Camping with Kids// Adventure Island Fun in Tampa, Florida

Camping with kids in Tampa, Florida? Make plans for a day at Adventure Island!

A few weekends ago Babe and I actually took a camping trip of a much different caliber... camping with kids! We took my nieces camping at LazyDays RV Resort and then spent a fun day at Busch Garden's Adventure Island water park in Tampa. 

RV Resort in Tampa, Florida

Lazydays RV Resort, near Tampa, is where we actually purchased Flo. They had given us two nights of free camping at their resort so we figured we would utilize it with the girls, since they have all the fun amenities like the pool and playground (and looking at RVs for sale)!! 

My youngest niece had been begging to take a trip in Flo (girl after my own heart) and so I told her we would take her and her girl cousin around her birthday. Y'all?! She was so stoked! Told everyone she could that she was doing that for her birthday, so the weekend before she turned 6 we loaded them up (with an early school release and all) and set out for big adventures!! 

While I would have been fine to spend the weekend at a state park, enjoying hiking trails and nature at it's finest, it was actually really nice to be at Lazydays. With the site voucher it worked out well!! We got there midday Friday and spent the first hour or so exploring the RVs for sale over at the dealership (it's connected to the campground). Though this part had originally been for me, the girls LOVED it; going in and out of the RVs they wanted to see, hopping on and off the bunk beds! We then headed off to take a dip in the pool, which was really nice. It's screened in and heated, so the lingering April chill was nothing! Plus they had a hot tub for this tired Aunt Mel, not to mention an attached bar. I love the peace and quiet of a state park, but I could get use to hot tubs and margaritas!! Considering camping with kids is far louder than camping without them, it was definitely a nice treat!! 

Things to Do in Tampa

Babe had decided we should do something a little extra special since it was also a birthday treat, so we looked up things to do in Tampa with kids and decided on Adventure Island (Busch Gardens water park). I will admit that I was a little hesitant. Being Orlando born and bred, anytime I go to a non-Disney water park I am usually sorely disappointed. This time was a far different story... 

This BBQ food truck was a great lunch option!! 

Adventure Island Water Park

Adventure Island is AWESOME!! Seriously, I actually think I preferred it to any of the Disney water parks (and for this #DisneyFreak that's saying A LOT)! It was clean, well kept up and super great for kids and adults alike. We got there when the park opened and got a spot right away. It was really nice not having to fight over chairs! 

While the park did fill up around noon, we basically got on-and-off each slide for the first 2-3 hours. It was so much less crowded than the Disney parks (even once it seemed full) and it also didn't seem like such a trek just to get to the top of the slide. My favorite area (which is where had put our stuff originally) is right where you first walk in. There are 5 different slides, coming out of a waterfall structure, that all spill out into the same pool. The girls were able to go by themselves, if Babe and I wanted to take a minute to relax on the lounge chairs. The waterfall feature was really cool too! You can enter the slides through where the waterfall runs into the pool, making it feel like you are climbing a real waterfall. 

There were tons of other slides in the park- some newer and some my husband remembered from when he was a kid (his dad lives in the Tampa area)- so it was fun to get a mix of the original and more updated fun! I LOVED the toboggan ride they had! It was scary and full of fun for this adrenaline-loving heart of mine! I did it a handful of times, as I could not figure out how to skid all the way to the end without falling off. The last time (after coaching from Babe, "Lean forward all the way down, then lean back once you hit the water") I finally managed to stay on until I hit the end of the water. Mission accomplished!! 

Great Water Park for Young Kids

One other super great perk of Adventure Island was that there were not many slides that both girls couldn't do; praise the Good Lord!! Makaylin (the youngest and birthday girl) was not too happy when she couldn't ride things her cousin could, but there were only about 2 slides she couldn't do. Some of the more intense slides simply required that the smaller kids either be with an adult or wear a life vest. If you have a kid (or ever take a kid) who loves to "do it all" you know what a relief this is!! She was able to do most of the things we all could do and we didn't have to worry as much about having her upset that she couldn't ride something. 

Adventure Island couldn't have been a better pick for our full day of fun on Saturday!! We shut the park down and headed back to the campground, where we actually spent even more time in our suits by taking another dip in the pool. 

