Back From Florida

Moai's greeting you at Grind

We decided a sort of 'last minute' trip to visit my parents in Florida...and by last minute in my world means we only planned a month in advance. I mentioned my Father is having some health problems, meaning he's been diagnosed with cancer. He has already had some procedures done and is in the best hands in terms of my Mother and his team of doctors, but I'm still scared and with being so far away it makes my fears even worse. Though it's the best case scenario with catching everything early, there is a long road of treatments ahead.

We left very early last Monday morning and arrived in Daytona Beach to the smiling faces and embrace of my parents. After stripping off layers of clothing and freshening up a bit, we had lunch at the Grind Gastropub &Kona Bar in Ormond Beach. We visited the restaurant when it was called Caffeine Wine Bar & Bistro and I'm soooooo glad they changed ownership, it's much more amazing now!

This is the only time my hair looked descent, I forgot about the humidity! LOL! That's why I brought hair scarves!

Mom and Dad coordinating without even knowing it!

Grind's food was amazing, the Tiki drinks were sort 'eh', but the decor made up for it!

Amongst other things we did during the week, we visited the Silver Springs state park and went on the glass bottoms boats. I'm a nerd for anything that has some history and the glass bottoms boats have been running for 100 years!

The spring's were beautiful and the boat ride was very relaxing. I was glad my Father was feeling up to the activities and enjoyed the visit. 

It was a gorgeous day and perfect for making memories <3

I miss my parents already, but I'm happy to be home.

XOXO-Meagan Kyla

Tiki Road Trip Florida 2013 Edition : Vacation Slides

Warning: This blog post contains many images of Tiki's, Polynesian Pop and other

tropical related paraphernalia. It may cause mai tai cravings, urge to hula and to shout out "Aloha!"

Proceed with caution.

Day 1-Hanging out with my parents in Micanopy, FL

Our trip to Florida was based around two things; visiting my parents and visiting Tiki bars. Though we did other things, the Tiki hunt was the main object and we managed to visit 4 bars in 3 different cities. Yes, we're insane.

It was hard to narrow down my photos to share with you and not to completely bore you to Tiki death, so here are some of the highlights (and low lights) of our Tiki Road Trip Florida 2013 Edition.

So many Shag art prints inside Caffeine

First stop was Caffeine Wine Bar & Bistro in Ormond Beach. The restaurant had an outdoor Tiki bar named the Kona Bar. The artwork and sheer size of the outdoor space was HUGE and it was decorated with more Shag art. 

Unfortunately the actual outdoor Tiki bar was closed, our bartender told us that the restaurant was going through some changes. I really hope they don't change the decor and style!

We sat inside Caffeine and had the mai tai's (the only Tiki drink they served!), they were just okay. It's a bummer that the place was so awesome, but really didn't serve a lot of fresh tropical libations. Still, the experience was awesome and we left giddy and excited for what was yet to come.

My ugly pants are blending into the foliage!

Next stop, Sarasota, FL! We visited Trader Vic's Island Bar and Grill. This Trader Vic's isn't the original bars that are found in 5 star hotels, but it is the first concept restaurant and it was AWESOME. 

Derek deciding what we should have next....

The 1944 Mai Tai recipe was so yummy, fresh and delicious, it wins the best mai tai on our Tiki road trip! 

The manager gave us all these coasters and post cards that she found while cleaning out the office drawers and she gave them to us! The staff was so awesome and we even loved the food. Mmmmmm pot stickers.

Angry Tiki LOL!

Derek and I shared the Tiki Bowl....errrrr, well I made him finish it since I had to drive (don't worry we were there for a few hours!). This was the result:

I've never seen my husband being defeated by a tropical libation! Hahahaha! Poor Derek.

Later in the evening we visited the Bahi Hut Lounge which is also in Sarasota. We were extra excited to visit this lounge as it was est. in 1954 and it was right next to our motel. They claim to have to "world's most lethal mai tai".

There aren't any photos of the inside as this bar as it was the seediest, most disturbing and scariest experience of the whole Tiki bar trip. I don't want to get into too much details, but it will always haunt us....forever. We weren't in any danger, but I now understand the reviews on Yelp and other internet sites. Yikes! Oh, the mai tai was totally disgusting.

Last and final destination was Waitiki in Orlando, FL. We were relieved to find the bar relaxing and the food was decent. Waitiki was nestled in a really cool part of downtown Orlando that was the arts district, we felt right at home.

The mai tai was bad (we didn't even finish it), but the other drinks were great! I loved my singapore sling (or singapour sling on the menu), it was refreshing. This is the bar that yours truly got a wee bit tipsy as we just walked to and from our motel. I slept really well that night. *Wink*.

We sat by Mr. Bali Hai

Hahaha!!!!

Phew! We had a great time, saw a lot of sights, but I'm happy to be home (even though it's now 37 degrees out, brrrr!) and back into the swing of things. Thank you for helping me reflect on our trip!

Alllooooohhhhaaaaaaaaaa!

XOXO-Meagan Kyla