Imagine my surprise when my sister randomly called me in April to ask if I would be interested in traveling to Florida to spend time with her, my niece and nephew! After all we have been through over the past year, working/school at home and having to be socially distanced from others, getting away on a mini-vacation to Florida seemed like a dream come true!
I was able to reconnect with my sister during our 12 hour car ride down to Florida, learning even more about her childhood, because I was in college during her high school years and in the workforce after that, so we did not have much quality time together over an 8-10 year span. It was such a positive experience for both of us!
In Florida, I had a great time with my niece and nephew and their significant others. We played games and walked along the beach, rode bicycles into town to shop and walked all over the place.
I even played games at Dave & Busters with them – it was so much fun! The entire week was extremely relaxing; enjoying the summer weather and continuous breeze of the Gulf Coast. Although I will admit, the breeze created rip tide waves, and due to those it was not good for finding seashells on the beach. The beach was coded as “double flagged” all week, which meant we were not allowed in the ocean. We found out how serious the beach “police” were on the double flag warning, as one patrolman ticketed about 15 people who were in the water near us, which I read later could be up to a $500 fine! (eek!) Not a good way to use your vacation money.
Despite the warnings, the breeze was outstanding, there was not a cloud in the sky, and at times it was even a little chilly – it really was perfect weather for us.
As far as the cuisine, I recommend the restaurants we went to below (in the panhandle of Florida)
I will forever treasure my time with my sister and her children, and plan on going to Florida again with my family, so they can enjoy the sun and fun next time. Thank you netlogx for sponsoring my surprise trip! I am truly grateful for the experience!
