Florida 2016- The One With A Wedding- Day 1

[Larajp]

So as planned, today started with a trip to the court office to get our marriage licence. We were in the car at 8, there for 8.20 with 10 mins to wait until they open.

We were seen straight but the process took 30 mins as the and computer was playing up. I'd printed off the form online and completed it already, he took copies of our passports and asked for driving licences. We were then asked to raise our right hand and make the oath that the info was true, I felt very American! Then we were away to go- we can now get married

Paperwork done, it was time for breakfast. We normally do a Walmart shop and eat in most mornings, but as we are starting this holiday down the coast we are eating out. We wanted to try ihop, having never eaten here- hard to believe after all our visits!

So we had:

Mia went for this but without the egg.

Lol, she loved it. She kept saying how delicious it was with every bite. I'm not surprised with how sweet they were!

There was a special menu / offer she gave us where you bought a combo meal and got the cupcake pancakes, red velvet crepe or choc topped brioche free. (This may be a regular offer, I don't know!)

I had this, bacon, hash browns and eggs but asked for plain pancakes which she was happy to arrange.

Lee had the bacon, sausage, hash browns and egg combo without the egg. He chose the free brioche which was amazing! It tasted like Cinnabon! I wanted it!

Over all very impressed with breakfast. Would go again for breakfast.

We walked back to the beachcomber along the beach which is beautiful.
The sand is soft like in Clearwater in certain parts but it does have a lot of crushed shells mixed in to it.
In Clearwater when we visited in 2014 the whole beach was so soft so my heart did drop a bit to have to walk through the rough parts here to get to the sea. Just as beautiful though and a bit quieter here.

So the rest of the day was spent in the pool, at 2 we had to force Mia to get out for a break. We had a bite to eat in Jimmy b's as it was right there.

Me and Lee shared two appetisers, coconut shrimps (top of pic) and honey BBQ chicken wings.

Both really nice.

Mia chose the cheese and pepperoni tortilla pizza. I'm a huge fan of 'lean in 15' so Mia loves a tortilla pizza. They did forget to add the pepperoni though! We helped her finish this.
I'll definitely need to get back on the lean in 15 after this holiday!

It was back to the pool for us until about 5 pm. We chilled out for an hour before getting ready for dinner.

We wanted to try out ricks reef as we'd heard some good reviews.

It was nice with good decor and the menu was a newspaper. Waitress was really friendly and talked is through everything.

Note- do not order starters and main meals. We were stuffed after half a potato skin and the gator bites! But had already ordered mains.

These are loaded skins. Feta cheddar and bacon bits.
Mia decided she didn't want food so we hoped she'd eat some of these, no luck. They were delicious but filling.

Gator bites. We had these on the last holiday and enjoyed them. The sauce was shark sauce which had a kick.

I really wanted to try fish tacos this holiday. I went for blackened fish and its served with fries or tropical coleslaw. I thought Mia would eat some fries but no.

These were tasty and really fresh tasting. Fries were great two but only managed two or three and one of the tacos! Eyes bigger than our bellies as my mother would tell us!

Lee had the Big Dipper, which was shaved rib eye with provolone cheese and mushrooms. It came with a bowl of stock to dip it in (just like man v food!)

He said it was lovely but again we were stuffed! The fries got sidelined!
We ordered corn on the side as another table had it and it looked delicious. It was!

The waitress was happy to give us a box to take some home and said the fries reheated really well so that's what we did.

So the night ended there, we walked back to the beachcomber and we're all in bed by 9!

Mia slept right through to 7 so I'm hoping she's caught up on sleep a bit. I woke at 3 and 4 but forced myself to go back.

We are all getting ready for today, we hope to do a boat trip to shell key. Will post day 2 tonight.

Thanks for reading, sorry for the time it taking to post, Internet is very intermittent!

[Larajp]

Really sorry, the internet keeps cutting out so I can't upload any pics! I'll try again in the morning, thanks for reading and your comments on the whole report so far all. X

[app]

New Photo Added by Larajp - 28 Apr 16 12:37 PM.

[Jake71]

A nice and relaxing day after sorting the formalities in the morning. The food looks delicious too, although loads and loads of it. Enjoy your boat trip.

[jacqui]

Really enjoying your trip report, fab food photos.

[DisneyDreamer81]

Loving reading your posts! It looks so beautiful there and those fish tacos look amazing!

[mick]

Lovely day

Joan

[Fat mickey]

Fab start to your trip report, looking forward to reading the rest. So many times we ordered too much food & then couldn't face a desert

[closeder]

Food looks amazing again, would love to fit in a trip down to Clearwater but we never seem to manage, the beach looks beautiful.

[codym]

Always a case of eyes bigger than belly over there. Lovely food, love the St Petes area.