Magnolia Mamas : Florida

Showing posts with label Florida. Show all posts

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Fall Break Trip {Destin, FL} + The Best Filet Recipe

Last week we had the most glorious week in Destin, FL. I shared a bunch about it on our Instagram stories and had two things that I got a ton of DM's about. Y'all wanted to know details on the house we stayed in and how to make the steaks we cooked! I'm sharing both of those things today along with a recap of our trip.

A few years ago our schools shifted to a calendar that built in a week off at the end of September. While I am not a fan of starting back to school in July (during a normal school year...obviously this year was different), when Fall Break rolls around it is a much needed break.

I love going to the beach in late September because the crowds are much smaller and the weather is amazing. This year we had a lot of trips cancelled due to COVID so when some of our friends asked if we wanted to rent an amazing house with them for the break we were all for it!

We rented THIS house in Destin, FL and it was AMAZING!!!! We rented the house through VRBO and I would highly recommend this rental. We had three families and could have fit a fourth family because it was just that big.

It also had a guest house with a bedroom, bathroom, small kitchen and separate game room with bunk beds that we didn't even use for sleeping purposes. The kids pretended this was their "apartment" and would hang out over there at night to play and watch TV.

Every bedroom in the main house had its own bathroom, comfortable beds, a huge kitchen and a living room with the most incredible views. It also had a deck we would sit out on in the mornings and at night to watch the sunset.

The pool was nothing to get excited about, but the kids still enjoyed it. The best part about the house was just being right on the water. The kids could run back and forth from the beach to the pool and if you needed something from the house it wasn't a big deal to go grab it because the house was just steps away.

We stayed with some of our baseball friends who we've been around all summer and the boys had THE best time playing nonstop all week long. There was a lot of beach baseball happening, but also a ton of football, too.

I'm normally a stay-in-a-hotel-and-eat-out-for-every-meal kind of girl when it comes to vacations because to me, it's just not a vacation if I have to cook and clean. However this trip was like we had our own personal chefs traveling with us. Not only do my friends like to cook, they CAN cook!

We ate (and drank) very well during our trip. When I shared about our steak night on Instagram I got a ton of questions and I promised y'all I would share the details. I got my dear friend, Jaime, to send me how they cooked them.

Ingredients:

Filet size of your choice - cut from butcher shop - we frequent Whole Foods - ours were 8 oz
Sprigs of fresh Thyme - 1 bunch per 2 steaks
Peeled fresh garlic - 1 head per 2 steaks
Two sticks of Kerrygold butter - cut into cubes

Directions:

One hour before cooking lay steaks out to come to room temperature and season both sides and edges with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Heat cast iron skillet with 1 tbsp of olive oil until it's smoking hot.
Add two tbsp of butter to the pan.
Add steaks to the pan - leave for 2 minutes.
Dump butter into heat proof bowl. Add two more tbsp of butter, swirl around pan. Flip steaks to other side - cook 2 minutes.
Dump butter one more time and add 4 tbsp of butter and whole peeled garlic cloves. Baste steaks with melted butter.
Put pan into preheated oven.

Cook times vary based on thickness of the steak. Ours were 2.5" and we followed:

Medium Rare: 4 minutes in oven

Medim: 7 minutes in oven

Medium Well: 10 minutes in oven

Well Done: 12 minutes in oven.

Baste again in butter, garlic and thyme.
Remove steaks to plates and let them rest, but not keep cooking. Rest 3-5 minutes before cutting.
Enjoy!

Friday, June 12, 2020

Weekend Getaway: Fernandina Beach

Last week we had a little weekend getaway and had THE BEST TIME!!!! After a very long few months it was so nice to escape our house and have a chance of scenery. The Mr. was doing some work down there so we decided to make a trip out of it.

We drove down from Atlanta and stayed for one night in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island. I had't been there since I was a kid. I LOVED it so much. We didn't actually got to the beach on our day there and instead stayed in the historic district.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn and it was being renovated so we had to ignore that, but the location was amazing and there were some beautiful features to the hotel!

It was right on the water, had a beautiful view of the harbor and was an amazing location because we could walk everywhere!

The historic part of the town reminds me a little bit of Key West, but it also has an old historic and quant feel to it.

We ate dinner right on the water at Brett's Waterway Cafe and then walked around town a bit.

The girls wanted to take pictures on the train tracks (because that is what girls their age do).

As soon as we finished we heard the whistle of a train and couldn't believe our timing. I quickly grabbed pennies out of my wallet for the kids to put on the tracks. After the train passed we found their pennies and they thought this was so neat.

We ended the night with a little putt-putt and all evening I heard a train whistle so I think it must pass by there frequently!

