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Florida's state anthem begins "Where the sawgrass meets the sky." Sand, seashells, sawgrass and tourists were all things we found in abundance last month in the sunshine state. Things we didn't find: decent coffee, people our age or giant conch shells you could mime telephone calls on.
Our hotel was in Orlando but we spent a lot of time on the coast. We went to Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic Ocean and Clearwater Beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Our favourite was easily Clearwater, at one point we were on a busy beach and a bunch of people started pointing and walking towards the water, when we looked out we saw several dolphins swimming 100 metres from shore. It was beautiful, I thought that sort of thing only happened in commercials and movies.
We were also surprised by the forests in Colt Creek State Park. We walked through a forest of palm tress, which I didn't even think was possible. The state has an obvious overabundance of shells that are used for filler almost everywhere you go. Forest path, parking lots and garden beds were common places to feel the crunch of small white shells beneath your feet. To think I was trawling the beach and coveting them like treasure! Obvious tourist right here!
We didn't just sit on the beach the whole time we were there. We also went to a Winnipeg Jets game (against the Tampa Bay Lightning). We spent a day at Seaworld and I went on my first rollercoaster ride. We ate delicious Mexican food and strolled around the city of Tampa. We mini golfed twice and I scored 3 hole-in-ones, no word of a lie! We took a ride on an airboat through swamps and sawgrass to see alligators and tons of fish and fowl. It was an exciting vacation full of firsts for me. Being in Florida was the furthest south I've ever been, earlier this year I also went the furthest west and the furthest north I've ever been, I am feeling like a pretty lucky lady right now! I'm really expanding my travel horizons.
I didn't really know what to expect in Florida. Of course, if you stay in one spot and spend all of your time in the land of theme parks you're going to get a certain type of vacation. I'm glad we branched out and tried a bunch of things. We didn't make any plans before we left, we just arrived with open minds, this is a pretty good travel plan (or lack thereof) for Rysio and I but it probably doesn't work for everyone. My recommendation is to get out of your comfort zone, try new things and definitely go on an airboat! If you have an extremely healthy lifestyle you'll probably have a hard time finding things to eat, so it's probably best to hit up a grocery store at the beginning of your stay.
Here's to hoping for a sunny spring.
