Winter Vacation 08

On this trip we drove from Northern Iowa down to FL and sight saw a long the way. On our way down to FL we didn't do much sight seeing as we had to arrive in FL by a certain day to keep our reservations at Discovery Cove.

We arrived in FL on New Years Eve and spent the ringing in of 2009 at Epcot which was quite the party! It had a great fireworks display (although I hear the magic kingdoms was better) all the way back to our condo at Bahama Bay (which we love and have stayed there multiple times)there were all kinds of fireworks shooting of at all the different parks it was definately a memorable New Years!

The next morning we went to Discovery Cove for our day long adventure, we got to swim in 85 degree heated pools, snorkel down the heated pool with hidden entrances to an unbelievable aviary wear beautiful tropical birds like Tucans will swoop down and perch on your hand for a nice fruity treat out of the little bowls you get to hold. Also during our time there we got 30 mins to swim with the Dolphins, we have young children who were not old enough to come in with us but Discovery Cove offers a babysitting service during the Dolphin swim so your kiddos can come close enough to see mom and dad (and old siblings) swimming with the pretty dolphins. This was by far the best money we ever spent. It includes all your meals for the day, snorkeling gear, and a 1 day pass to any of the other Busch parks in the area (we chose sea world)

We found going to the beach every other day kept us refreshed enough to take on a new park on the other days, we conquered The Magic kingdom, Epocot, The Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Disney, Universal Studios, and Sea World. The beaches we chose to go to on our days off were, Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach, Clearwater Beach,and New Smyrna Beach. My favorite beach is of course Clearwater beach, granted I do find it to crowded I just love the white sand and crystal clear water! Now for quiet not so busy beaches my fave was Cocoa it was very unique sand (the color of cocoa) which I have never seen anywhere else before and the cool sight of fighter jets and helicopters flying over every once and a while from the air force base (the boys loved it).

We also explored the natural springs that the area had to offer the ones we chose to go to were Wekiwa Springs and Rainbow Springs these offer year round temps around 72 degrees they both have their perks, Wekiwa has a pool like feel because they have added cement edged and steps to enter the swimming area but I personally fell in love with Rainbow Springs it was just beautiful with pure crystal clean water in a natural setting there are also trails with water falls for exploring and a Rainbow also has a restaurant and gift shop, both springs offer canoeing which offers a tranquil ride down a peaceful stream.

After our time in the Orlando area we traveled south to an Island named Sanibel it is connected to a sister Island named Captiva these Islands are the seashell capital of the WORLD and they do not lie these Islands are quite literally made of Sea Shells everywhere you walk on their beaches you will not be able to avoid the shells! They say the beaches are famous for the Sanibel stoop which is the result of constantly stooping over to pick up new treasures (my family and I were also on the list of stoopers!) We love sanibel so much we have plans to take a trip there and only there so we can spend more time wandering the beaches in search of more great treasures!

From Sanibel we traveled up the coast and Over to New Orleans where we spent the first afternoon exploring St. Louis Cemetary #1 which is home to Marie Laveau who was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo renowned in New Orleans, her tome attracts visitors who draw three x's (XXX) on its side, in the hopes that Laveau's spirit will grant them a wish (no we did not do this) We also visited both the Audubon Aquarium and Zoo while we were there, they are absolutely worth visiting they have EXCELLENT exhibits that are better than any other zoo I have been to.

After we left New Orleans we traveled up the road a ways and explored a few of the many plantations on The Great River Road, we visited the San Fransisco, The Laura, Oak Alley, and the Houmas House these are ALL excellent places to visits they all have their own story and uniqueness to them. Oak Alley is my favorite because of it's grand Oaks Twenty-Eight 300 year old live oaks line the walkway to one of the most beautiful houses on River Road. It's is a sight you will not want to miss!

After that we traveled our way back up and landed in TN, where we stopped at Graceland and got to see that famous house of Elvis' it was as cool as they say, with everything pretty much as it was when the King himself lived there. And it is fun for all ages because my 5 year old son still says it was one of his favorite things we did on our trip! Graceland has gift shops a plenty, lots of places to eat and of course the guided tour of the Mansion, there are also a few things you might not expect like a museum of Elvis' car collection, tour of the horse barn, a chance to see both of Elvis' air planes and much more.

Well that was our Trip!