2019 Year In Review
It’s been a while since I posted one of these year end reviews. Since we are in the midst of another new year, I figured it should be a good time to look back at the year that passed as a way to document our travels and achievements for the year.
Contents
We started off the year with a good start. Peter relocated back to Jacksonville from Tampa, yay, and I ended up going to a different company.
We went on a weekend trip to Orlando, where our hotel was walking distance to the Orlando Eye, ate lunch at Copper Canyon Grill (now closed), and did a little shopping at the Outlets.
In the latter part of the month, we went on a Royal Caribbean cruise from Tampa to the Caribbean on the Rhapsody of the Seas, stopping at these destinations:
It was a 7 day cruise which was great: we added 2 new countries in our country list – Belize and Honduras.
On our way back, we visited the Florida Aquarium, before driving back to Sarasota.
In February, we flew to New York, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met), MoMa, and did our usual food jaunts. We visited Hamilton Grange and General Grant’s Tomb, part of the National Park Service. We walked around Times Square and watched an Off-Broadway show called Drunk Shakespeare.
We stayed mostly uptown, and of course, visited Central Park and Times Square.
We also watched Hamilton (the Musical) in Tampa in the latter part of February. While I was not particularly impressed with it, Peter loved it, and since it was his Birthday present, that’s all that matters.
In March, we announced to family that we were expecting a little one. It was our first, so everybody was excited with the new addition to our family. We then had to sit down and scheme about other side hustles since having a little one means more money spent.
We then watched a few shows within Jacksonville: Midlife the Musical, Waitress, and Jersey Boys.
We also snuck in a visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and rode Kilimanjaro Safaris, my (Ruby’s) favorite ride ever.
In April, we watched Disney on Ice as well as Big at the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a local dinner show place that we frequent a lot since we like the shows.
We visited Charleston, South Carolina. We last visited Charleston almost 4 years ago, in November 2014, when Peter and I were just starting to date.
Within Charleston, we visited the following places:
We then ate at Poogan’s Steakhouse, since the original Poogan’s Porch (where we originally ate dinner on one of our dates in Charleston) was too crowded.
We also visited Thomasville, Georgia, for their festival of the roses. Within Thomasville, we visited Pebble Hill Plantation, which is a cool little plantation house within a quick drive from our place.
We drove up to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, when we received a timeshare offer in late 2018. We timed it perfectly since I wasn’t too big to start hiking then. We also did a day trip to Columbia, South Carolina, staying at Hyatt Place Columbia/Harbison for only 5k Hyatt points a night. We also managed to go to the South Carolina State Museum and eat at a Thai restaurant close by.
Within Gatlinburg, we visited the following attractions:
We stayed at the Brookside Resort in Gatlinburg, and ate in one of our favorite restaurants, Bennett’s Pit BBQ.
We also did a day trip to Disney’s Epcot, to enjoy the last few days of our discounted Florida resident pass.
Broadway shows were also in our itinerary in May, we watched Kinky Boots and Cruel Intentions in Jacksonville. Although, I do have to say, I really enjoyed Cruel Intentions. All the ’90s songs were a blast from the past.
June was our biggest month travel-wise. We went to Europe to attend Peter’s cousin’s wedding, and the flights have been booked in 2018. It just coincided that I was 5 months pregnant, and can still fly! It’s also memorable since it’s my mom’s first time to visit Peter’s home country!
We mostly stayed in Slovakia this trip, but we visited the below places in Slovakia, Vienna & Prague:
On our way back from our Europe trip, our flight from Philadelphia (our layover) to Jacksonville got cancelled, so we got an extra day to spend in Philadelphia, where we went to see the Liberty Bell, the US Mint, City Hall & Reading Terminal Market.
We also made an offer for a house in June. We needed a bigger place to live in when the little one arrives!
One last plane trip before I start nesting. The week before we went to Raleigh, North Carolina, we closed on our house. It was a lot of moving (we have a lot of stuff), and being 6 months pregnant proved challenging to move as well.
For our trip to Raleigh, we stayed at the Hyatt Place near the airport. We also visited the below places:
It was a quick and short weekend away, but it was definitely worth it, as we have never been within the Research Triangle area yet.
I also watched a concert this July – New Kids On the Block! Yes, I watched a concert solo, at almost 6 months pregnant! This ticket was booked from late 2018, before I found out we were expecting!
We slowed down in August since it’s my third trimester. We only had one trip: to Fort Lauderdale & Orlando.
In Fort Lauderdale, we stayed at the Hyatt Fort Lauderdale/Plantation – mainly because of its proximity to the BB&T Center, where we were going to watch the Backstreet Boys concert.
The day after, in Orlando, we stayed at the Hyatt Grand Cypress. It’s a huge resort and we enjoyed the pool and the non-motorized sport activities that they included in our stay.
Also to note: it was my first time eating at an Olive Garden, and it was amazing.
September is my birthday month but we nipped off for a few days to Sarasota, to my in-laws place for the first of my baby showers.
Then for my actual birthday, we spent a day in St Augustine, where we walked by historic St George’s Street, and had dinner at Columbia Restaurant. We timed this in line with the Smithsonian Free Museum Day, so we hit the Ritz Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) here in Jacksonville (for free). It was a really busy day for us!
The rest of September was spent side hustling and nesting: doing mystery shops, reading a lot of books, fixing our house, getting ready for the baby, and watching Alhambra Shows in Jacksonville.
October is mostly a month where we stayed in. However, October 20th was a memorable day: we were out shopping the whole day on October 19th, and in the wee hours of the 20th, the baby decided that he wanted to be born soon! We welcomed our baby and we even wrote a whole post about Alex’s birth story!
Since I had a C-Section, I was cooped up inside the house until the end of the year as I recovered. I did manage to make it outside the house on Black Friday and went shopping in Dillard’s and Carter’s with my mother-in-law!
It’s also my in-laws first time to spend Thanksgiving in Jacksonville, and in our new house, and it’s really nice to have family over!
I went overboard with the Christmas presents, but it was good. I got a new notebook (like, an actual notebook), which I wrote down dreams, goals, and plans in. One of my presents for Peter is actually a travel experience: we’re going to swim with dolphins next year!
There’s a lot of binge watching happening in November and December as we battle sleepless nights and trying to take care of our little one so we don’t have much to report on these two months. But hey, it was all worth it! You can also read some of our baby posts that will happen in the next few months.
Another full year for me and Peter, and I can say it was a very eventful year! We were not traveling much in the latter part of the year, but as you’ll see on our 2020 posts, the traveling and side hustling will pick up again as we try to get a schedule going with the baby.
For 2019, I managed to read over 25 books! Reading is a hobby of mine, and I try to squeeze a little bit of reading here and there. I focus more on non-fiction titles, while listening to fiction titles on my way to work or as I’m running some errands.
As mentioned above, I also managed to pop a baby out, we bought a new house, and we essentially learned more about our baby during the year. Oh, and as part of our goal to reach financial independence, we managed to grow our investments. It’s not enough for us to survive on yet, but every little counts.
So, that’s a wrap on 2019, and here’s to the new decade ahead. How was your 2019 and what are you looking forward to most in the new decade?
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