GEM
Mommy to Paul - 1lb 7oz wonder
- Joined
- Sep 23, 1999
Just got back earlier this week from a huge Florida adventure that spanned over three weeks and most of the state. Left home on Christmas night and drove. Just me and DS11 (homeschooled).
Highlights:
-Atlanta on the Drive Down: Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site, Fernbank Children's Museum, Coke World, Walking Dead tour
-St. Augustine: Castillo De San Marcos, Pirate and Treasure Museum, Ghosts and Gravestones Tour, St. Augustine Lighthouse, Fountain of Youth Archeological Park
-State Parks/Recreation Areas: Rainbow Springs, Homossassa Springs (manatees), Weeki Wachee Springs (mermaids), Blue Springs (mantatees and river cruise), Silver Springs (glass bottom boat ride), DeLeon Springs (Old Spanish Sugarmill Pancake House), Ocala National Forest (Juniper Springs, Salt Springs), Cross Creek (home of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings who wrote The Yearling)
-Clearwater Area: Dali Museum, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater Aquarium to see Winter the "Dolphin Tale" dolphin, rented Segways at Clearwater Beach, Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise, Honeymoon Island/Caladesi Island State Parks
-Legoland
-WDW: 10 park days with waterparks and more option, 4 Magic Kingdom days, 2 Epcot days, 2 Studios days, 2 Animal Kingdom days, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, LOTS of Disney Quest visits, Fantasia Gardens, Cape May breakfast, Chef Mickey's breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast, kids pirate cruise at Caribbean Beach resort, lots of resort hopping and exploring, a million hours of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, lunch at Sci Fi and Rainforest Cafe, dinner at Boma
-Everglades: tram tour at the Shark Valley Visitor's Center ( a huge highlight...saw about a million huge alligators within two feet of the tram), airboat ride and gator wrestling show at the Miccosukee Indian Village, stopped at the Skunk Ape research center (fun and interesting, bizarre little place)
-Keys: drove the Overseas Highway down to Key West - so incredibly beautiful, stopped at Robbie's and fed the HUGE tarpon, gorgeous Bahia Honda State Park, did the Conch Train tour to get the lay of the land, Hemmingway's house, Tennessee Williams museum, Flagler museum, sunset at Mallory Square
-Space Coast: Kennedy Space Center, Canaveral National Seashore (our fav Florida beach), dinner at Dixie Crossroads (best shrimp anywhere on the planet!)
-Misc Stops: Showcase of Citrus in Clermont (love it....always visit)
-Stops on the Drive Home on MLK Day: Montgomery, AL (Rosa Parks museum, King parsonage and Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, saw the MLK Day parade, Freedom Riders museum at the Greyhound Bus Station), Selma, AL (drove the Freedom Higway between Selma and Montgomery following the path of the Voting Rights March and stopping at the historical markers and interpretive centers, walked across the infamous Edmond Pettus bridge), Birmingham, AL (toured the 17th Street Baptist Church where the four little girls died in the bombing and toured Kelly Ingram park where all the riots took place...lots of statues and historical information)
Some thoughts:
-Loved FP+ and the Magic Bands, no problems in 10 park days (We were dedicated and experienced FP experts but have had no problems adapting to the new system and I like it better...less running around.)
-While in the Disney area, we stayed off-site at the Maingate Resort and Spa. Highly reccomended! Extremely clean, beautiful and comfortable rooms, best bed I've ever had in any hotel, inexpensive, and as close as you can get to the parks without being on property.
-Crowds at Disney were very, very manageable. Our first park day was Jan. 5th, so most of the New Year's crowds had gone home.
-If you're visiting the Clearwater area, here is a plug for the Palm Court Motel. So cute, clean, comfy, and cozy. A totally charming old-Florida type place. LOVED IT!
If anyone has any questions about Disney or any of the other places we visitied, I'll be glad to provide any information I can!
