Trip to Florida Nov 2025

Photo album:

Tues Nov 4 2025

We agreed to get up at 5am and leave whenever we were ready. We were both up by 430a, and on the road by 5am. We made good time and I asked to stop at Waffle House at exit 44 on 71. We were in Carollton Ky. Breakfast was delicious; I love WH. Next door was a gas station with a frog-themed convenience store. I went in to the bathroom and pushed a button and two disco balls started spinning, and “Thriller” played. It was fun.
We got back on the road about 630 am. About 8a we saw a Bucees and I asked to stop. Turns out it was actually 9am EST – we had cross time zones. Bucees was insane – 128 gas pumps, super big and super clean bathrooms, so many snack choices, and drinks, and food (tortillas, brisket) David got freshly-made fudge, and I got some Bucees hard caramel popcorn.
After Bucees we drove for a couple hours, then stopped at a McDs for bathroom about 10am. I got a Coke, and David wanted fries but it was too early. We ran into some traffic, but at least it kept moving.
After a couple more hours, we had a rest stop, and then kept going for a long time. We did hit traffic going through Nashville. When we were almost there, we stopped at Wendys. We got to our hotel (Candlelight Motel) about 3:30pm. We unpacked, and then headed to the base. We went by and looked at David’s house when he lived here. Then we went to the base, but the check-in center was only open until 4pm, and it was about 4:45pm.
We were running out of gas. We kept seeing out-of-business stations wherever we looked. We pulled into one. Turns out the store was open, but the pumps were off. Found one back near our hotel, then we went in search of a charging station. We found a ChargePoint in “downtown” Ozark. We walked around, it was interesting and kind of quaint.
Afterwards, we went to Walmart and got donuts and frozen pretzels. Also, when we were walking around downtown Ozark, a black kitty came running and let me pet him for a really long time – my first animal encounter!

WEDNESDAY NOV 5

We woke up around 6am. Packed up the car; the restaurant we were going to eat at opened at 7am. I dropped the key at the office, since it was an actual key. We got to the Vittles Café 2 mins before opening. The waitress was the same person from the night before, when we had come in to look at the menu. The portions were huge – I think my order of eggs was like 4 eggs. David was super happy with his omelet and pancakes. He said it was the best omelet he’s ever had.
After breakfast we headed for the base. I got checked in fine – no felonies came up – a felony came up when I tried to get pre-approved. As we drove into base, I was surprised by the size. We drove a long road with woods on either side. When we got to the buildings, they were pretty spread out. We found the commissary and went in just as it was opening (8:30a) It’s just a big grocery store. David liked comparing the prices, and wanted to buy something to see if his military ID worked correctly (it did)
Then we went to the Xchange, which had a food court and a couple of stores. Then we went to the “original” gym. The place where he had played basketball was turned into a huge weight area. We also checked out the pool, which was very nice. There was another gym too, which was new. We were able to charge the van, and we walked around that are. The aviation museum was closed because of the government shutdown. The van charged up to 49%, and we went to the thrift store next. David didn’t find an “Army” shirt like he was hoping to find.
After the thrift store we headed to Orlando. We went from CST to EST, so we lost an hour. We also stopped at a couple rest stops (one was huge), and had dinner at Zaxbys. The first one we tried was under construction, but we found another. I wanted to try the Cookie Butter shake – it was just okay. We hit Orlando in the dark, but we got around okay. Our hotel is pretty rundown, but its quite, and the room is big.
The cooler ended up near my computer, and the bag got wet! ☹ I was pretty panicked, but it seemed to boot up okay. The outside was a little wet. Luckily we are here 2 days, so I can let the bag dry – I hope.