While we made dinner the girls played Go-Fish and traipsed around the grounds. We then passed out in bed with tired bodies and happy hearts! Which was better than the first night, as we did have a little "snaffu" over the sleeping arrangements and one girl taking up too much room on the jack-knife-couch-turned-bed, so that we somehow all ended up in our not-completely-Queen-sized-bed during the first night. Given though how things can go when doing anything with kids I will say we came away pretty unscathed! 

I won't say which child took up all the room haha... she gets it naturally though y'all, it took me three years of marriage to stop sleeping sideways! Now just imagine that, for at least an hour, there was also an Uncle Andrew in here. He didn't last long obviously!

 

Sunday morning we woke up and made a pancake breakfast and then the anxiously awaited moment arrived... the girls getting to help dump the tank! You guys?! The amount of wonderment built up inside those two little girls about the idea of all their poo sitting under Flo, and the fact they were going to get to watch it get flushed out, was something that I can't really even describe. The first night, they literally had their heads inside the toilet trying to see if they could figure out where it went and we took a flashlight-lit field trip outside to explore the undercarriage of the trailer so that they could see the tank all of "it" was sitting in. Thankfully each spot had it's own septic spot, so that we weren't holding up a line of rigs waiting to dump while the girls "oohed and ahhhed" over the whole mess- literally! (Side note: the sites were really nice. They were paved, which kept Flo cleaner given the amount of feet trekking through her, and came with a picnic table) We then, sadly, loaded up and headed home. 

It made my soul so excited to see them loving the outdoors and getting so pumped about all things RV life!! When they said, "we love Flo! We want to live in Flo!" I simply replied "me too girls, me too!!" 

How about you? 

Ever been camping with kids? Any fun stories to share?

Edited memory: I love Friday in all it's end of week glory!! Babe and I were originally heading off to the Florida panhandle today for a weekend of camping a little further away than usual, since I don't have to work this Sunday, but y'all plans changed, because big things are happening. My best friend is moving away!! Far, far away!! To another state, away from me and this is her last weekend here! So I will be spending every last drop of time I can with her. Plus it should be noted that she is making my Disney dreams come true and we will be having a girls night at the Swan and Dolphin and sending her away in style. I am all kinds of excited for her and, given that I plan to visit her very soon after she moves, AND given that if I have anything to say about it we will be on the road, as full-time RVers, sooner rather than later, I am trying not to be so forlorn about her leaving. But given that the only time we have really ever spent apart was during our 4 (ok, 5) years of college this is going to take some adjusting, so to distract my little heart I figured it was time to share our most recent camping trip! 

#TravelTuesday 15// Sail Away Fun

Happy Tuesday Travelers!! 

Super excited for another #TravelTuesday link up! 

I am actually sailing the high seas right now and procrastination was in full force, so I don't have anything new today, but here is a peek back through all previous cruising fun, should you wish to explore them. In the meantime, leave your adventures below so we can all get some travel inspiration. 

~*~Past Cruising Fun!~*~

Carnival Breeze- This was actually probably one our our favorite cruises! We LOVED every port! 

~ Fun on Board

~ Fun in Port (Grand Turk, Curacao, Aruba) 

My Cruise Must Haves (Originally posted before the last time we tried to take this cruise; Hurricane Matthew had other plans- as long as you are reading this post, then we actually made it on this time!)

Allure of the Seas- Our most recent adventure on the high seas and our first time with a balcony room! 

~ Adventure on Board
~ Labadee, Haiti- Royal Caribbean's Private Beach
~ Falmouth, Jamaica- Time at the Blue Hole 

We definitely love to cruise! This week I am sailing sans Babe, but I do have my mom, sis and cousins in tow, for a Girl's Cruise Extravaganza!! My cousin has never cruised before and this was  a retirement gift from her mom. I am super pumped to see what she thinks about life on the boat!! 

What adventures have you been up to? 

Try a new restaurant in your own backyard? 

Taken a day trip in your home state? Journeyed to far off lands? 

Link up below and let's travel together!! 

