May, 2021
Since COVID-19 is still in full force around the world, E and I decided that this year, it would be smarter and more respectful to keep our travels domestic. Even though we miss international (so very much) there are still so many wonderful places to visit in the US. Now that we both have received our vaccines, the only question remains would be where would we like to go in the U.S? Well, since we purchased the U.S. National Park Annual Pass for the 2021 year, we figured we might as well visit as many national parks as we can! Therefore, we visited Florida and the Everglades National Park on our most recent vacation. Our plan then would be to fly into Tampa, drive across to Orlando, drive south to Miami, and then return to Tampa for the last bit of the trip.
Tampa
We began our Florida road trip visiting my good friend and her family in Tampa. For the most part, we planned to take it easy for our time in Tampa, especially when staying with my friend and her family. It gave us a chance to catch up and just hang out. However, my friend did join us as we took a day trip to Three Sisters Springs at Crystal River. E and I enjoy kayaking when we have the chance, and since our Florida trip was to be filled with outdoor activities, kayaking among the manatees seemed like a good idea. We booked kayaks in Crystal River with Paddles Outdoor Rentals. Paddles Outdoor Rentals offer several options for kayaking, including single kayaks, tandem kayaks, clear kayaks, and water tours. Seeing as it was my friend’s first time kayaking, we chose the regular kayaks, E and I on a single and my friend and her partner in a tandem. We rented the kayaks for about 2 hours, which was more than enough time to visit Three Sisters Springs with a bit of a rest under shaded trees. After we had our fill of kayaking, we returned back to Tampa and ate dinner at Jackson’s Bistro, Bar & Sushi located off of the Tampa Riverwalk. After a couple of days in Tampa, E and I moved on to our next destinations, only to return back to Tampa at the end of our trip.
Due to all of our traveling prior, we did not stay with my friend and her family during our return to Tampa. Therefore, E and I had some time on our own in to explore around Tampa, only to rejoin my friend and her partner on our last day. While my main goal of this trip was to visit the Everglades National Park, E’s main goal was to chill on the beach. During our second stint in Tampa, we decided to chill at two beaches off the western coastline, Clearwater Beach and Treasure Island near St. Petersburg. We rented an umbrella and spent the full day just hanging out, jumping in the water, and taking a nap at Clearwater Beach. The next day, we spent the morning walking around downtown St. Petersburg, and the afternoon at Treasure Island. Side note: while we were in Tampa, my friend’s child had become interested in pirates and treasure. So I found a ‘treasure box’ (diving set) and we told my friend’s child that we brought treasure back from Treasure Island! The highlight of any trip is the food! We found a couple of wonderful restaurants throughout Tampa, such as Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe in Seminole Heights, edison: food+drink lab in Hyde Park and Coppertail Brewing Co in Ybor City. Our final day consisted of visiting various locations in Tampa with my friend and her partner. We stopped by José Martí Park in Ybor City, a park in Tampa that is owned by the Cuban government. We viewed the unique architecture of the Henry B. Plant Museum. We walked around Hyde Park Village and through the expensive neighborhoods. We even stopped for Korean shaved ice at Nice Shaved Ice Cafe. After spending an enjoyable final day, E and I rushed to the airport to catch our flight home!
Universal Studios, Orlando
After Tampa (round 1) we drove off to Orlando! We did not spend much time in Orlando, we mainly visited Universal Studios Florida. E and I debated about visiting Disney World; however we had visited Disney Sea Japan a couple years ago together and I remember visiting several other Disney resorts (including Disney World) when I was little. I am sure I visited Universal Studios as well, but I could not recall. Plus, as a huge Harry Potter fan throughout my childhood, Universal Studios won over DisneyWorld. Although the crowds packed the resort and lines were long at all food stalls/restaurants, we did enjoy Universal Studios. After riding a few rides, drinking a Frozen Butterbeer, and walking around the resort, we were ready to drive down to Miami.
Miami + The Everglades National Park
We spent approximately 4 nights in Miami, just enough time to get a taste of the city and hit a beach. We based our stay in Coconut Grove, within walking distance of several restaurants. After a long car ride from the day before, we took the first day pretty easy. We ate a late brunch at Greenstreet Cafe followed by a leisurely visit to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and relaxation on the beach next to the Cape Florida Lighthouse. Of all the beaches we visited in Florida, this beach was my favorite, although Crandon Park beach was quite nice as well. This beach could be considered a natural beach. There is no boardwalk, line of restaurants and tourist shops, just the sand and the water. I would highly recommend anyone visiting Miami to swing by Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and Crandon Park.
The next day, was my highlight day — The Everglades National Park! Although not as exciting as some other national parks (I am a mountain person, not a water person), The Everglades National Park has so much to offer visitors. Visitors can see The Everglades from different locations, it just depends on what you like to do. My understanding is that the southwest corner of the Everglades has wonderful kayaking, but Shark Valley has the convenience of location for tourists on a day trip from Miami. We then rented bicycles to ride along the paved path through Shark Valley, followed by an airboat tour through the Everglade waterways. We saw a plethora of alligators, so much so we didn’t even bother to count. We also saw a number of other Everglade flora and fauna on our bike ride. The bike ride took us about two hours and we were back to the visitor center before the heat seriously rolled in. I would recommend to other visitors to book the bicycle rental ahead of time and get to the visitor center early. We arrived around 9:30 or so and we managed to grab the last two bikes, even though we pre-rented. NPS works with several airboat tour services in the Everglades. We pre-purchased tickets from Coopertown Airboats since they did not require a reservation time. Our tour guide was quite knowledgable on the Everglades and we saw a couple of alligators swimming around, despite the heat being at its peak.
After the airboat tour, we had a little time before dinner to visit the Wynwood Walls in the Wynwood Art District. Wynwood Walls is a full fledged urban art museum, which just so happened to have no admittance fees that day. I quite enjoyed Wynwood. It reminded me of RiNo in Denver with all of the restaurants and shops among the painted walls. After walking around Wynwood for a bit, we had to rush out to meet up with my coworker for dinner. We enjoyed a lovely meal with wonderful discussions at Kush by Spillover.
All in all, we both quite enjoyed our trip to Florida. From meeting friends, to lazying on the beach, to outdoor activities, and even delicious food, we found so much to occupy our visit. I am sure we will be back to visit again sometime in the future!
Until next time,
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