so. the second coolest reason to visit dry tortugas (aside from the snorkeling) is the epic views. anyone who follows any national park type folk on social media has seen the iconic pics of the aqua waters and the moat wall. anna and i spent a lot of time on the beach and the moat […]
florida
dry tortugas.snorkeling.
one of the main activities for visitors of dry tortugas national park is snorkeling. the islands take up something like 1% of the actual park, the rest is marine life. the waters around fort jefferson and garden key are normal crystal clear and filled with excellent coral reefs, especially for beginners such as anna and […]
de soto national memorial.
while we were at fort de soto county park on the north side of the tampa bay, we pretty much laid low. but on one particularly beautiful day, we packed up for a trip across the skyway bridge to bradenton, to check out the de soto national memorial. it made for an easy transition back […]
disney detox at fort de soto.
after our time with all of the millions of people and music and chaos and bright lights of disney, we were more than ready for a little detox. after a weekend moochdocking with my stepdad’s sister, karyn, and her family, we made our way to peaceful, tranquil fort de soto. originally, we only had a […]
disney world. day three.epcot.
whew! day three. we were pretty much dragging at this point. we got out the door around 8 or 9, rode two buses, and rolled into the park with what seemed like the entire state of florida. derek waited in the bag search line with all of our stuff, while the kids and i walked […]
disney world. day two.hollywood studios.
we got off to a decidedly slower start for day two of our disney adventures. we hopped one bus, to take us to another bus, to drop us off at hollywood studios. we stopped out front for our obligatory photo shoot, and then we were off… our first stop was “voyage of the little mermaid”. […]
disney world. day one.magic kingdom
so. when we were planning our trip to florida, we learned of a special that was running for florida residents (which we technically are) to get a pretty good deal on a four day pass to disney. we hadn’t really considered doing disney, but with the deal, we figured if we were ever going to […]
the isaaczilla turns 12.
while we were in winston-salem, in january, the boy had his twelfth birthday. it seems like just a couple of minutes ago i was bringing him home from the hospital, but alas, it’s been a dozen years. it’s going by quickly and isaac has always been, shall we say, “spirited”, giving us a run for […]
fort pickens week two.
and now. a recap of our second week at fort pickens state park. we have stayed in a few state parks at this point. in our experience, they don’t usually have sewer hookups, which means you have to be very thrifty with the amount of water (and other stuff), you send down the drain, or […]
national naval aviation museum and lighthouse day.
monday was martin luther king jr day. so after we watched a few youtube videos about him, we headed to pensacola for a day of adventure on derek’s day off. our first stop was lunch. one of my former youth group students is in flight school nearby so we met up with him at the […]