~On the 2nd Tuesday of every month I will be sharing a new travel post and would love to see where you have been exploring!

~Any linked posts will be pinned under Travel Tuesday on my Pinterest account. 

~Please leave a little love on the post directly before yours and then anywhere else you like! That way we can all grow this community together :) 

~Not many other rules, as I am not a huge fan of those sorts of things! Just add any travel related link and I encourage you to peek around and see where everyone else has been. 

~Feel free to grab the image from the sidebar and add it to your post so others know where to link up. 

~I will also be sharing my favorite post from the month before. March's fave was from Fill My Passport, because her extensive list of 150 uncommon things to do in London was great for any future London travel plans of any budget! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Port Day in Labadee, Haiti// Royal Caribbean's Private Beach

I know I am super behind on these posts, since we went on our cruise back in November (you can read the first two posts here and here), but I am finally putting the finishing touches on our cruise recaps, with our day in Labadee.

The cruise ship docked at the tip of the island, onto Royal Caribbean's private stretch of beach. Honestly, as fun of a day as it was, I am not sure what my thoughts actually are on the private islands/ beaches. I really wanted to explore some of Haiti and get a true feel for the culture, but there is no way to get off of the private strip. It was really nice to have a relaxing day, but one of the things I love so much about cruising is the change to experience new places while still have the ship perks while traveling between destinations. If we ever end up back in Labadee, we will probably try to rent jet-skis, as that seemed like the best way to at least see some of the rest of the coast line of the whole island, as opposed to just Royal Caribbean's section of it. Even though we hadn't known that the jet-skis would give us a little more freedom, we did make the most of our day in Labadee!

We began our day by finding a place to lay our stuff before heading to hop on the Dragon's Tail mountain coaster. If you like more privacy, head to the far end of the beach (directly under the zip line). People tended to stop at the first lounge chair they saw, to put their stuff down. We kept walking a bit further until we were at the very edge of the island, where the rocks block off the sea to form the calm cove of water to swim in (section pictured above in the bottom right corner). We were almost the only ones there for the first hour or so. It did get a bit more crowded, but we walked the entire property and it still seemed like the least crowded option.

We then went to hop on the mountain coaster experience that they have on the island. Honestly, it was really hard trying to decide between the zip line and the coaster, because we had heard such great things about the zip line that goes out over the water. We had done zip lines other places though and were SO glad we picked the coaster!! It's a bobsled like coaster, that sits on metal tracks and you control the speed yourself. It was a blast!! It was also dead! There was no wait at all, whereas the zip line experience had TONS of people!! The coaster was also a lot less expensive than the zip lining. We actually got an awesome bang for our buck and here's how: when we booked we bought two tickets, one for each of us. There is an option for all day access, but we didn't think we would want to do it enough to justify the difference. So, when we got there to do the coaster, the attendant asked if we wanted to ride together or separate. I knew that Babe was going to want to get to be the driver at least once, but I wanted to ride together (one person basically sits in the others lap). Since we each had a ticket, I asked if we could use them per sled, basically meaning could we go twice if we rode together. One with him driving, the other turn with me driving (driving isn't the best term; you don't control direction, just speed- by handbrake). The lady was super nice and said ok! So that insured two rides! Then when we were done with our second ride I asked the guy at the bottom (who was helping unload) if there was any way to go again (never hurts to ask y'all), since there was no one there. He said yes, if we made sure to tip the attendants working. No problem!! Beats having to pay for a whole other ticket (it did require Babe to take a long walk back to the ship though, as we had no cash// we tipped $10). Anyways, that's how we basically got 3 turns for the price of 1! I could not recommend the coaster ride more!! It was so fast, a little scary (just what we love), and provided INCREDIBLE views!! It also lasted a lot longer than the zip line did, so win-win in our book!

After getting our fill of adrenaline, we took to the crystal clear water for a swim! It was glorious! Do be careful though, as there are some rocks that you can stub your toes or scratch your feet on. They are closer to the snorkeling area that is near the rock barrier. You can rent snorkel gear (we didn't), but next time we will remember to bring ours! We then lounged a little while longer and went to grab lunch before we packed up our stuff to head to the other side of the beach for our time slot on the water inflatable park.