THURSDAY NOV 6

No hurry this morning. We got up about 7:30am. Ate breakfast in the room. Explored the Doubletree. There are 2 pools – both super warm. There is a pool table outside, and giant checkers, and foosball. We walked over to the restaurant to get equipment for the mini golf. Daivd beat me by 4 or 5. Then we saw the gym, and the convention center. We played the hook game for a while – neither of us were successful.
Then we headed to Disney Springs. We pulled into the garage at 9:55a (they open at 10a) We found a place to charge the van. When we headed over, my bag got flagged. It was probably the metal straws. She thought maybe the glasses case too. The lady’s name was Jennifer, and she was telling me about all the Jennifers in her class, even though she is 14 years younger than me.
We went to a few stores. The World of Disney is huge! We found the Rainforest Café without too much trouble. I had the kids grilled cheese and David had lasagna. We were both pleased. We got to sit next to an aquarium, which was cool. After lunch we saw a few more shops and watched a show. I walked over to check out the hot air balloon ride. After the show, we checked out the Coke store, and Planet Hollywood. I picked out a bottle opener Coke magnet from the Coke store.
We asked the Plant Hollywood host about the Disney transportation busses. Turns out they were right behind the Coke store! And when we got to the station for Animal Kingdom Lodge, it was just pulling up! So we got on, and rode to the hotel. It was pretty far. Everyone at the hotel was nice, and no one seemed to care that we weren’t staying there (I guess we didn’t volunteer that info) There was a large group/family that was being followed by a film crew – some serious cameras. I asked one of the outside hosts what they were filming, and he didn’t know but he asked for me. Some type of Disney special.
The hosts outside with the animals were all from Africa. (well, I’m assuming they were – all dark, with accents) I thought that was a nice touch. The animals were all grazing animals. My favorites were the giraffes. There were zebras too. But one of the giraffes got pretty close to us (George) so that was cool. I asked the same guy what else we should see while we were at the hotel. He said to take the shuttle to the other part of the hotel. We had trouble finding it, but it was there when I figured out where the stop was. At the other locale, we watched the animals from a balcony, which was actually easier for me to see. More giraffes, and we watched one giraffe seem to have a staring contest with a bird. They seemed pretty wary of each other.
We were able to get the bus back to Disney Springs from the second location. We had to wait a bit, but we had a place to sit. I went and moved the car from the charging station, then met David at Wetzel’s Pretzels. We shared a pepperoni pretzel, the a traditional one too. We walked back to Ghiradelli, which was pretty far. We got a hot fudge sundae in a waffle dish, and she gave us a $4 veterans discount. 😊 It was soooo delicious. I loved the hot fudge, and the chocolate-covered waffle bowl. We got a little lost finding our garage, but we did, and then headed back to the hotel, getting some gas on the way. Tomorrow is Discovery Cove!

FRIDAY NOV 7 2025

Today was Discovery Cove. We got up early and packed up our room. We didn’t eat breakfast. We got to Discovery Cove by 7am. There was a line out the door. It took a while for us to get checked in. Our SeaVenture was at 9:30a, and our dolphin encounter was at 11:15am. We had breakfast at the buffet, and there were birds everywhere. They ate out of our hands. All the stations had lines. David got me eggs and potatoes. He liked the sausage, but the waffle was only okay. I liked the serve-yourself Coke machine. After breakfast, we headed in towards the action. Because of David’s cane, we got priority-placed lockers, which was convenient. The wetsuit guy advised us to get the long ones now because there weren’t many. We got them on, then watched the shark feeding. We also listened to a “meet the armadillo” talk. We listened to our video for the SeaVenture. But as I climbed in, the coldness took my breath away. I tried going under, but the air in the helmet really didn’t help. I just couldn’t do it. Luckily David could. Another lady couldn’t do it, either, so David’s group was only about six people.
He definitely enjoyed it, and said it was as close to SCUBA diving he was going to get. The lady at the SeaVenture recommended that maybe I could wear another layer. So I went back to the wet suit place and got a shorty. I put the shorty under the long one. The place is pretty cool – they’ve thought of everything – sunscreen pumps, huge locker room with towels and lots of showers with shampoo and conditioner – lockers, too…. And lots of people to answer your questions, etc.
After I had 2 layers, we went to the grand reef. David went snorkeling. They let you touch the stingrays (you can’t touch anything else) We went to our dolphin orientation. There were only going to be 9 in our group. When we got in, I wasn’t nearly as cold. Our dolphin’s name was Eponima. The trainers told us she was extra clever. She swam by us and we were able to feel her several times. Then we were able to feel her tail. She also waved at us and made several different noises. She was super adorable. And then we each got to “ride” – we held her dorsal and her fin, and she pulled us along – it was very cool. We also got to hold her chin and she “kissed” our cheek. I also got to hug her body, which was awesome.
Since I was wet already, I went and snorkeled. There were so many fish. The rays swam right up to you – almost like they wanted you to pet them. I touched so many, including one of the absolutely huge spotted rays. I don’t know if its because of the double layers, or if its because my body was acclimated to the temperature, but I was fine – not cold at all. The snorkeling was definitely the best in some ways – so much wildlife, and very good visibility.
After snorkeling we went to lunch. It wasn’t great, and there were lines again, but we both liked the mac and cheese quite a bit, and my pork was good. Unfortunately, the choc cake that looked great didn’t taste great. After lunch we went on the lazy river. It was nice and warm, and long. At one point you go through the aviary, which was very cool. After the lazy river, we took a shower and I put on some regular clothes – underwear, bra, no more bathing suit. We went and saw the animals. We couldn’t see the otters very well, and we didn’t see the monkeys but the aviary was super cool. Lots of different kinds, big area, and they gave us feeding cups. After the aviary, I took our stuff back to the car. Then we got pretzels, choc chip cookies, and some more Coke. We headed out of Orlando about 4pm.
The path to Key Largo was somewhat rocky. We did run into some accident backups on the FL turnpike. The GPS took us off for about 8 miles and then back on. We ate some of our junk food on the way. I called the Key Largo Pelican Cabins from the car to let them know we would be late. We finally pulled in at Key Largo hotel about about 9:30pm. The place was absolutely miniscule. David and I could not pass each other in the room – it was a good one to get to late and leave early. The bed was a double, so I had to sleep on Davids padding. The AC was loud, and kept kicking off and on. I slept ok, not great. We got up about 7:30am and re-packed the car.

