Back to Gainesville

It's New Years Day and the nest tradition I have is to spend it outside! Off to Gainesville we go to look for shark teeth in the water of the Hogstown Creek accessible through Loblolly Woods. A word of warning... this time we went there were signs posted that it was high in fecal bacteria. It didn't stop all of us... maybe it should have. Yuck!

 

Some of the cool teeth we found.

 

We tried to get in a visit to Lake Alice and to see the bats come out but the rain and temperature drop ended that possibility. We headed to The Swamp to have some dinner and ended the holiday with some friends. Good stuff. Next in Gainesville: more locations to explore on Hogstown Creek. 

Caves in Florida. What?!?!

Yep! You heard me. Caves in Florida.

Florida Caverns State Park is located up in the panhandle near where the time changes on I-10 in Marianna. It's just a short drive off the interstate and we timed it perfectly on our trip to Louisiana to take a tour. Be sure to call ahead and see what times they offer the tours when you visit. And so you know, it was $5 for the car to get in and then $8 each for the tour. Worth it.

We were there a bit early so we explored and did a few geocaches while we waited. This led us to the entrance before anyone else so that was a nice opportunity to check out the stairs with no one else around.

Time for the tour. We must have gotten the most "interesting" tour guide ever. And by interesting, I actually mean a bit of an odd duck. Just the way he phrased everything and stared intensely at us through the whole tour. Everything was on his top 3 list and his favorite. But hey, he enjoyed his job I guess. We enjoyed the tour and exploring though. Very cool stop.

There are lots of limestone formations and stalactites and stalagmites all around and some were dripping and forming.

It's hard to tell scale here but some rooms were very tall and some lower to the ground. You do need to be physically able to walk bent over and on uneven ground to make it through the caves. If you get short of breath easily and don't bend easily, skip it. Also, wear tennis shoes. It can be pretty slick in there. You will also be remind several thousand times to duck and not knock your head on the cave.

The rooms are illuminated as you go in to them and the lights get turned off as you go through. No need for a flashlight. They've done a nice job making sure you can see everything.

So go, enjoy! See the caves that Florida has to offer. It's a great stop on a road trip.

ABJ Road Trip - Day 5 - Hobe Sound & Jupiter Inlet

Sadly it is time to depart the Keys and head up the East Coast of Florida. I really, really wanted to go to the Blue Heron Bridge at Phil Foster Park but that is truly something to be done when the tides time out in your favor and that just wasn't going to happen today. Another time. Another time for sure! 

Instead we will go straight to Blowing Rocks Preserve in Hobe Sound which has been on the destination list for a while. This part of the coast has rock formations of limestone and some of the best shelling on the East Coast. It was absolutely beautiful. 

This is another location that you want to check the tides on before you go. The parking lot is only open until 4:30 so know that as well. If you want to explore under the rocks and into the shore line you need to aim for low tide. If you want to see the water splashing and blowing up you will need to aim for high tide. Makes sense, doesn't it? I wanted to see both but the timing didn't allow with the lot closing. 

If you go down just a little ways past the rocks the water is pristine and clear for swimming. In four feet of water you could still see your toes. It was refreshing and beautiful. Oh, and it looks so crowded, right? Nope, not at all. There were a few families out there and was so pleasant and absolutely enjoyable.

Even the walkway to and from the beach is beautiful lined with tunnels of trees. 

However, we did see the saddest of all things on the walk back... There was a sea turtle nest high up from the shore and some of the little ones didn't make it. I'm not sure if they were attacked, confused, too far or what but seeing these babies on the sand was absolutely sad. The only positive I can take away from that is usually there are 100 in a nest so I'm hoping the 90ish we didn't see are swimming happily in the ocean. This is one of the eggs some of the babies hatched from. 

We also explored the area a bit more and saw the lighthouse and drove down Beach Rd. This is where the stars vacation as we passed Tiger Wood's and Celine Dion's beach homes. Seriously huge homes with main entrances and separate service entrances. The road is beautiful as well and has a section that is canopied by beautiful ficus trees. 

