the world where you can do that, but Florida is one of them.
Besides enjoying being on the beach in perfect weather, I had a very relaxing spa experience in their Caribbean-inspired resort spa. The spa is clean and well-maintained, with a very helpful and friendly staff. I strongly recommend the “Tequesta Ritual” experience when you are there. It is a 100-minute massage that includes an algae wrap, detoxifying aromatherapy massage, and scalp massage. And I was feeling so soft and refreshed all over after my spa experience!
Where We Ate:
Lightkeepers Restaurant is one of the beachfront restaurants that is within The Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne property, and that is where we had dinner right after we arrived. We chose to sit outside, practically on the beach, because the view and weather was so nice. I ordered a sea food tower (which turned out to be quite impressive!) and steak, and my husband had delicious corn ravioli prepared by Chef David, and some vegetable side dishes as his vegan options. Everything tasted so good! And the service was perfect; Mr. Jorge Mendoza, the sommelier, recommended a perfect wine for me, and Chef David came out to check on us, too.
We were thankful to be able to access the VIP Lounge in the hotel, which is an option in many Ritz Carlton properties. It is a private room, where you can go in from early morning to night and relax, chat, and help yourself to endless drinks, snacks, desserts, and candies, if you need to . . . . We all had many delicious light snacks there, according to our own tastes, like fruit, all kinds of drinks, DIY waffles, pastries, bagels, shrimp cocktail, and so on. I really like their little reading corner in the back of the club lounge, many interesting book collection too!
What I wore: Gucci Hat // dress// Dior Sunglasses // Shoes
What We Did:
The Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne’s resort fee actually includes water activities, such as kayaking and paddle boarding. Come check it out when you are there! Just walk out your room toward the beach, and you will find their beach team waiting there to help you with all the water fun, including providing chairs, towels, and bottled water for you.
What I wore: One-piece Swimwear (here)
As for the lighthouse itself, it is the oldest building in the area, having been built almost two hundred years ago, and repaired, and made a lot taller over the decades. It has lighted the coast to protect sailors and ships from the rocky coast, and has witnessed Indian battles, Civil War battles, storms, and other exciting parts of Florida history. After all that, it is still an impressive structure, and you can go inside and walk up the stairs to the top, if you want. The lighthouse closes at 3:30 p.m., so keep that in mind if you want to go up to the top – we got there just about a minute too late!
Second Stop: Sarasota
Where We Stayed:
Sarasota is on the western coast of Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico. We have been there before, and really like its location and quiet, classy feel. To me, the town has a little retro vibe, which I like a lot. It was an easy 4 hour drive from Key Biscayne when we drove to Sarasota on the day before Thanksgiving. We were so happy to be able to stay in the beautiful Ritz Carlton Sarasota. The hotel is waterfront on the Sarasota marina, with beautiful and elegant design everywhere. It also has a nearby Beach Club and a Golf Club, both for guests and which you can reach on The Ritz Carlton free shuttle buses.
Where We Ate:
The first night, we dined at the hotel’s Beach Club, which we reached in about 5 minutes on the hotel shuttle. We had dinner at Ridley’s Porch, a restaurant in the Beach Club, and we had an outdoor table facing the beautiful sunset. In fact, I took a “time lapse” video of the entire sunset, it was so stunning. My husband keeps reminding me to mention his vegan entree – it was a corkscrew pasta with artichoke, and he says it was “spectacular!” I tasted a little, and I agree. My main course was a delicious, tender steak – so yummy! I also had a jalapeño margarita, which was an exotic drink for me, but just right.
What I wore: Gucci Hat // dress// Dior Sunglasses // Shoes // Fendi Bag
As we did in Key Biscayne, we got the VIP Lounge option, and it was very nice in Sarasota. Red Bear really liked it, because the lounge was on the same floor as our room, and he could just wander over to have some snack whenever he wanted. What he REALLY liked in the Lounge was a DIY pizza oven, and his choices of a lot of toppings to put on. He cooked some with his own recipe, and he was pretty satisfied!
