We recently came back from a fantastic holiday to Florida. We were there for just under two weeks so will split what we did into two posts – so much to fit it.
One of my sisters, and her hubby and daughter, live out in the States, and her hubby used to live in Florida when he was younger, so they flew out and met us there for the first week. It was so good to see them! As my brother-in-law had some ‘insider’ knowledge, it was nice to do some things that were slightly off the tourist track.
We headed out to Cocoa Beach, which of course means a pit-stop and Ron Jons. Ryan used to live in Satellite Beach, just down the road from Cocoa Beach so we went to visit where he used to live. His neighbourhood had been knocked down and replaced with, well, nothing. But there were some other things he recognised and saw his old school ect. It’s a part of the US where didn’t feel like I was in the US – it had a bit of a Caribbean feel to it, so that was really refreshing. And we saw pelicans just flying around in the sky. As you do.
We took a trip to Gator Land which I really enjoyed. It was insanely hot on that day, so thankful there was a splash-pad for the kids, but so fun to see all of the different animals and reptiles there. Max and Charlotte especially loved the train. I would recommend going there for sure.
We spent some of the time just chillin’ at the amazing hotel we were at, swimming and sunbathing and trying to catch the lizards. Most of the time it was just lovely to see Max playing so nicely with his cousin and bonding with my sister and brother-in-law. We last saw them a year ago and Max wasn’t even walking then, so it was definitely a better age for them to meet up to play together and want to hold hands etc.
One of the coolest things that I thought we did was taking a trip to Blue Springs, which is a state park. You park up for a few dollars, pitch up your stuff on some of the benches and picnic tables, hired a dingy for the littles and then headed out in search of the spring. The water is crystal clear and you can see lots of fish swimming around. We even had two manatees swim by us! So cool (also a little freaky, I don’t mind swimming knowing there are things around me but freak out if they touch my feet or anything haha).
We also saw before we went out there, that there would be a Labour Day rodeo on not too far from us. We drove up to the stadium and it was empty. What? We had checked online earlier that morning. Anyway, we called a number and found out it was somewhere else so off we went. It took us on a long country road, really off the beaten track. I think my favourite part of the journey was when a massive turkey ran across the road in front of us! I felt a little bit out of place without a cowboy hat on but it was really fun as its something we just don’t see over here. We even got to try a Floridian delicacy – boiled peanuts! Ryan said the only time he has ever seen or heard of them was when he lived in Florida before.
We ate some delicious meals (hello, cheesecake factory) and just had a good time all together. Mike finally understands American football (I still don’t…)! Look out for all about week 2…
Rebecca x
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