We chose to do the water inflatable park, in which you book an hour time slot to enjoy the slides, climbing iceberg, water trampolines, obstacle course, etc. We have done this before and usually love it, and while this time was no different, I think we may be nearing the end of our inflatable play days. 30 may be the cut off- haha!! We were out there with a lot of kids, though there were some other people a bit older than us out there making it happen. We didn't even make it through the full hour and we were beat!! We did make it to the top of the iceberg though! So I felt accomplished!! Babe would like me to note, that we did make it ALMOST through the hour. We finally called it quits with about 10 minutes left and swam back to the dock to go enjoy the rest of the afternoon sitting in the shade playing rummy. Quite a perfect mix of adventurous fun, followed by old people rest time!!

On our way back to the boat we checked out the walk to the lookout point. Do NOT miss this!! It's a beautiful walk, barely no one was there, and it provided beautiful views of the rest of the island. It also passes the spa, which would be another thing to consider for the future as the massage rooms are open to the ocean, but provide privacy from the land. A massage with a view like that?! Yes, please! Especially after a full week of active adventures!!

We loved our time on Labadee, filled our day as full as we could and then headed back to the ship to sail back home!

Ok, now I'm ready to head back out to sea! 

Who's with me? Anyone else done a cruises private beach? 

What are your thoughts? 

Pin for Later

A Day Trip to the Blue Hole from Falmouth, Jamaica

I may be a bit behind, but I'm finally working on posts about the ports from our most recent cruise... 

Our first big port stop on the Allure of the Seas was Falmouth, Jamaica. I was really excited about this and did a lot of research for all the adventurous fun we could have for the day. Of course there is always Dunn’s River Falls, however we really prefer things a little more off-the-beaten-path, where there will be less crowds. That led me to the excursion that included time at the Blue Hole. This particular excursion described itself as a tubing adventure to the Blue Hole. In actuality it included spending the morning at the Blue Hole (after a 1.5 hour drive that was not mentioned in the description), then getting back in the van to head to the tubing run, which ended at our lunch destination. 

At least if you are in a van for 3 hours, there are gorgeous views almost the whole way! 

I LOVED the gorgeous, adventurous options at the Blue Hole! It was an adrenaline junkies paradise! It starts with a guide led hike up the waterfall, which is followed by descending the waterfall by cliff jumping off different points in the falls into swimming holes below! The final leap to the bottom can be done by rope swing! It was absolutely awesome and EVERYTHING I had imagined it to be… almost. Below are a few things I wish I had before going, that might have led me to choosing different options to get to the Blue Hole. 

The waterfall in the back is the one you can climb (also pictured at the bottom of the post intro shot). 

What ultimately sold me on the Blue Hole, over Dunn’s River (other than the lack of crowds), was the fact that there is still a portion of the falls that you can climb up- in a similar fashion to Dunn’s River. The hike you do to the top of the Blue Hole is more along the side of the falls, with certain spots where you will cut across through the water. However, there is a large section of the falls that has been smoothed over enough, by the cascading water, to allow for people to try to climb. They have fixed a rope to it to help you get up. I was so excited to try! Unfortunately, if you book through the ship, the tour you go with (Chukka Tour Group) doesn’t allow you to do that. We don’t typically book excursions through the ship, but when researching Jamaica there didn’t seem to be many options for booking on your own (at least for the Blue Hole). The ship excursions cost more and tend to be a little more strict, hence, why we don’t use them! Since we had never been to Jamaica and couldn’t really find options for renting your own car, we booked through the boat to make sure we had the insurance of getting back on-board before it left without us. While it was a good thing we did (we literally got back to the boat within a minute of time to board), I hated all the restrictions. We were forced to wear life jackets, which are horrible for cliff jumping, and we weren’t allowed to do some of the more exciting parts of the Blue Hole, such as the waterfall climb! Plus, I would have much preferred to spend all our time at the Blue Hole, exploring and jumping off cliffs. While the tubing was fun too, it was similar to tubing I could do in the states. The guides that work the Blue Hole specifically (not with the Chukka tour group), said to book through an independent tour guide, so that you can do whatever you want while you are there. The Blue Hole guides would have let us do anything and kept apologizing that they couldn’t because they had to stay within the excursion group guidelines! The Blue Hole guides were really great!!

