Ready, Set, Go!

Ready, set, go!  That's what we're doing this week!  Putting the finishing touches on getting ready, setting everything out to pack and load into the car, and then off we go by the end of the week!

We've had some changes to the last days of our itinerary as some of the places we had hoped to see are still closed from hurricane damage from Helene and Milton. A friend had posted pictures of Stump Pass Beach State Park that were so beautiful and peaceful that I wanted us to check it out, but alas, it's still closed.  And she said it will never be the same because of how much the storms changed it.  

So instead of doing that, we're going to meet my friend for lunch somewhere, and then in the afternoon, we're going to see one of DH's cousins that we only recently found out lives in that area!  I am not sure I've ever met her, but it's exciting for me because I'm the unofficial family historian (or at least collector of information) for DH's family and I'm hoping to get some stories and copies of pictures while we're there!  I got a great portable scanner during Amazon's summer sale so if I take it with me, that would make it easy to do!

We are also going to meet up with another one of DH's cousins to pick up some family history research materials that her older sister had.  She had been the unofficial family historian for decades, working in conjunction with DH's dad and brother through the years.  The cousin wanted to make sure it goes to someone who will understand what it is and treasure it; I am honored that they trust me with it.  Working on both DH's family and my family genealogy has been a wonderful retirement project for me.  I enjoy it as much as I do trip planning, so when they overlap, you know it's exciting for me!

We're starting our first day with a visit to Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Park to see the manatees.  Did you know the manatee is Florida's state marine mammal?  We have a few other manatee-centric places we'll visit during our trip, so this seemed like a great kick-off!  They have a ranger talk that we should get there in time to see.

We'll head over to the east coast to explore for about a week before embarking on a 9-night Southern Caribbean cruise that will take us to St. Maarten, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Puerto Rico, and Dominican Republic.  From there we head to the Keys for several days.  Then back to the mainland to cross through the Everglades to southwest Florida and work our way north.

I hadn't given much thought to what we'll do on our last day on the way home from the Tarpon Springs area, but I was studying the Florida State Parks map and saw that Weeki Wachee Springs is about 30 minutes from the hotel.  I've never been; DH went on his first trip to Florida in the '60s, long before it was a state park.  They have a river boat tour as well as a mermaid show!  I was at the doctor's office today and mentioned that we were taking our trip; my doctor said her kids go there every year with their grandparents for a day.  It seems like a perfect bookend to our Edges of South Florida trip.

I plan to blog via mobile devices, so I hope I've got the kinks worked out with how to add photos without them loading upside down.  I don't plan to do a smash book for this trip like I did for the Middle States, but this one is mostly about being outdoors and exploring, so there's only so much sand I could collect, haha!

So come along and explore with us! And if you have a recommendation or suggestion of things to do, places to eat, etc., drop us a note in the comments!

~ Cindy D.