Our Babymoon

A couple of weeks ago Dom and I were able to have a babymoon in Fort Lauderdale, FL and it was just the vacation that we both really needed! It was the first time we’ve both been able to relax since finding out that I was pregnant in December, and neither of us realized how much we had been pushing ourselves to work, stay busy and complete a long list of things-to-do before our world completely changes in July with our new addition.

I never understood the idea behind a babymoon until I became pregnant. While a babymoon is essentially just a vacation that you take while pregnant, the term ‘babymoon’ has become totally commercialized, which I was completely unaware of. Hotels offer special babymoon packages, there are getaways targeted at ‘babymooners’ and there are countless articles on where to go (and where not to go) for a babymoon, what to pack and wear on your babymoon, and how to get the most out of your getaway.

We didn’t even think about taking a babymoon until just a few weeks ago when Dominick got offered a new job (woo!). We realized that after he starts the new job, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to get any time off between now and when the baby arrives in July. So we figured now is the only guaranteed time we can take a vacation (possibly the last one with just the two of us!) before the baby comes. After narrowing the location down to somewhere that would definitely be warm, be on the safe side if something were to happen while we were away (access to hospitals, etc. so preferably in the U.S.), and not in territories that are dangerous to pregnant women (the Bahamas and anywhere with the Zika virus), we settled on Florida because it seemed like an overall safe bet with guaranteed nice weather!

I thought I would share all of our recommendations from our trip to Fort Lauderdale, for other potential babymooners or if you’re just looking to take a vacation there!

Where to Eat in Fort Lauderdale

• Nanou French Bakery and Cafe – Want to feel like you’re eating breakfast in Paris? Go to Nanou! Honestly, this might have been my favorite place we ate in Fort Lauderdale, even though it’s just a bakery. Everything is so authentic and the atmosphere is welcoming, relaxing and calming. The staff is super friendly and will happily give recommendations if you’re not sure what to try! We had the chocolate croissant, the almond croissant (recommended because it’s the most popular pastry – we were not disappointed!), and the ham and cheese croissant, along with two cappuccinos. All were beyond delicious and my only regret is not visiting again before we left Florida.
• 15th Street Fisheries – This restaurant is located right on the water and is definitely on the pricier side, but it’s worth it! Both Dom and I love seafood, so we thought we should splurge for at least one meal and get high-quality seafood for dinner. We split the Heirloom Tomato & Burrata Insalata to start (similar to a Caprese salad, it was pretty good but not a must-have), each ordered the King Crab Legs because crab is each of our favorite seafood, and got the Creme Brulee Duo for dessert. If you like crab legs, I would 100% recommend ordering the King Crab Legs. They’re expensive, but so worth it. These crab legs were the biggest crab legs I’ve ever seen and there was so much crab meat! They also come with a side of delicious garlic mashed potatoes. The Creme Brulee Duo was the perfect dessert to finish our meal with, but don’t expect these to taste your average creme brulee. They come in Pistachio and Dulce de Leche flavors, which were definitely good, but not what you might expect.
• S3 (Sun Surf Sand) – If you love upscale sushi restaurants where the staff really know what they’re talking about and can provide good recommendations, you should go to S3. However for all you preggy mamas out there, it might be torture to go to this restaurant since you’re supposed to avoid raw fish while pregnant! Everything we had here was surprisingly good (we’ve tried a lot of sushi restaurants, so we have high standards!) and we were not disappointed. We ordered the Wok Charred Edamame (best edamame I’ve ever had), the Spicy Tuna roll (this one is raw, but I insisted Dom order it!), the Dragon Roll (no raw fish), the Bavette Steak, and the donuts of the day for dessert. If you’re pregnant and decide to go here, definitely tell the waiter/waitress that you’re pregnant so they can help you navigate the menu! Our waiter gave us a list of all the non-raw sushi rolls (plus told us which were the best), and when our steak was delivered rare when we requested medium-well, he quickly took it back to cook a little longer.
• The Salty Siren – This beach-side bar was connected to our hotel, so we went here for lunch a couple of times out of pure convenience. However, the food and drinks were great! Everything we ordered here was delish and the major plus was they could deliver everything to you on the beach, if desired (this is a perk of being a hotel guest, so unfortunately you cannot enjoy this luxury if you do not stay at the B Ocean Resort). Between the two of us, we tried the Fish Tacos, the Buffalo Chicken Wrap, and the Chicken Club Sandwich. Honestly these were all so good (and perfect midday beach food), so I wouldn’t recommend one over the other. Depends on your mood! We also ordered a variety of drinks from here (mine were all virgin drinks, obvi), but my all-time favorite was a pina colada served right out of a real coconut. Not only was the coconut super cute – they had their logo stamped into it and everything – but the pina colada was probably the best one I’ve ever had, even though it was virgin! They made the pina colada with the real insides of the coconut they served it to me in, and it was so good that I was sad when I was finished with it. Plus it was extra cute because our baby was about to be the size of a coconut!

Where to Stay in Fort Lauderdale

I am certainly no expert on the variety of hotels and other places to stay in Fort Lauderdale, and do not feel knowledgeable enough to provide recommendations on where to stay, but I will give you my honest review on the resort we stayed at, the B Ocean Resort.

Pros:

• Rooms and overall hotel was very clean
• They have easy food options, which are both convenient and good (referring to the two out of the four we went to – The Salty Siren and Clipper Express)
• They are one of the few hotels located right on the beach
• They have their own designated beach that can only be used by hotel guests. The staff sets up beach chairs every morning for hotel guests to claim on a first come, first served basis
• The hotel is in a great location, minutes away from a variety of restaurants and the ‘downtown’ Las Olas area
• They have complimentary bikes that hotel guests can rent to ride around Fort Lauderdale

Cons:

• The hotel is split into three different buildings. Depending on which building you stay in, it is either more or less convenient. There is only one main lobby, so it is likely that no matter which building you are staying in, you will frequently go to the main lobby to visit one of the restaurants, speak with the concierge, check in or out of the hotel, etc.
• The cleaning service kept the rooms clean, however, they were not consistent. Some days we would have 3 towels, 2 washcloths and a bath mat, and another day we would only have 2 regular towels, no bathmat and no washcloths. Not a huge deal but somewhat inconvenient.
• The shower is one of those dumb showers that only has half of a glass wall as the barrier between the shower head and the rest of the bathroom (and no door to create a fully enclosed shower). Regardless of whether you take a quick body shower to rinse off sand from the beach, or a long shower to wash your hair, shave your legs, etc., water ends up all over the bathroom floor because it splashes everywhere.
• The room service leaves much to be desired. The biggest problem with the room service is the menu. They have an incredibly strange and unique menu for room service, which seems to not be the correct menu to offer for people who are feeling lazy enough to order room service.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the B Ocean Resort and thought that the pros outweighed the cons. However, if we were to return to Fort Lauderdale in the future, we would most likely stay at a different hotel and not return to the B Ocean Resort.

I would provide a list of things to do in Fort Lauderdale, but we ended up spending most of our days laying on the beach! Both of us absolutely love the beach and like to spend hours upon hours laying in the sun and jumping into the ocean. We brought several books from the library on our trip so we would have much to read while we were on the beach, and bought a deck of cards at the hotel to play card games when we got bored. Already sounding like mom and dad life… ha! But overall it was beyond relaxing which is exactly what we were hoping to get out of our babymoon. Where have you traveled to for your Babymoon? Do you have recommendations? Let me know in the comments!