A brilliant cloudless blue sky welcomed us to Florida, hooray! We were both looking forward to the warmth, sunshine, and all of our Florida plans: feeling the soft sand once again under my feet, hearing the soothing sounds of ocean waves, visiting Tampa to spend time with Landon and Steve’s cousins, being kids again at Universal Studios, and exploring St. Augustine.
Arrived in Florida - first stop Pensacola Beach. We soaked in the sunshine and then took a peaceful nap in the Scamp. It was a little cool with the breeze, however we did not mind at all!
Our home for the next few days was graciously provided by Steve’s Cousins Joel and Sarah. It was awesome meeting their family (including Priscilla and Elvis - the family dogs), sharing stories, seeing Harper’s soccer game, and taking a beautiful pre-spring day walk around Lettuce Lake Conservation Park!
Harper, Emory, Steve and Joel
Lettuce Lake Conservation Park
The hardest part of my travel journey was not hugging my children for almost 10 months. It was an amazing day when we headed out to meet Landon in Tampa! Our time together was filled with: meandering the River Walk, streetcar rides, checking out Ybor City, cocktails and appetizers at Columbia Restaurant, and a trip to St. Petersburg to explore the Salvador Dalí Museum.
Tampa River Walk
Tampa Street Car
Ybor City, Tampa; an historic neighborhood just northeast of downtownTampa, was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers. This area was populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spain, and Italy.
Colombia Restaurant first opened in Ybor City over 115 years ago and is known as the oldest restaurant in Florida.
The Salvador Dalí Museum, located in St. Petersburgh, FL, is home to more masterpieces of Dalí than any other museum in the world. We each went our separate ways to take in the magnitude of treasures at our own pace and then stopped for tacos!
Farewell to Tampa and Landon - we will be back!
On to our next Florida stop, Universal Studios!!!! Going to Universal was in our travel plans from the conception of our voyage. As I get older twirling all around and upside down becomes even more nauseating, however I am not ready quite yet to give up the fantasy provided by these amazing rides. We challenged ourselves by completing both parks at Universal in one day - mainly because we were determined to explore both sides of Harry Potter! They only way we were able to accomplish this feat was to stay one night at the least expensive Universal Hotel in order to have early entry into the park. It was absolutely worth it - photo dump below!
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
We had to laugh - we went to The Buena Vista during our stay in San Francisco!
Our final stop in Florida was an unexpected add on surprise. We needed a stop for overnight and found a Cracker Barrel near St. Augustine. Before settling in the Scamp for the night we spent the day walking around this city, founded in 1565. We learned that St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European and African-American origin in the United States. Now that was a lot to take in!
Castillo de San Marcos - the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States.
We ended our day in St. Augustine at Georgie’s Diner. It has really been amazing when circumstances just appear along the way of our travels. After we were seated I started to observe the photos on the walls. One in particular caught my attention - see below. It turns out that the owner’s wife was from Buffalo, NY!
That completes our visit to Florida. It always surprises me, as I write the blog, how much we pack in during a short amount of time. We start our travels north now with our next stay near Savannah, Georgia. Thanks for following along!
Coddiwompling “To Travel in a Purposeful Manner Towards a Vague Destination”
“Florida is a golden word…The very name Florida carried the message of warmth and ease and comfort. It was irresistible.” – John Steinbeck
“I hear it’s hot in Florida. And it’s raining here tonight. But the sun’s gonna shine tomorrow. And I’m gonna do alright.” – Elton John
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." - Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Link to Steve’s music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4fW5lsWiZG5TcOlhukK4pu?si=2NngXMjoR7mUJLreexbIAw&utm_source=native-share-menu (Let me know if you are interested in purchasing a CD/$10)