For us, Thanksgiving dinner was in Jack Dusty Restaurant in the hotel, out in the gorgeous weather once again, looking out on the marina. Such a lovely setting! Even though it was Thanksgiving, we do not usually have a traditional American meal of turkey, although that was available on the menu. I loved my cioppino seafood soup, and my husband chose a veggie burger and some vegetable sides, which also satisfied his taste. I had some wonderful shrimp ceviche, too. Although our menu choices were not traditional, we enjoyed them, as well as contemplating everything for which we are thankful. I need to mention the special bread they serve at Jack Dusty, hearty and cooked in a . . . tin can! It tasted so good, and Red Bear loved the novelty of it.
What I Wore: Dress // Manolo Blahnik Shoes
What We Did:
Mostly we were in Sarasota to relax, enjoy the ocean view and air, and celebrate Thanksgiving. But we also got out and about a little, even though a lot of the businesses were closed for the holiday.
Sarasota has a long association with the circus industry, especially Ringling Brothers. The circus used to spend its winters in Sarasota, so the Ringling name appears many places. We drove over to look at the campus of Ringling College of Art and Design; Red Bear is 11 now, and just starting to consider college and career. He really loves art, and that is one career he considers, and he wanted to see what the campus looks like.
Next, before our Thanksgiving dinner, we went to St. Armands Circle and walked around to sight see. It is a delightful and famous shopping and restaurant district in Sarasota, easy and fun to walk around, and with so many amazing little shops, boutiques, galleries, salons, and restaurants. We stopped at a candy shop for Red Bear, where he loaded up on important sweets, including a delicious carmel apple; we also shared a little pizza at one of the sidewalk cafes, just enough to hold us over until dinner. We really recommend taking some time to explore St. Armands Circle next time you visit Sarasota.
My favorite quiet time at the hotel was spent looking at the marina . . . while relaxing in the whirlpool hot tub, just a few steps from the water. We are all “early birds” in our family, and we spent some quality time in the early morning in that hot tub, relaxing and chatting. What a great location!
What I Wore: Carolina Herrera Dress
Third Stop: Orlando
Where We Stayed:
We stayed in the Ritz Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes. It is a really big resort property, with access to 3 big swimming pools, play areas, restaurants, and even a golf course right outside. It is connected with the J.W. Marriott Hotel, where the Lazy River pool is located. Red Bear says that Lazy River is the most fun swimming pool he has ever been in, and I would say he is pretty right about that.
We had a suite with TWO balconies, so we were able to spend some pleasant time looking over all the resort.
Where We Ate:
Our first night’s dinner was in the Highball & Harvest, located in the hotel’s ground floor. This restaurant pays legacy to its namesake, both the cocktail and the way that railroad trains transported Florida’s harvests. With live music on site and all kinds of fun family activities around, and a fire for gathering around, the restaurant is a fun place to hangout with family or friends.
We didn’t have access to their Club Level during our stay, but we explored around and found a couple fun dining spots in the area that fit our tastes and diets.
Whether you are vegan or not, check out the Dixie Dharma restaurant, about a 20 – 30 minutes drive from the hotel. It is a “vegan vortex,” with FOUR vegan businesses under one roof – deli, doughnut shop, bakery, and grocery mart. We had a few different vegan dishes, including my husband’s barbecued “chicken” sandwich, which was delicious. Highly recommended for healthy eating, and we enjoyed sitting at picnic tables in their back lawn area.
If you are into good breakfast or brunch, check out @TheDiner, which was just 8 minutes drive from the hotel. Apparently, it is a REALLY popular place for the locals; the first morning we went there about 9 a.m., and the wait was quoted as 40 minutes. Good food, good service, and good value can be worth a wait, but we are too impatient for that, so we left, but came back at 7 a.m. the next morning – first customers of the day. We ate well, because we had to head to the airport for the flight home, and we all loved our food. One thing we tried for the first was grits, the popular Southern cornmeal dish, and all of us liked it, even Red Bear, who is normally not too keen on new things like that.