SAT NOV 8 2025

We headed to Island Dolphin Care, which was nearby., We had a 9am tour. We got there a little early. Everyone was so nice. It was so interesting, and we got to see a dolphin training session. Sometimes the dolphins came over and waved to us. There were 6 dolphins, and they use them to help provide care for special needs children. After the dolphin place, we went to a bird rescue / sanctuary. Those birds are very lucky to have that care. It was very hot in the sun though. Next we stopped at the Blonde Giraffe Key Lime Pie Factory. It was very good. I got the choc covered frozen, and the chocolate was thick and delicious. It even and crust on it.
Then we headed to Marathon, to our hotel. We stopped at a Sandals Factory to look at t-shirts. As we were there, we got a phone call and our room was ready! It is the opposite of yesterday’s room – there is a kitchen table, couch, 2 chairs, full kitchen, and a balcony overlooking the harbor. It’s so nice to stretch out. I read for a bit, then we went to a Publix and got some stuff, since we have a kitchen. We also stopped and I got a magnet, a journal, and David got t-shirts. After we brought the fridge stuff back, we went to a place on the water; David got a burger and I got crab queso. We were both pretty happy.
After late lunch, we found a charge station at the library. It was free. 😊 It was 4:30pm, and they close at 5pm. We hung out in the library for a bit, then walked to the park next to it and hung out for a bit. It was cooling down as the sun went down. The van got to 75%, and we drove back to the hotel. We looked at the mini golf next door, and listened to the live music at the restaurant. Then we settled back in to our awesome hotel room. The air outside is still oppressively muggy.

SUNDAY NOV 9 2025

We ate breakfast in the room – we have a full kitchen after all! David had sausage sandwiches and I had a peanut butter bagel. We got to the turtle hospital about 8:30am. Two other people showed up (a little late) We got to see a lot of turtles. One, named Molly (the biggest one) kept splashing David and bringing her head up right next to him. The turtles were cool, but our guide was very meh.
On our way to the dolphin rescue (about 17 mins north) we ate some junk food. Unfortunately the dolphin rescue was closed for a private event, so we couldn’t go today. And its out of our way tomorrow, but maybe on the way to Islamorada. We headed down to the state park for snorkelling. It was a good day for snorkeling, and the vis was 40’. Also the price was super reasonable (rent a mask for $6!) I wasn’t going to get in, but it was super hot and no shade. So I got my suit on and swam around a bit. David tried snorkelling, but there wasn’t much to see. I had told him shore snorkeling was not great – not like boat snorkeling, but he was worried he would get sick on the boat ride. After snorkeling, we came back to our room. I think we are done for the day, although we will probably go out for dinner.
After a while on the porch, I walked up to the office and fed some birds some of the hamburger buns. Then we went to the Sunset Grille, which did have a nice view. We were a little early for sunset, so we walked around a bit, and then came back and watched the sunset form the dock.

