Over Memorial Day weekend, on a last minute deal, I took a flight to Miami on Friday evening to meet a friend. She was familiar with Miami but never experienced Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach or anything else in between.

It only made sense to rent a car and take the scenic route up the state towards Boca Raton. As I often do for personal travel, we looked for a reasonably priced hotel for the next two days. Based on reviews and price, we decided on Marriott Boca Center. It included breakfast in the rate, so was great deal overall. Although we had limited time on the beach, we made a decent attempt getting a tan — though we were more sunburned than tan, regardless of how often we reapplied sunscreen. The sun is incredibly strong in Florida.

Aside from lying on the beach, we had a chance to connect with friends who live in the area and were also in town. There were too many coincidences to count. I even played beach volleyball after a long break and remembered how much I missed it. What was the first thing I did when back in New York? I went to Central Park and played more beach volleyball to unwind on our last day off before the hustle of the work week.

I hope you made the best of these much-appreciated days off with friends and family, or even by yourself. Cheers to the next one!

— Banu Yilmaz, advertising director