Vacation 2008

Just as a heads up to those who read this...

The posts won't be in the usual blog order (as in newest on top). When I first created this vacation blog, I got feedback from others and determined it was easiest for non-bloggers to follow it if the vacation started at the top & ended at the bottom. With that, when you check back here, newer posts will be below the previous one. (This post will always be at the top of this set of vacation's posts.) Don't miss out on any details... scroll down to find them all! (Sorry for the confusion bloggers -- but this was afterall set up for the family to view.)

The photos are in!

I now have many (many, many) photos from the trip. (Thanks for mailing me your pictures to me Helen!!!) Since they are from several photographers, they display quite a variety of view points. While there is no way I can put the all onto a slideshow (we'd be watching for days!), I will do my best to select those worthy of representing our family vacation. (Hopefully it won't take me a month to accomplish!)

Introducing Fred

We had a new friend join us on our family vacation this year. His name is Flat Fred. "Everyone, Fred ... Fred, Everyone." He's based upon the Flat Stanley character & is used as a social studies project traveling to different states. With that I figured I take him to Florida with us & mail back photos & pamphlets to show off our experience of Florida. I think the majority of the family came to love Flat Fred & enjoyed his presence! You'll find him poking his head into pictures here & there, so don't be surprised. :)

Saturday, January 19th

Our departure from cold & wintery PA...

The 5 of us piled into the car Saturday morning (after overflowing the pet bowls with food & water) & headed to Pittsburgh for our flight to warm & wonderful Florida! (Tampa more specifically.) Flat Fred had the best seat in the house! We can even say we stopped at Ikea along our way (not for shopping sadly, it was just for the restrooms -- clean & tidy though, and not out of the way!). Even with our early arrival at the airport we still had the latter half of the B boarding group. With the "first come, first serve" seating plan, we were scattered here & there. But not too far apart to see some of the expressions on Craig's face for his first flight, or Dawn's rapid flipping of the magazines. It was a bumpy ride due to turbulence (the entire way), but all the same, it could have been a lot worse. (No "returns" for any of our lunches. And Annette could blame the spilled beverage on the bumpiness!)

After we landed safe & sound, we promptly got our luggage & rental car. The Nitro, NiTrO, NITRO! (Say it like the announcer for "Sunday, SuNdAy, SUNDAY.") Immediately it started to rain & it never let up. We found a classy little restaurant called Wings & Weenies to dine at. During the brief run from the Nitro to the restaurant door, we got a little wet to say the least. The waitress was very amusing. I wish we got a picture of her as a little momento. So long as it would show off her uniform... picture her T-shirt: a hot dog & two hot dog buns with the speech bubbles saying "Nice buns." "Weenie!" (I was amused.) We checked in at the campground to get our gate code & make our hellos at the RV. But there was no way we were camping that night! Fortunately Dawn had a friend living nearby & we were able to bunk with them for the night. Not that there was a lot of sleep to be had, but a dry bed & a private shower was looking pretty good. Plus hotel rooms were far & few between. And those around were expensive!

Sunday, January 20th

We enjoyed our lazy morning at Brenda's house. Fully taking advantage of being able to sit outside under the lanai (I could be spelling it wrong -- screened room) at the pool/patio area. You could tell we were tourists since we were enjoying sitting outside without being bundled up like the homeowners! Before making our way to the campground, we stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast & to pick up some donuts to take back with us. Who knew, they don't make their donuts onsite -- there were less than 1/2 a dozen to be had. (Sorry Helen.)

Myakka River State Park

Eventually we made our way back to the campground. There we disappointed Helen & Zach with the slim pickings for donuts, set up the tent (aka our home for the next few days), had some coffee by the fire, and went exploring for alligators.

(If you haven't already guessed... Flat Fred is not a rule follower. He doesn't listen well at all.)

That evening, under Brenda's recommendation, we went to Gecko's for dinner. Very, very good. I highly recommend it if you come across one. (And it's not Geico or GetGo, it's Gecko.)

Monday, January 21st

We met up with Brenda again for a day of sightseeing at the Keys. During the drive we saw some interesting art work. I only managed to get a photo of one particular piece since it was on my side of the road... What do you think?

