Well, as promised, here is my follow up since the APB (All Points Bulletin) was cancelled. Thank you, btw.
We arrived unscathed across the Florida line after a two-and-a-half-day road trip, going as far East as Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and as far south as Orlando, Florida, which was our destination and home for one week.
The road trip was both eventful and uneventful. Let me explain. We had no major mechanical issues with the rented minivan – no flat tires, or worse, blown tires; no accidental door dings or car crashes; no engine overheating or tranny giving up. Minor issue – the oil change message showed up on day one informing us that the oil needed to be changed. Ummm, forget something rental company?? The message remained even after the pit stop at Valvoline. No one could figure out how to reset the dang thing. So, yes, annoying, but pretty uneventful in the grand scheme of things.
SIDE NOTE: WE DID NOT RENT A TRANSIT VAN. We determined, pert near last minute, that we would save nearly $1000 if we compromised on a mini-van. So that is what we did. We did not need the faux body bag for luggage either. We fit all six family members, six suitcases, a laundry basket with food, seven backpacks housing things to do and sets of clothing (so we wouldn’t have to unpack the whole van to get out the suitcases during our first two nights), three pillows, five blankets, a small cooler, and a partridge in a pear tree.
At any given time while driving, my husband and I would hear, “How long until we are there?”, “Are we in Florida yet?”, “Why are we traveling East?”. Ugh. And to explain over and over again that we were road-tripping and that part of this vacation was seeing what we could see on our way to Florida. Tough stuff to understand apparently.
Now for the eventful portion… we drove through many cities with the 80s and 90s country XM station soundtracking our movements (I totally impressed my husband with my country singer knowledge, guessing the correct artist nearly every time) with our first “road-trip” stop at a giant fireworks store in Missouri which has two giant Transformers outside of the store with thirteen more inside. The kids and I ran around the store snapping shots with them all while my husband talked shop with the owner.
Up next, Paducah, Kentucky for some shut-eye. This was our first night after a 10-hour drive plus pit stops. The next morning, we crossed into Metropolis, Illinois over a fog-covered bridge to see the giant Superman and what the townspeople made of their own little Metropolis. It was pretty impressive. They have a store on the main street filled with Superman paraphernalia including Superman Museum, which we didn’t buy into. Shirts, capes, bobbleheads, stickers, and so much more. I bought a sticker for my water bottle that replicated the 1st picture below but without my kids’ mugs. My oldest daughter came across a phone booth and was mystified, we took bites out of giant burgers, and kissed superman. It was worth the stop.
After our Paducah/Metropolis stop we headed even further east to Tennessee and the land of Dolly Parton. We rolled into Gatlinburg around 5:30 p.m. and went to Ober Mountain. It’s a huge facility for alpine sliding, skiing, snow tubing, rock wall climbing, ice skating, a tram and so much more. The tram, the main reason for the visit, was delayed and a giant line clued us in that we wouldn’t be partaking in that! We only had two hours to experience all they had. We chose wisely with alpine sliding for everyone but my husband who instead rode the ski lift to the top for pictures and saw a bear, rock wall climbing, and ice skating for the little kids, which they had never done before (and we live in Minnesota! Shame on us). The big kids and adults were more on the “sit and wait” bench and overall, it was worth the stop.
From there we wanted to keep driving south, get a few more night hours in before we called it a day. One option was to go through the Great Smoky Mountains, but after speaking with a couple of Ober Mountain employees, it was deemed too dangerous to go through those mountains at night. There had been a dip in temps the night before and most of the roads near the top would have been frost-covered or worse, spotty with black ice. Imagine THAT in a minivan. We rerouted a different, safer way and stayed the night in, well, I can’t remember, but I drove as we left Ober mountain, down tight turns into the night towards a faraway hotel.
Leaving our hotel the next morning we traveled south again. Today we would arrive in Florida. As the kids said, FINALLY!
We had two full days at Cocoa Beach where the waves chewed us up and spit us out, but we had so much fun regardless. The kids learned to boogie board, one attempted to run into the waves holding the board parallel with her body and was slammed back, and our oldest learned to skimboard as well. The sun was hot and so was the sand. Not everyone ended up looking like a lobster which was a success in my book. Okay, it was me. I didn’t look like a lobster; everyone else was rather red and needed aloe.
We also hit up SeaWorld which had awesome rides, sea turtles, alligators, manatees..well, anything seaworthy I guess. Did you know there is a Sesame Street Land there!? By far my favorite! Big Bird’s Nest, Hooper’s Store! Ermergerd. My oldest daughter absolutely loves sea turtles and she was able to see some rescued turtles as well as a sea turtle in the wild while fishing.
An embarrassing moment here… For our second park, we chose Busch Gardens and drove an hour there to find out they closed at 6 p.m. because of their Howl-O-Scream. My response was a one-word response…use your imagination. We had 45 minutes to go on rides and enjoyed each one immensely. It was such a disappointment that we had such a short time there. I think it would have been a super cool evening park to be at. Maybe next time.
In consolation for my big screw-up, we went to Andretti’s Indoor Karting. We drove go-carts at 40mph (just the older kids and adults) while the littles had their own race at a lower speed. We had a package deal that included VR as well; super fun playing Dreamscapes with the little kids, while the older two played a zombie game. We all played a game where you sit in a theater with 7D glasses on shooting clowns – my husband wasn’t impressed and the glasses were small for our heads. Lastly, we played laser tag and my oldest son crowed about his victory and my youngest son blamed his loss on the gun not working. Typical.
In between all of the above excitement, there was pool time at our resort, excursions to find a Barnes & Noble and Sephora for the two oldest, Gator Golfing (pics below…I got third, which thinking about this now is also what I got racing), relaxation in our condo, Bananagrams (super fun for all ages and not without the younger two getting upset when they lost), smoothies and ice cream, and off-shore fishing (pics below as well) and many, many laughs.
There are so many more pictures but I’ll spare ya. Your retinas are probably bleeding by now anyway.
You may be asking how the heck we could afford a Florida vacation for six. Groupon is a key component to saving money. I bought a two-park ticket/person and saved 50%; the parks we got to choose from were Aquatica, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Adventure Island. The Andretti Indoor Karting was another Groupon find along with Gator Golf and all the experiences were worth the money and the discount! This is not a plug for Groupon although Groupon, if you read this, you now know my contact information. Hook me up.
We also packed lunches for those days we were out on an adventure – beach days, theme park days, and we set off from home with an exceptionally large quantity of snacks and drinks. Every cent we saved made a difference.
We left Florida on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. and reached home on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. My husband and I drove straight through with stops for gas, bathroom breaks, snacks, coffee, and a light nap. We became delusional and had a blast doing that together. Safety came first, of course. Always a co-pilot keeping watch, music surfing, and keeping conversations going.
To do my crucial job of co-pilot, I drank two Starbucks double-shot coffees with a triple-shot mixed in between those two. I felt sick afterward, but it was a source of laughter for us. We slept hard when we got home and were delighted to be in our comfort zone. The scenery was great in Florida, but until we got home, we hadn’t realized how much we love our trees and brown crops here. We missed it and have decided the next time we go on vacation it isn’t going to be in Florida.
The tap water was fishy-tasting anyway.
Hoss & Weasel 