If you’re planning a trip to Jamaica, I would definitely recommend time at the Blue Hole!! I would love to go back and be able to do the things we didn’t get to and just spend more time exploring the falls and swimming in the pools. Due to time our tour kept pushing us along. I did sneak away for a minute to swim under the fall and it was totally worth the guide they sent back to drag me away and make me stick with the group!!

River tubing views

*Another note if you do book through the boat- the Chukka tour guides will try to tell you that you HAVE TO have close-toed water shoes. I had bought a pair of Chacos- that I had been eyeing- specifically for this trip, knowing they would be good for the waterfall climbing. However, they were not close-toed and Babe actually had no water shoes. So they stop you by a little water shoe hut on the side of the road and tell you if you didn’t bring any that you MUST buy some or you can’t do the Blue Hole. This is a lie!! Half of our bus bought shoes, but we risked it, and are very thankful we did! There were no rules at the Blue Hole saying you had to have shoes. Most of the people there were bare foot. We are pretty sure our tour guides knew the people at the shoe hut and were in some kind of deal together. We are all for supporting the local economy, but not because we are forced to and definitely not for water shoes! To be safe either bring your own or just know that you really don’t need them.

If you have the freedom to either rent a car or book through a private tour group, I would definitely recommend doing that! If you are on a cruise though, it might be worth it to not risk it and just book through the boat. While there was a lot I would have liked to change, Jamaica was one of the ports where I could have seen us getting stuck somewhere and not making it back to the ship in time for departure. Everything was far away and roads were hard to navigate, so- while I would have loved the freedom- I am also very thankful the ship would have been forced to wait for us since we booked through them.

**I've decided it would be fun to ask Babe his point of view (get a guy's perspective); being a man of very few words you can always except something short and sweet. So here it is... 

Babe’s “Man-Point-of-View”:  The bus ride sucks; the scammers got most of the people in the van, but me and the guy from Germany weren’t being fooled (into buying the water shoes)!

Have you ever been to Jamaica?

What fun things did you do while you were there?

#TravelTuesday 13// Active Fun on the Allure of the Seas

Happy Tuesday Fellow Travelers!!

So I have been falling behind on blogging! Trying to squeeze it in between work and life and trying to get out and adventure when we can is hard yo! So, while I had been all kinds of hopeful to share our day in Jamaica for this month's #TravelTuesday Link Up (join in below), I just couldn't get my ish together enough!! Instead I figured I would start with the mode of travel that got us there and share 5 of the active, mostly-outdoor activities that we enjoyed en route to Jamaica, while aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas! And so, here are... 

5 Fun and Active Spots on the Allure of the Seas

1.) Carousel! My absolute favorite ride of all time is a good carousel! I know, I know, for an adrenaline lover it’s a surprising choice, but there is something just so happy to me about a carousel. I will not leave Magic Kingdom without riding it and any time I find a new one I get really excited! So riding a carousel, while on a cruise, got this heart all kinds of pumped. I rode it multiple times, typically with children under the age of 10, but there was one night where it was just little old me riding a bear. Babe of course rolled his eyes, but I was in heaven!!

2.) Rock Climbing! We both love rock climbing, so we picked one of the open climbing times and got there a few minutes before they opened the ropes, making us the first in line. I was actually surprised that not too many people showed up after us either. It was nice, because I was able to go twice. The courses were actually pretty challenging, which just made it even more fun. By the time I got done with the second course my arms were jello- aka need to work on that upper body strength (hello, none)!

3.) Ice Skating! We can definitely call this a first; ice skating, on a ship, in the middle of the Caribbean. Yeah, it was pretty COOL (pun slightly intended)! However, it was also a sign that we are getting older. I used to be able to ice skate for hours! We didn't even last the full 30 minutes that we were planning to be out there and our ankles were killing us! The ice was pretty scratched up though, making made it harder. They save the open skating for the end of the cruise; after the ice shows have all been done. **Side note: We weren't planning to do any of the ice shows, but ended up squeezing in "How to Train Your Dragon: Ice Show" and LOVED it! Definitely a super cute must see; even without kiddos! One other can't miss show would also be the awesome aqua-theater dive show, Oceanaria!