Highlights:
-Atlanta on the Drive Down: Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site, Fernbank Children's Museum, Coke World, Walking Dead tour
-St. Augustine: Castillo De San Marcos, Pirate and Treasure Museum, Ghosts and Gravestones Tour, St. Augustine Lighthouse, Fountain of Youth Archeological Park
-State Parks/Recreation Areas: Rainbow Springs, Homossassa Springs (manatees), Weeki Wachee Springs (mermaids), Blue Springs (mantatees and river cruise), Silver Springs (glass bottom boat ride), DeLeon Springs (Old Spanish Sugarmill Pancake House), Ocala National Forest (Juniper Springs, Salt Springs), Cross Creek (home of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings who wrote The Yearling)
-Clearwater Area: Dali Museum, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater Aquarium to see Winter the "Dolphin Tale" dolphin, rented Segways at Clearwater Beach, Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise, Honeymoon Island/Caladesi Island State Parks
-Legoland
-WDW: 10 park days with waterparks and more option, 4 Magic Kingdom days, 2 Epcot days, 2 Studios days, 2 Animal Kingdom days, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, LOTS of Disney Quest visits, Fantasia Gardens, Cape May breakfast, Chef Mickey's breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast, kids pirate cruise at Caribbean Beach resort, lots of resort hopping and exploring, a million hours of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, lunch at Sci Fi and Rainforest Cafe, dinner at Boma
-Everglades: tram tour at the Shark Valley Visitor's Center ( a huge highlight...saw about a million huge alligators within two feet of the tram), airboat ride and gator wrestling show at the Miccosukee Indian Village, stopped at the Skunk Ape research center (fun and interesting, bizarre little place)
-Keys: drove the Overseas Highway down to Key West - so incredibly beautiful, stopped at Robbie's and fed the HUGE tarpon, gorgeous Bahia Honda State Park, did the Conch Train tour to get the lay of the land, Hemmingway's house, Tennessee Williams museum, Flagler museum, sunset at Mallory Square
-Space Coast: Kennedy Space Center, Canaveral National Seashore (our fav Florida beach), dinner at Dixie Crossroads (best shrimp anywhere on the planet!)
-Misc Stops: Showcase of Citrus in Clermont (love it....always visit)
-Stops on the Drive Home on MLK Day: Montgomery, AL (Rosa Parks museum, King parsonage and Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, saw the MLK Day parade, Freedom Riders museum at the Greyhound Bus Station), Selma, AL (drove the Freedom Higway between Selma and Montgomery following the path of the Voting Rights March and stopping at the historical markers and interpretive centers, walked across the infamous Edmond Pettus bridge), Birmingham, AL (toured the 17th Street Baptist Church where the four little girls died in the bombing and toured Kelly Ingram park where all the riots took place...lots of statues and historical information)
Some thoughts:
-Loved FP+ and the Magic Bands, no problems in 10 park days (We were dedicated and experienced FP experts but have had no problems adapting to the new system and I like it better...less running around.)
-While in the Disney area, we stayed off-site at the Maingate Resort and Spa. Highly reccomended! Extremely clean, beautiful and comfortable rooms, best bed I've ever had in any hotel, inexpensive, and as close as you can get to the parks without being on property.
-Crowds at Disney were very, very manageable. Our first park day was Jan. 5th, so most of the New Year's crowds had gone home.
-If you're visiting the Clearwater area, here is a plug for the Palm Court Motel. So cute, clean, comfy, and cozy. A totally charming old-Florida type place. LOVED IT!
If anyone has any questions about Disney or any of the other places we visitied, I'll be glad to provide any information I can!
Thanks! He is getting big. Since he's homeschooled and really into history, we tried to fit in lots of interesting stops and places. It was a wonderful adventure. He's the perfect age for all of that, so we really enjoyed it. I love Disney (obviously, lol) and he is probably an even bigger Disney World fanatic than I am. lol. But, it was also wonderful to see so much of natrual Florida, historic Florda, and a lot of the wonderful, bizarre, and unique old-school type Florida attractions scattered around the state. All highly reccomended to anyone who can take the time to explore outside of Disney a bit.