MON NOV 10 2025

We woke up at about 7:30a, had our breakfast in our full kitchen, then packed up and headed to Key West. We didn’t hit any traffic, and got in about 9:45am. We found the parking garage without any trouble. David said the front desk girl said we could check in at 11a (he was confused on that) So we walked around this area. David’s cane broke, and I said “there’s a hardware store right there” They let him borrow a screwdriver. Then we walked down to “a seaport” that David found on the map. Turns out its “the” seaport – we are actually pretty darn close to the heart of Key West.
We went back, because we thought we could check in. We could not. We took the Duvall Loop bus to the Key West butterfly conservatory. It is so amazing. Not just tons of butterflies, but all these beautiful birds. Also some turtles, and pretty fish, and 2 flamingoes. Then we walked all the way down Duvall Street. By the time we got to the end, I was hungry. We were lost, though. We didn’t come back out at the seaport. And we got separated, and David’s phone was dying. But we found the place and sat by the seaport, and had fish and chips. It was very good. Then we went back to the car and got the portable chargers. We headed to the sunset celebration, but unfortunately it was too windy and no one showed up. We walked back up Duvall Street and stopped in some bars with live music. We had some peanuts and Coke and Sprite. Then we went back to our room – its very nice; plenty of space. David tried to turn on the TV but its not working because the WiFi is down on the whole island!

NOV 11 2025

We woke up about 8am, had breakfast in the room, and headed to the scooter rental. We got there as they were opening at 9am. We rented a scooter for 24 hours. It was a 2-seater. First we headed to the beaches, and it was free to park there. Key West is way car friendlier than I would have assumed. We walked around the beach some. Then we got back on and headed for Stock Island. Unfortunately we got a little turned around. We ended up on a road that was 55 mph. David pulled over and went backwards in the bike lane. Then I put in the Publix we were looking for, and I put in “for bike” It took us a back way. We got bread (for the birds) at Publix, and then ate lunch at the same Chinese restaurant Lauri and I ate at 2 years ago.
We went back to the car to make sure it was locked, then swung by La Te Da to get tickets for the drag show for that night. I put in the state park I wanted to see. The state park was free for Veterans Day, so that was good. The beach there was very pretty. We took off our shoes and walked along the shore. Then we went back to the original beach, and I fed the birds. David sat down, and the birds literally climbed in his lap. He had like 5 pigeons in there. I did it too, but I wasn’t crazy about the pecking. I threw the bread up, and the seagulls caught it in the air. We also had chickens and roosters, several of which ate out of our hands.
We went back to the hotel for a snack, then headed to Duvall Street for the Veterans Day parade. We watched that for a bit, then headed (on foot) to Mallory Square. This time there were more people, and we saw 2 buskers, and a sunset. After that we went to the room, I took a shower, and we headed back to Duvall (on the scooter) for the drag show. It was a single drag queen doing Bette Middler, Liza Minelli, and Cher (Randy Roberts is the performer) A very good singer, and amusing too. We got back to the room at almost 11p (after returning the scooter), and went right to bed.

WEDS NOV 12 2025

I slept until 8:45a, then we packed up the car and left Key West. We went about 45 mins north, and tried to go to the Key Deer Refuge. But it was closed, we think due to the shutdown (govt shutdown) So we headed to Dolphin Research Center. It was pretty cool, and I grilled a couple workers when I got a chance. We saw dolphins and seals and a turtle. We stayed about 3 hours. Then we headed to our hotel in Islamorada. We got there about 2:30pm, and no one was in the office. We tried about 4 different places for pizza. The one we ended up picking was pretty good. We stopped at Rain Barrel Village on the way back, which was super cute. We were able to check in this time. There are 5 cats and lots of chickens on the property. Fun!
We then went to Robbies to feed the tarpon. You lean down with a fish and they jump up and get them! They startled David and I both. It was enjoyable to watch other people do it too. They all jumped, and I cracked up. We also saw 3 manatees while we were there! One came right up like he wanted to say hi! On the way back we stopped at Publix and got milk, cat treats, bread. It’s a little after 7pm; I think we are in for the night.