Because, didn't you know, you are so much more "fierce" with your tongue out! Gracious! 

4.) Wave Riders {aka Flowriders}! These were one of the highlights of the ship and usually had a pretty decent size line, but they were worth the wait. They have a man made wave that you can ride. There are two options available; a lay-down boogie board and a stand-up surfing type board (looks a little more like a snowboard). I stuck to the boogie board, as that was hard enough, but Babe gave the stand-up one a try (and made me wish I had). He said it kills your calves, but he lasted for a while so I wish I had given it a go. However, the line was long by the time I watched him try and I had left my room card in our beach bag, which was at our lounge chairs, pretty far away. You have to have a wrist-band to do the Wave Riders, saying that you are old enough and have signed the waiver. So don’t forget to bring your card, as they can’t look you up!! *They have people there to help the whole time, if needed. They also offer windows of time specifically for giving lessons, but just know you don't have to get the lesson to be able to ride. They will still help you get the hang of it. 

5.) Putt-Putt! We are a super competitive couple, so we always love a good game that will pit us against each other. However, I need to remember that putt-putt is NOT my game!! I can't tell you how many times I have lost terribly and stomped off in frustration. This time was no different! The course is beautiful though and lines up right along the edge of the boat so you have gorgeous water views. And don't worry about my pride; I creamed him in ping-pong!! 

**The ship also has a zip line that crosses over the ship's Boardwalk area, a good 7 floors below (see the carousel photo for proof). While we didn't actually end up partaking in this particular adventure (the line was always pretty long and the times were when we preferred to be lounging in that Vitamin D bliss), it looked pretty neat when you would see people flying overhead from below! It was definitely a happening spot for all the older kids and teens! 

We really loved our time on the Allure of the Seas! 

But then again, we love to cruise! This ship had tons of options and amenities and we can't wait to get back out on the wide open ocean! 

Are you a cruise lover?! What are your favorite things to do on-board?! 

Not a big fan of cruises, or haven't been yet, but been adventuring somewhere else? 

Maybe even in your own backyard?

Share your link below and let's travel together! 

~On the 2nd Tuesday of every month I will be sharing a new travel post and would love to see where you have been exploring!

~Any linked posts will be pinned under Travel Tuesday on my Pinterest account. 

~Please leave a little love on the post directly before yours and then anywhere else you like! That way we can all grow this community together :) 

~Not many other rules, as I am not a huge fan of those sorts of things! Just add any travel related link and I encourage you to peek around and see where everyone else has been. 

~Feel free to grab the image from the sidebar and add it to your post so others know where to link up. 

~I will also be sharing my favorite post from the month before. January's fave was from Portland| Grace, because her pictures are absolutely stunning and made me want to go to Spain like yesterday (I mean streets just lined with Orange trees?! Come on!)! 

An InLinkz Link-up

10 Hours in St. Augustine, Florida

Happy Tuesday Adventurers!! 

Hope the first few weeks of your year have been filled with fun and excitement! 

Any travels of your own recently? Don't forget to join in this month's link up, which can be found in last week's post. Can't wait to see all your journeys! 

Right after Christmas Babe and I loaded up Flo and headed towards Faver-Dykes State Park, which is just 30 minutes from St. Augustine. While we spent most of our time at the state park (check out our YouTube video for all the fun), we headed into the city for a full day of history and exploration. Here is a peek at what we packed into our 10 hour window...

First stop was parking. We thankfully got there early enough (around 9/9:30, on the Tuesday after Christmas) to snag a spot in the parking lot that sits next to the old fort, right along the water. We weren't sure we were going to stay there, but we purchased the maximum time allowed (4 hrs for $6.00) and headed out. 