The next morning we took a family walk around town and explored some of the other shops and historic houses.

Then we grabbed breakfast at a little cafe called the Garden Street Bistro where we met some locals, including the biggest dog I have ever seen in my life named Murray. He was a newfoundland and was 182 lbs of sweetness. He comes there regularly with his owner for a side of bacon as his breakfast. The kids got feed him and we all fell in love with the laid back and local feel of the island.

After breakfast we loaded up and made our way to our next stop, St. Augustine Beach! I was sad to leave and feel like this is definitely somewhere we will go back to soon! Check back on Monday for the second part of our trip! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Clearwater Beach {Marine Life}

Anytime I told someone we were going to Clearwater Beach for vacation they all mentioned the dolphins. Apparently, it is a big area for dolphin sightings and that held true for us! We were able to look right off our dock both morning and evening to see dolphins swimming and playing out in front of the house. It was so cool!

My girls both love sea animals and dolphins are one of their favorites. Anyone remember the Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2 movies?

It's based on a true story about a dolphin who looses it's tail after being caught in a crab trap. Some amazing people at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium help rescue her and she ends up getting a prosthetic tail. Well, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is actually a real place and the dolphins from the movie live there! We were so excited to take the girls there and let them learn even more about the mission of this Marine Aquarium which is to rescue, rehabilitate, and release back into the wild when possible.

It's called an aquarium, but really it is more of an marine animal hospital where they help hurt and injured animals. Little Mama wants to become a marine biologist or vet so this was such a neat experience for her and all of the girls.

While the girls were at the aquarium, the guys were on a deep sea fishing day. My little guy had never been deep sea fishing before and I was not quite sure how he would handle being out on the boat ALL DAY LONG. I thought he might get a little board, but when he got back and I asked him how it was he told me, "It was SO fun." :-)

They caught a lot of red snapper and a few other fish, too!

Another animal you don't see everyday is a manatee!!! We had just come back in from the boat when someone noticed it right at our dock.

They grabbed the freshwater hose and put it down in the water to see if he wanted a drink.

The kids all got to take turns holding the hose and feeding him.

It was such a cool experience and so neat for them to see it close up.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Braves Spring Training Trip {Part 2}

If you missed Part 1 of our quick Braves Spring Training trip post, you can find it here.

We were able to sleep in a bit on Saturday before getting ready to head over to the ESPN Wild World of Sports for the Braves game. It was St. Patrick's Day, so we all had green Braves hats to wear for the day. Before the game we were lucky enough to attend an autograph session with a lot of the players and my little baseball loving guy was in heaven.

Especially when he saw some of the big names like Ender Inciarte who he has a bobblehead of in his baseball room!

Then he spent a little time watching batting practice and warmups before the game started hoping someone would toss a ball up to him.

We got wind that another group of players were going to be coming to autograph, including his favorite, Freddie Freeman! He was so excited and nervous to meet him, but wanted to say "hey Freddie." Freddie Freeman was so nice to him and when I asked if I could take a picture he was so kind of said, "Of course!" His day was made right then and there.

It was a beautiful day for baseball and while watching the kids enjoyed ice cream, popsicles and just about every other ball park snack they could get their hands on.

After the game we took the shuttle over to Universal Studios!

We had a few hours to ride some of the rides and planned our time there strategically. We had a limited about of time and wanted to ride the ones they would enjoy the most.

Our kids love the thrill rides. Transformers was super fun, they enjoyed the Men in Black ride, but their very favorite was the Revenge of the Mummy because it was basically an indoor roller coaster.

We grabbed a quick dinner and then it was time for the main event of the evening...the Mardi Gras Parade. Now, last year Boo-Boo was too short to actually be in the parade so we took part as spectators and you would have thought we were in New Orleans.

They had the best time collecting beads from the parade and enjoyed it so much that I was a little nervous to be on the other side of things. However, so many people we talked to who rode on the floats last year said throwing the beads was so much fun so we decided to give it a whirl. We got costumes on, were given our instructions, and were ready to go.

I have no pictures from the parade because it went by so fast. Literally every second we were tossing beads to crazy people who thought they were in New Orleans and having the time of our lives. It was so much fun and neat to see it from the other side.

We went through tons of beads, but there were enough left for the kids to get some to take home. While waiting on our shuttle though, this kind hearted boy decided to pass some beads out to other people who didn't get any. So when someone would walk by he asked if they wanted some beads. He also gave some to our shuttle driver and you could tell it just made his day.

We all crashed that evening and were up early the next day to get ready to fly back home. It was a quick trip, but packed full of fun!

Magnolia Mamas

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