THURS NOV 13 2025

We slept in a little, had breakfast at the hotel (it was “provided”, but we both opted for the food we had brought with us), and I pet the cats some more (the grey one came into our room, the tortoise shell got on my lap, an orange one came over when I shook the treats) We packed up the car and drove 0.3 miles to Theater of the Sea. We started with the sea lion show, which was adorable. There was also turtle talk, gator talk, shark/ray talk, and then a trained parrot show and a dolphin show. The way they had it set up was great, you just moved from one show to the next. After all the shows, we were able to get 2 soft pretzels, onion rings, and a large Coke. Then David sat at the little café while I went and fed the parrot fish. They came up so close – it was cool. One chased the others away. But he came really close – he let me touch him. I spent a while just with the water around my thighs, watching the parrotfish. There were also some barricuda, and one stingray who had been bullied by the other rays when she was in the ray pool.
I spent some time with the birds, and then it was time for our stingray interaction. I decided I wasn’t going to swim with them, but David got a wetsuit. We fed them for a bit, and then David got in – although he didn’t last long – it was very cold. After he showered, we packed up and headed for Ft Lauderdale. We hit some traffic, but not too bad. The hotel was not great. But the room was pretty big. David was stressed about getting all his stuff together for the cruise. We didn’t get to bed until pretty late – like 11pm.

FRI NOV 14 2025

We got up and ate breakfast in the room. Then we headed to the cruise port. But we were early, and we went back and made luggage tags at a FedEx, and put them on all our bags. Parking and boarding went pretty smoothly. We went to the FlowRider and signed up. We also did the huge water slide that sent us all the way up the side – we went higher than most, I think because our combined weight was close to the max. I was worried about our bags, but all went smoothly. David did the FlowRider, but I decided not to. Then we went to eat at the buffet, and David added on a drink cup.
Then we got our times for the main dining hall, and looked at the hot tubs – they were all super-full. Then we went to the room for a while. We set sail without much notification – all the sudden we noticed we were leaving port. Then we went to movie trivia – we did okay. Then I went for a shower while David played “Name that tune – 80s and 90s” – I think he got 16/20. We got a little lost as we were rushing over for the ice show. We had trouble getting seats, but found 2 together on the side. The ice skaters were pretty good. David went to change for dinner, and he was ready when I met him at the room. We went to the fancy dining room for dinner. I had spaghetti, he had fried chicken. We got a table to ourselves, so that was good. The service was great. After dinner I went to Karaoke (live band) and David went back to the room to change into his 90s garb.
We watched Karaoke – the energy was good. We were going to go to the 10:20 “dance party” but ended up back in our room instead.

SAT NOV 15 2025

Got up around 8am. Breakfast was very crowded, but we found a table. Eggs were okay; cinnamon rolls were good; I liked the blueberry compote and whipped cream on my waffles. After breakfast we headed back to the room, got our stuff, put on sunscreen. We went out to the Bahamas for a little while, and looked at the port shops, but then we came back to the boat. Its nice to have a quiet boat, at least for a bit. We got our wifi sorted, then sat peacefully on the quiet promenade for a bit. David wanted to try the pizza, and it opened at noon, so we both got a slice. Then I showed him the gym, and we checked the buffet for desserts. I got a couple.
We are back in the room for a bit, and then we are out for trivia – flow rider (maybe), ice skating, more trivia, and dinner at 6:45pm in the dining room. We did “places” trivia – it was very hard. We got 6/20. The winners only got 7. Then I went ice skating and David got in the hot tub. Then David did 70s name that tune – he did ok. Then we did music Bingo – it took forever, because he played so much of each song. We got close – missing a song 2 different ways. We are doing dinner at 6:45pm tonight. It’s Italian, so there are a couple main dishes we both like. I got lasagna at dinner – I did not like it. Also the service was not as good. But the tiramisu was delicious. I asked for a second one. Right after I got it, there was all this commotion. People started twirling their napkins. Then the waitstaff started dancing in a line. They went up the stairs, then danced to both YMCA and the Macarena.
I forgot – earlier on they day there was line dancing. That was very fun. There were a couple women next to me that were in way over their heads. They sat down after the first song. It wasn’t a very big space, but that made it seem like there were more people on the floor.
After dinner we went to karaoke. It was very crowded. We couldn’t find a seat. We ended up sitting at the bar. The first guy was really good, but it went extremely downhill after that. After karaoke we went to bed. I forgot – right before dinner, I went to “Name that Taylor Swift song” She played only a very short excerpt, and although I recognized most, I only got a few correct.