10 am: We started the morning with coffee, because I needed a place to plug in for a quick minute and send out an email for work. It was also a chilly, foggy morning and coffee was exactly what we needed to warm us up! Crucial Coffee was a cute little coffee hut that shared a courtyard with the Gourmet Hut (where you can get food). The coffee was yummy and reasonably priced. There isn't much seating inside, as you are supposed to sit out in the courtyard. However, due to a light rain we snagged the one little inside table and used the wifi for a second before beginning our day. 

10:45 am: We then strolled the streets for a minute and ultimately found or way into the Pirate & Treasure Museum. They offered a package which included that museum, as well as the Colonial Quarter Museum for $22.99 per adult if you review them on TripAdvisor (website says $27.99). We decided to give it a go and, since the pirate tour had already started, we headed over to explore the Colonial Quarter. We got there just in time to jump onto a tour that had just begun and sat down just as the guide was demonstrating with a rifle. Can't think of a truer definition of "starting off with a bang!" Our guide was wonderful and walked us through the history of the building of the city of St. Augustine. Babe loved learning all the facts of how the city ran, how they protected themselves and how they survived those early years of life. I loved getting to explore the old houses! After a little more exploring on our own, and a climb up to the lookout tower, we headed out in search of... 

11:40 am: Sangria!! The nice thing about your tour package is that it includes 10% off your food and drink bill at two of the restaurants connected to the Colonial Quarter. We headed into the Bull & Crown Publick House for a quick drink before the pirate tour. We shared one, since we didn't have much time and you can't beat a bill under $5 (don't forget to show your sticker for your discount)! It was super yummy sangria too (I like to consider myself a sangria connoisseur)!! There is also some cool history to the building, which was built on an original homesite. 

12 pm: The next guided pirate tour began at 12, with Captain Mayhem. What a fun tour!! Captain Mayhem was as pirate as they come and did a wonderful job of bringing history to life, as he walked us through each exhibit. While I would say that the Colonial Quarter is a better fit for an older demographic, this tour would interest even the littlest of adventurers! It was really interesting to separate fact from fiction when it came to piracy. There was a lot I didn't know, or had assumed was true, from movies. For example, did you know pirates didn't really make people walk the plank?! That became dramatized through the big screen. Babe was, of course, hanging on every word, but I loved that even while the guide was talking there were things that I could be doing if I felt myself zoning out. I listen a lot better with active hands (such a big kid), so while Captain Mayhem talked I explored the rooms and completed my treasure hunt. They had this super neat hunt, where you had to find skulls that would open drawers/ doors to reveal a treasure. You would then write down what you found and at the end you could turn in your paper to officially become a "pirate" and get a little "treasure". One more fun fact: pirates didn't actually bury treasure, they were pirates because they stole from ships and took mostly practical things that could then be traded for money, which they would then spend.

1:30 pm: We headed across the street to the fort. After putting a little more money in the meter, we paid our $10 admission (per person; good for an entire week) and entered the Castillo de San Marcos. We got there just in time to head up the stairs and watch the canon demonstration. The foggy morning just made it that much more exciting! It made me feel like a pirate ship might come sailing up at any minute.

2:15 pm: Homegirl got a little hangry, so before we could finish exploring the fort Babe realized I needed to eat (once I pass hunger, it takes him pointing it out to me that we need to grab a bite). So we took a break from exploring and went in search of food. There were tons of options, but we decided to go to the other restaurant associated with the tours so that we could use our 10% off. Apparently 2 o'clock, on a holiday week, is not a great time to stop for food, as the line for a table was HUGE! Thankfully we got super lucky by checking the bar. There was a table tucked into the corner that counted as bar seating and so we got  cozy to enjoy our lunch at Taberna Del Caballo. It was SUPER yummy!! I got the Cuban (and of course another Sangria) and it was almost perfection! It did take a little while for the food to come out, but it was definitely worth the wait.

3:30 pm: It was back to the Castillo de San Marcos for a few more minutes of poking around the fort and getting to go in all the old rooms.

4:00 pm: We took some time to stroll through town and decided to walk towards the winery and distillery that are located near each other at the edge of town. It was a good little stroll (maybe 15/20 minutes), but we got to see a lot of the little corners of the city.