What We Did:
Orlando is a home to more than a dozen theme parks. Chief among its claims to fame is Walt Disney World, comprised of parks like the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, as well as water parks. No doubt, Orlando is one of the world’s most visited family destinations. And also, no doubt, those theme parks were all really busy on this Thanksgiving weekend, so we chose to wait for another time to visit them.
Instead, we chose to enjoy the “resort life,” by mostly staying on The Ritz Carlton property and taking it easy, enjoying the many fun activities there.
I started with a great “Hot Stone Massage” in their spa. I learned it was voted “#1 Best Hotel Spa” in the 2015 USA Today Reader’s Choice survey, and I think they really did a great job!
Another super-fun thing we did during our stay in The Ritz Carlton Orlando was to experience their “Ginger Bread House” studio, where we all got to build and decorate a real, genuine, edible gingerbread house, as artful or garish as we wished. It was a great fun family bonding time, indeed! There was a life-sized gingerbread house there – that’s right, life-size, and real gingerbread, using hundreds of pounds of ingredients to build it. We used that life-sized gingerbread house for our inspiration to build and assemble our own creation at Santa’s Workshop. This fun-filled activity begins by building the house with prebaked gingerbread panels on a wooden foundation, then we selected from dozens of different types of candy and other edible details to decorate and personalize our house. The glue is all vanilla frosting, which we learned to squeeze expertly from a tube, like real bakers. Red Bear loved our final work so much, and he took a lot of pictures of the house and sent them to his friends proudly. Oh, and we liked our gingerbread house so much, before we returned home, we were able to take each piece down carefully and pack it in a carry-on to bring it back to Los Angeles with us, so that we could re-construct it in our home. YAY!!!! Now we plan to enjoy looking at it until Christmas morning, and then to eat it right after we open our gifts.
At the resort we also stumbled into a game area for all ages – air hockey, (almost) life-size chess, pool tables, video games, and ping-pong. I was raised in China, so I wanted to play against someone, and Red Bear accepted my challenge, even though it was his first time. I must admit, he has good coordination, and caught on fast. Pretty quickly, during our first game, he developed what he calls his “kill shot,” where he jumped halfway over the table to slam the ball onto my side. It didn’t work every time, but when it did, it was scary! Anyway, we actually had two long ping-pong sessions, and I ended up with quite a few sore muscles, and some great memories of fun with my son.
What I Wore: Zara Top // J.Crew Skirt (from last year)
These pictures were taken inside the beautiful Ritz Carlton Orland hotel lobby.
Conclusion:
We stayed in some wonderful hotels, all with fantastic, even perfect service. And we had many delicious meals, some fun adventures, saw some new sights on the road, and had a lot of nice, quality family time together.
We also have to give special thanks to The Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne and The Ritz Carlton Sarasota, for their sweet and personal customized sweet treats they had waiting for us when we checked into the rooms.
Picture below shown (left) The Chef’s special vegan chocolate avocado mousse from The Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne was incredibly good, and (right) The Sweet Red Bear (inspired by our son’s nickname) decor in a sweet “sugar sand” cookie plate from The Ritz Carlton Sarasota. We felt the love, and we felt like we were really at home during our stay with the Ritz Carlton family. Thanks so much to The Ritz Carlton for all the wonderful service and we look forward to our next #RCMemories in the new 2020!!
But the most unusual highlight of our trip was the rare experience of watching the sun come up over the ocean in the morning at Key Biscayne, and watching it set over a different ocean at dinner that same night in Sarasota. Both the sunrise and sunset were among the most beautiful we had ever seen, so how odd, amazing, and lucky to see them both in the same day?
Pictures shown above: (left) Sunrise in Miami. Nov. 27, 2019. (right) Sunset in Sarasota. Nov. 27, 2019
We give endless thanks to The Ritz Carlton for working with us for this story. As always, all opinions in the post are honestly our own.