SUN NOV 16 2025

I slept all the way until 9am this morning. We had trouble finding a table at breakfast. We went into the island after breakfast, but didn’t stay long. We took the train back to the boat. The highlight for me was finding chocolate chip cookies. It was just too hot outside. We did several trivia gatherings. We tied for “Name the landmarks”, but lost the tie breaker. David won the “name the classic rock” songs. He was also in a tie breaker, but was able to name the artist on both tie-breaking songs, and ended up winning. He got a cup and a Royal Caribbean highlighter.
We went to the buffet for dinner right at 6pm. It was pretty crowded. We ate pretty quickly, and David went to save us a spot for the comedian. The show was sparsely attended. We thought he was pretty funny. After the show we went back to the buffet because David had missed the chocolate cake! I also had a cupcake dipped in a chocolate fondue fountain. Then we went back to our room and packed up what we could for the crew to help us with tomorrow (we have to have it outside our room by 10pm)

MON NOV 17 2025

We got up early and went to the buffet. Then we packed our stuff up, and went to the 4th floor to wait. Our group was 41. We were supposed to be called at 9:30a, but they called us at 9am. We found our stuff, and luckily a porter helped us. It was a pretty long walk with all our junk. I would have given him $5, but all I had was 3 singles. We got on the highway we needed right out of the port, so that was cool. It was a smooth drive to Siesta Key. We stopped at Siesta Royale, and I looked around and showed David around. It looked pretty similar - the shuffleboard was still there; the diving board was gone, and the rope divider. We couldn’t get to the beach, the gate was locked.
After that, we headed to the hotel, which was pretty far away. I was told that if I wanted to check in (it was 1:30p, check in was at 4p) it would be $45.
So at first we went to the Ringling Museum (its very close to our hotel) but I told David I changed my mind. The only place I really cared about was Casey Key Fish House (its where Stephen King eats all the time!) So we headed that way, but I really wanted to be there for dinner time. So the first thing we did to kill time was go to Goodwill. I found a Royal Caribbean sweat shirt! Which I thought was funny. I also really liked the color. I also got some shorts that are comfortable. The ones I’ve been wearing are coming out in the crotch. I changed into the shorts in the car. David got a small pillow he was hoping to use for driving.
After that we stopped for a soda at a gas station. As we headed to Casey Key, we were passing Siesta Key, so I had David head for Siesta Key Village. There were lots of shops, and we just wandered around a bit. I filled a little bottle with dyed shells to use for my magnet. We headed to Casey Key, and when we were almost there, Kyle Vet called. Blackberry is not doing well, and they think it may be cancer.
We ate at Casey Fish House – the fish and chips were just okay. The waitress (Jen) said she had waited on SK before. She said he was in just a couple weeks back. So I think he is around, but I probably missed my best chance of seeing him. We stopped at Publix for milk, then went back to the hotel. We got there around 7pm. It’s a very nice/modern place. The room is big, and we were able to charge our car. The sink is in the room, and the shower/toilet share a sliding door. Very interesting layout.

TUES NOV 18 2025

We got up about 8:30a and ate breakfast at the hotel. It was good – there were good waffles, and sausage. Then we went to Sarasota Jungle Gardens. We got there as they were opening at 10am. We hung out with goats at the petting zoo for a while. Then we went to an 11a show. After that we found the flamingoes. They ate right out of your hand, which is very cool. There are peacocks that live there that chose it as their home, and we fed those, and also the little white Ibis that were there, and a couple sea gulls. Some of the flamingoes were almost as tall as I am. We went back and watched the 12p bird show, then explored the rest of the park. I got some change, and we fed the flamingoes for a while longer.
We left, and headed to the “high end” shopping at St Armands Circle. Then I put in “closest theater” and we drove a couple miles and watched “The Running Man”. Afterwards I thought it was cool to watch that movie near where Stephen King lives. After that we went to Lido Beach and walked some. The problem with traveling at this time is the days are so short. It was completely dark at 6pm. I found a large recycling bin at the beach, which I was super excited about. We had a bunch in the cooler bag. Then we went back to the hotel. We charged the van and watched a bunch of Girls5Eva. I had trouble sleeping – probably because of all the Mt Dew I had at the movie theater.