4:20 pm: Winery tour and tasting fun at San Sebastian Winery! Due to the crowds, because of the holiday, things were set up a little differently. Instead of a wine tasting with scheduled times they had a walk through tasting set up. There were stations on both floors of the winery, with a different wine sample at each station. I really liked the ability to go at your own pace without feeling like you were holding up others, or feeling rushed to finish, depending on the pace of the group. San Sebastian is actually the sister winery of Lakeridge Winery where we have been on occassion, so it was actually the same wines with a different label, but it was cool to see the difference in presentation.

Cost: Free + price of bottles of wine we purchased

5:15 pm: St. Augustine Distillery tour! We actually started here originally (figured start with the hard stuff and work down to the vino), but they were so crowded that the first time available for the tour wasn't until 5:15 (we got there around 4:15). You could opt to do the tasting room, but we wanted to see the process and the distillery. With the winery being so close it was easy to change up plans and head there while we waited for our distillery tour time. We still got back to the distillery a bit early, but their waiting area is a really neat little museum with history of the old ice plant that the distillery is housed in, as well as the distilling process of bourbon, gin and vodka. The tour itself was really neat!! The guys that run it are very passionate about their booze and make the tour a lot of fun. Note: the warehouse is not temperature controlled; since we were there in December it wasn't too warm, but just make sure if you go in the summer you take water with you, because it is known to get really hot! After being walked through the distilling process and getting to see all the machinery, it's off to a special tasting room for those that took the tour. I was nervous, because I am not really a liquor drinker, so the thought of sipping straight vodka had my stomach turning. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they actually give you little mini cocktails!! We started with a Florida mule (yum), then moved onto a rum punch. You only get to try those if you do the tour. From there they move you into the main tasting room to try the Old Fashioned (Babe very much approved) and a Gin & Tonic. Babe liked the bourbon so much he grabbed a bottle to take home. We really loved the tour and would definitely do the whole thing again!!
Cost: Free, + price of bourbon

6:15 pm: We were planning to eat dinner at the Ice Plant that is actually attached to the distillery, but our car was back at the original lot we had parked in near the fort (we weren't sure what parking situation would be at distillery; they have plenty and it's free). Our walk back to get it was really nice. They light up St. Augustine for Christmas and it was beautiful!! We look a slow walk back, stopping to enjoy the lights and also take a peek around Flagler College. The school is stunning!! It is housed in the old Ponce de Leon Hotel and makes you literally feel like you are in a scene from some old movie that takes place in a boarding school (major points to anyone who has seen The Trouble with Angels). Being decorated for Christmas just made it that much more beautiful!!
Cost: Free 

7:00 pm: Dinner at the Ice Plant! Can you say, Oh. My. Yum?! One, this place has a super cool history! You are actually eating in what use to be the old ice factory, dating back from 1927. They keep with the 20s feel and it makes the atmosphere really cool (pun intended)! The bar makes amazing craft cocktails, each using a specific kind of ice depending on what you order. And then comes the amazingness that is the food!! My parents actually headed to St. Augustine that night to celebrate their anniversary and joined us for dinner, so we all got different meals in order to enjoy a little bit of everything. We started it off with the beef carpaccio and fried oyster appetizer, which I then actually ordered a second time as my meal, because happiness!! We also got the soft baked pretzel and loved that too. Our meals consisted of the pork belly, the fish of the day, and the butternut squash and mushroom lasagna, which were all amazing. This should definitely be on your list if you head to St. Augustine. You may be in for a longer wait as they do not take reservations, however, they have a one-of-a-kind bar to enjoy a drink at while you wait. Plus we were originally told over an hour wait time and were seated within 30-40 minutes.
Cost: Between drinks and food this was the most expensive part of the day, but so worth every penny. Meals average to about $20-25 per person and drinks about $10.

Tips
Parking: We ended up paying $12 to park (full 4 hours/ paid twice), but there is a garage as you enter the city that has $10 all day parking. It would have only saved us $2, but we also wouldn't have had to worry about heading back to pick up our car before dinner. also, if you are willing to walk/ plan to head to winery anyways, there is side street parking nearby that is free if you get there early enough to snag it.

We had an absolutely wonderful time and couldn't recommend a visit more!

Have you ever been to St. Augustine? 

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