Hi Annette & Ray! So what do you see over there? I saw funky artwork, boats, palm trees (not while on bridges) beside long stretches of parked cars...
Longboat Key

We headed directly for the Salty Dog for a late lunch.
St. Armands

Time to do some shopping! You know, that girly kind the boys love so. Just be sure to say "Come into this store with me." Not "Do you want to?" -- avoid the confusion & potential anger.

Mmm... T-shirts! (It smelled like glorious chocolate.) We also had some really expensive ice cream. Stuff you can actually eat.


Fred meets the famous Mr. Ringling!

Siesta Key

After the shopping bit (by the way, Keith was the one to make a clothing purchase, not me! But I approved, if not encouraged...) we were going to go back to Brenda's, however we decided to go directly to Siesta Key for a beach sunset. I was a little scared by the public beach access points. (Too many cars trying to enter & exit from too little space.) Sunset took some waiting, but we got one. In the meantime, Zach scared a bunch of sand crabs & clams, and Keith buried Fred. (Then I made an alligator for him.) Most of the time I was just hoping the birds overhead wouldn't leave any presents! (There were a lot of seagulls on the beach!)

Tuesday, January 22nd

The day started off a bit rough. It was hard to get moving after not sleeping well. Which unfortunately, is something I say frequently. Camping definately did me in though. We weren't roughing it in the slightest sense -- just in the tent I had an air matress, an electric heater (which I didn't need excessively), etc. Immediately beside us was the RV, complete with TV, kitchen & bath... The part that hit me the most was the Symphony of Snores. They'd start beside me, then be heard from the next tent over, then the third ... then back again. All night. I can honestly say, I was not a happy camper.

But then we made it to Busch Gardens. Not immediately of course. Had to overcome non-breakfast food at McDonalds for breakfast, and a long, cramped car ride. But we made it. Just in time for some more gators & more importantly coasters!

Click here for more Busch Gardens fun!!!

Wednesday, January 23rd

We went on another gator hunt while the day was good for a walk. (Don't worry, the only shooting was done with the camera.) Unfortunately there were a lot of other people back there too, so we felt obligated to behave & not traipse where we shouldn't...

Then a few of us went on a canopy walk... I only wish the "walk" part of it was a much longer stretch. That & if I knew before hand that the "walk" was one way. I would have let people pass to take my time more...

Spot the gator...

Why they don't go after the birds, I don't know. Maybe they taste like gator.

These clouds look like there were painted on...

Such a beautiful sight!

Thursday, January 24th

We slowly got ourselves moving this morning... our last morning gathered around the camp fire for coffee & taking our last shower in the bathhouse (& all the other bits of the daily morning routine at the campground)... We packed up the campsite, tent by tent (& RV too), said our goodbyes to the German neighbors* and headed to Orlando. [*As a side note, we learned from them that in NJ, Pennsylvanians are refered to as Shoebies -- because they would bring their lunch to the beach in shoeboxes...] Goodbye Myakka, it was nice seeing you.

Keith voted that we travel via the Sky Bridge to take in the sights. However it ended up being too foggy to see much of anything other than the old bridge (which now consists of fishing piers on either end). We also missed our chance to eat at Sonny's, since it was on the wrong side of the road. Oh well, some other time I suppose. (I also realized, after the fact, that we never made it to a Waffle House -- Helen, was that your magical wish coming true?!?)
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We all made our respective ways to that Magical Place known as Disney. The Nitro to the Pop Century, the Fusion to the Caribbean & the RV to Fort Wilderness... Once there we made a slight ruckus & time warped from the '70s to the '90s (all for the sake of an adjoining room -- a feature we enjoy). Once there we realized just how far the 4th floor of the '90s is from the cafeteria (we got a few extra steps that way)! But the view along the way is quite colorful...

That evening the 5 of us went to House of Blues for some dinner. The pizza is very (very, VERY) good. However, I needed to share it with someone. It was too large for one (and with no fridge to keep the leftovers... :( It didn't get used to it's fullest potetial). That & we wanted dessert -- if nothing else, go to House of Blues for some cornbread & dessert. Yum. :)