WEDS NOV 19 2025

We got up early – 6:30am – to try to get to Weeki Wachee kinda early-ish. Breakfast at the hotel, then loaded up the van and checked out. Now we are on the road. We hit some traffic, but it says we should get there by 9:54am Weeki Wachee was not crowded. We got there about 10am, ran to the bathroom, looked around some, got wrist bands for the 1pm boat cruise, walked the “tranquility trail”, saw several peacocks, then headed to the 11am mermaid show.
It was in an air-conditioned theater. Three “mermaids” told the story of The Little Mermaid. They stayed under most of the time, breathing air from underwater tubes. Some of the tricks they did were pretty impressive. David thought it was cool. After that, we saw the ranger show. I liked her, but she only showed lizards. I liked it better when she was displaying an owl when we first came in. We did touch an alligator at the end. I’m not sure I have ever touched one before.
We went to wait for the boat. It was the first time I got to see the spring – it was soooo clear! You could easily see the fish swimming in it. The boat ride was nice. We saw an eagles nest. I think some people saw some of the eagles, but we did not. We saw some turtles, and some other kinds of birds. I was in awe of the water the whole time.
We checked out the café. There were 4 adult peacocks / hens and one baby waiting outside. The peacocks would come right up to you, but the staff did not want us feeding them.
Then we loaded up and headed to Crystal River. It was only a 45-minute-ish drive, and it went smoothly. We found our hotel, and I was able to check in. It is right on the water, but it would be very difficult to see any manatees in the murky waters. There are a couple restaurants connected to the motel, right on the marina, but they are both seafood-y. We drove to the plaza across the way, and got pizza at a local chain called Hungry Howies. We got a deep dish. It was okay, but I liked the pizza from the Keys better, and I definitely like Jets better.
We went to the welcome center, but the chargers over there do not fit our car. We came back to the hotel for now. After the sun went down, I tried sitting behind our room, which is right on the canal/marina. The sun / temperature was good. But we were getting lots of bug bites. We did not stay out there very long. We watched some of It: Welcome to Derry, but decided we wanted to watch it on a bigger screen. We went over to Dairy Queen. I wanted to try a Peppermint Bark blizzard – the first one of my holiday try outs. We came back and just watched TV (Abbott Elementary and college football), and went to bed before 9pm.

THURS NOV 20 2025

We got up around 7am, got ready, check out the hotel “breakfast” (lame), ate our own breakfast, moseyed about until a few mins before 9am, and then headed over for our boat tour. We found the place, no problem, parked and waited. As I was looking around about 8:15a, this guy asked me if I was Jennifer. I said yup – the 8:45a tour was just me and David. The water was very brackish, but we saw several manatees from a distance, and 2 dolphins! We were able to move around the boat freely, which David and I both liked. The guy was pretty good at explaining things without being overly chatty (his name was Chris)
After we were done, we headed over to 3 Sisters Springs. We took the shuttle down to the boardwalk. The water there was super clear – kinda like the Weeki Wachee water. We were able to see about 7 manatees very clearly. A mom with 2 calfs (one small, one bigger); another mom with a calf, and 2 more (I think) I would have observed them longer, but the sun was hot. We sat there for a bit, then took the shuttle back. David decided he wanted to kayak up to the manatees. We went back to Pete’s Pier where we had taken our boat tour (our parking was still in effect 😊 ) I got a manatee magnet, and we got a double kayak. We got to 3 sisters, and David got out and swam in, and he was able to swim with a mom and her baby in the super-clear water. David paddled the kayak while I put an umbrella up and kept myself in the shade. I was trying to shade my feet, since I forgot to sunscreen them and they had burned earlier in the vacation.
On our way back to the pier, we saw a mother and baby. We were able to get very close. We actually passed over the mother at one point (accidentally) I don’t think we hit her. After kayaking we were heading to McDs, but we passed 3 sisters, and I said “Let’s check to see if there are more” We took the 0.4 mi path to the boardwalk. There was one, but it was hard to see him with the glare. All the others were gone. We took the shuttle back to the parking lot. Then we went to the chargers behind Subway, but they did not see to be working. We were pretty hungry by then (it was like 4pm) We ate at McDs and Subway 😊
Then we came back to the hotel. I took a walk around the neighborhood. It was sunset time (about 5:30p) David and I walked out to the wall near the restaurant and watched our last sunset over the water. Tomorrow we head back north, into Georgia.