Another long and beautiful day of our road trip has come to an end. Tomorrow we depart for home with tons of memories and pictures from the road trip. All in all it was a great trip. 

Time to get an oil change. 

And sleep.

ABJ Road Trip - Day 3 - Everglades and Upper Keys

Here we go again! This is the biggest travel day we have since we will cross the bottom of the state from coast to Keys. It's raining on and off but there are supposedly clear skies ahead. We will see.

First scheduled stop is Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park but we managed to do a quick stop in Big Cypress as well. We hit the boardwalk and listened to the sounds of frogs and gators grunting and letting us know it was there. We walked a ways but the bugs became unbearable. I mean really unbearable, like smacking into your face at full speed unbearable! We turned around and high-tailed it out of there as fast as we could. We managed to see a few gators but the bugs truly ran us off. I had been told that the bugs would make you run in that area but I laughed it off. Boy, were they right.

Next up, on to Shark Valley! But wait, I see Clyde Butcher's Big Cypress Gallery! Say it isn't so... closed. It was early, I know, but I didn't plan on passing it just like that. I've admired his work since it was introduced to me back in high school and I would see it in person at all of the local art festivals when he participated. I did get to peek in the windows so that is something. 

Okay, back to Shark Valley. We made it to the Everglades National Park! Whoo-hoo. It's kind of a personal mission to hit one of these as often as possible. This one has been next on the list since January. 

Shark Valley is one of several visitor centers in the Everglades National Park but we picked it for the observation tower and bike ride. We had attempted to get bikes before setting out on this trip but it didn't happen so we rented them. There is a 15 mile round trip bike ride along a beautiful path where you can see alligators, bugs, birds and other animals along the way in their natural habitat. We did see plenty of gators and quite a few of these Eastern Lubber grasshoppers. 

We biked mostly in a fine mist or drizzle but it was actually perfect. I can imagine how hot it would have been in the full sun on the pavement for 15 miles. The skies let loose for a few minutes when we were up on the observation tower. 

Time to get on the road again and get to the Keys. More driving. Yeah. (Can you hear the sarcasm in my text?) I'm really not one who loves to drive so to take on this trek isn't really that normal for me but the adventure far outweighed the driving. Plus, we broke it down into manageable sections so there was always an adventure right ahead of us! 

Driving to the Keys is one of those things that I think everyone should do at some point and a MUST if you live in Florida. My daughter had only been to Key West via cruise ship so I wanted her to see the beauty that is down there. If you just see Key West you are truly missing out. The bridges over large amounts of beautiful, blue water are breathtaking! Unfortunately today it is a little gloomy and overcast so the colors just aren't popping. Wait until tomorrow!!!

We decided to stay in Marathon which is right in the middle of the Keys. Driving through the Keys from  Key Largo to Key West will take you approximately 4 hours. It's a one lane road for the most part but there is plenty to see. We made such great time that we decided to hit the Turtle Hospital a day early. We made it in time to go on the 4pm tour which was the last of the day and lucked out because they had spots for us! Yahoo! Our tour guide was excellent and so passionate about her job. We saw many, many turtles and even some baby hatchlings. Just look at those turtles!  Who couldn't love them?!?!?

And yep, let's just keep going. Why not? Time to go see the 7 Mile Bridge and explore that area. Even got to do a look underneath in the exploring. It's just beautiful in the Keys and a great way to end Day 3. 

Time to get wet...

There are plenty of options in Orlando to get wet other than the typical afternoon rainstorms. We have an annual tradition of hitting Coco Key Waterpark & Resort every summer with the kids. Sadly we didn't pick a great day to do that this year with a few too many lightning strikes that closed the park periodically.

Coco Key is both a water park and hotel but they do offer day passes to just the water park and there are often deals on Living Social or Groupon so be sure to check ahead of your visit.

There are 3 taller slides you can see off the side of I-4 and then the splash area with more slides pictured above. Oh yeah, and that big bucket up top... see it... it dumps all over the place every so often. Super fun!

Step inside the covered area and there is a nice pool with a few more slides where you can escape the sun and cool down. They also have a poolside bar along with an arcade and cafe. Check it out and see for yourself!