Well, much to the general chagrin of my husband, we decided early this year that it was time for our first (and possibly only) trip to childhood's Mecca (Disneyworld). We acknowledged that the children's age had substantial sway on our decision to do this now. To explain: A ten year old child pays adult fare to Disneyworld--August will be 10 in December. :-) It was, however, important to us that this trip be not only about visiting Disneyworld, but instead an opportunity to experience Florida--ALL of it. This certainly would take some time, so Bret took two weeks off work and Angela wrote a polite letter explaining the educational benefits of taking the children out of school.
Having persuaded the school and Bret's employer that this was a great idea, we planned our trip. It so happens that there are many things to see and do in Florida and that November is a great time to be there since it's still warm but not uncomfortably so, AND importantly, hurricane season is ending. Being campers by nature, we arranged to camp in southern Florida--lovely state parks! We found places to observe manatees, flamingoes, alligators and other wild animals in their natural habitat. We also discovered that a space shuttle launch was scheduled during our time there and after some changes in scheduling were able to arrange to be at Kennedy Space Center on that same day.
This was mine and the kids' first trip to Florida (or generally the south-eastern USA). I discovered that the Okefenokee Swamp is a real place, not a made up story from childhood! We crossed the Suwanee River (also a real place!) and enjoyed watching the trees and vegetation change as we travelled further and further south. Our first night was spent at a friend's farm in Tennessee. The kids got to try milking a goat and chase ducks and chickens. Our second night we found ourselves in southern Georgia at a hotel with pool--yay for the kids! The next day we finally made it to Florida and stayed with Bret's cousin and her family. We learned the importance of staying out of open water in Florida. We also learned that to escape a chasing alligator you should run in a zigzag pattern because they have difficulty changing directions when running. Apparently, alligator safety is taught in the schools in kindergarten!
We followed our plan to travel south along the western shore and visited Busch Gardens in Tampa, and walked along an incredible sandy beach in Sarasota. We visited manatees, alligators and other interesting creatures at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. We spent a day in the everglades visiting a Seminole Reservation where we got WAY too close to alligators for my comfort. We also enjoyed an evening storytelling by firelight in a large chikee (hut) of traditional Seminole Tales. It was a trip to remember...
