Who knew that right after I left Florida from visiting my family, I would end up right back in Florida. But this time for work ☺️.
I wasn’t even back in DC for a week when I was provided with an opportunity to work in Jacksonville. I jumped on this opportunity because it gave me a chance to work in a different office doing something slightly different than what I am used to, and it also placed me closer to friends and my family. The office I was working out of was about five minutes from my friends house. Little did I know that this would be such a huge blessing, they fed me almost every night and made my stay in Jacksonville so much better. I was also conveniently located about five minutes from the St. John’s Town Center which is filled with shops and restaurants. It was in the town center that I would find my favorite restaurant, Ida Claire. If I wasn’t at my friends house I was at Ida Claire, and if you are ever in Jacksonville you need to pay them a visit.
I was in Jacksonville for about three weeks before I drove down to Tampa and spent a week and a half with my family. When the pandemic began I wasn’t sure when I would see my family, but God allowed me to see them twice in a short time period.
As I began my journey to Tampa, I decided to stop in St. Augustine. While I grew up in Florida, I’ve never visited St. Augustine. St. Augustine is said to be the oldest city in the U.S. founded in 1565. It is also known for its Spanish colonial architecture. I found this city to be very cute and I wished I could have stayed longer exploring but the sun was scorching so I decided to explore by car. I also noticed a lot of B&Bs that I would love to go visit someday with my hunny (when that happens I’ll let y’all know 😉).
I finally made it home, and it was now time to soak up every minute I could with my nephew. His second birthday was coming up and we were going to spend every day together leading up to his birthday and I couldn’t be more excited. I became Malachi’s full time care giver, and when I say that was a job, IT 👏🏾 WAS 👏🏾 A 👏🏾 JOB 👏🏾. Hats off to all the parents, stay at home parents, and single parents. My sister warned me that he is a handful and tried to prepare me but whew, you parents of toddlers know what I am talking about. It is a hard job and I definitely found myself getting annoyed and needing a break, but I would do it all over again ☺️.
I was thankful for this opportunity because it came at the perfect time. I already planned to return to Florida the second week of August for my nephews second birthday, however with work I did not have to fund my travel, and my assignment ended right when I was scheduled to go see my nephew. Win win 😉.
Have you traveled yet or are you waiting for 2021 to resume your travels?
Takiyah Travels 