FRI NOV 21 2025

We got up at 5a, on the road at 5:30a. We stopped at a rest stop after maybe 2 hours, right after entering Georgia. We stopped at a Bucees for gas. I also got chocolate chip cookies. I ate my leftover pizza from Weds at that point, and some popcorn from the movie in Sarasota. We made one other stop, at a RaceTrac gas station. We got to Helen a little before 2pm. The Days Inn is only okay, but we do have a full size refrigerator, and plenty of floor space.
We drove into “downtown” Helen and found a place to charge the van. Then we walked around, looking in some stores, and ate at a Hofbrau Haus, like the one we have in downtown Cincy. I got to have most of the pretzel; David was not feeling well after eating a large gas station hamburger. The beer cheese was good. After eating, we found the heart of downtown Helen, which was very cute – set up like a German Mainstrasse. I got some chocolates at a place called Hansel and Gretel chocolates. The lemon chocolates were soooo good. We stopped in an “old fashioned” photo place, and got a guns/outlaw type photo. It was fun dressing up.
We went back and got the car (it was charged all the way) and drive to the Georgia Mountain Coaster. The coaster hurt David’s body, but we had fun. We drove around Helen and looked at the Christmas lights (some were not lit up yet), then we went back to the hotel. Tomorrow is our otter encounter.

SAT NOV 22 2025

We got up at 8am and had breakfast at the hotel. They had a waffle machine, I also had a pb bagel with my stuff from the car. Then I had David take me to the Hansel and Gretel chocolate shop and I got 8 more of those lemon dark chocolates. I put them in the cooler so they won’t melt. We headed to the North Georgia zoo. It was really in the middle of nowhere. We got there a little early and waited in the “parking lot”. We started out at the petting zoo, which was big for a petting zoo. We fed goats and llamas and sheep. There were baby pigs that liked to be pet. There were cute chickens and guinea fowl.
Then at 11a we went on a “guided tour” of some of their other animals. The conditions were – not great. And the tour guide had no personality, although he did have some interesting facts. I started to worry because we were supposed to be at the otter encounter at noon. I think we were a little late, but it worked out okay. The otter’s name was Shelly. She was very small. There were 3 groups, and we each had a turn sitting where Shelly would climb on us. She was sooo soft. When she climbed on my lap, she became interested in my band-aid, so she kinda squirmed in my lap a little longer, which was great.
After the encounter, we did a “driving” tour. The free-roaming animals stuck their heads right into our car. There were some deer-type animals, and huge bison, and some other types of cows. It was kinda cool, but I started to get a little icked out with all the tongues and slobber. And a couple of them sneezed on us. I was glad to find “running” water (it was a foot pump) We asked about pictures – they are supposed to email us the info in 7-14 days?
Then we left and headed out. We were on country roads for a long time. When we saw a “Whataburger” we decided to eat there. It was meh. We drove about 4-ish hours. We stopped at a Hardees to go to the bathroom and I got a cinnamon roll. I think we got on 75 with 2 hours left in our drive. We are staying in Murfreesboro. The exit was very busy. We walked over to a “Go USA Fun Park” which is right next to our hotel. David did the batting cages – both softball and baseball. Then he hit some golf balls, because he liked how the ball came out of the ground so he didn’t have to bend over and put it in place. I ended up taking over half of his 30 balls. Then I played a bunch of Skee-Ball, and then this “fill the Icee” game. I had about 130 tickets in my card, which I gave to a young-ish girl (9?) who was playing ticket games. Then we came back to the hotel.

SUN NOV 23 2025

We had breakfast at the hotel, but it was very lame. We drove into Nashville. We walked around the Parthenon, but it wasn’t open, and we walked around Vanderbilt University. We went into the bookstore for a while. Then we headed home. We stopped at a BW3 and watched the 2nd half of the Bengals game (we lost) When we got home, we went to LaRosas with Cam. Jane was very happy to see us.
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