Anniversary Florida Trip

This year for our anniversary, Chad and I went to visit friends that moved to Florida a little over a year ago. We were hoping that we would be escaping the cold when we booked the flights about 6 months ago, but that was not the case. In Colorado, we have had a fairly warm winter with a few exceptions. We left nearly 60-degree weather to go to temperatures in the 40s and 50s. When factoring in the humidity and the breeze, it felt cooler than that, and we were not prepared. The good news is that there are fun things to do even in cooler weather. 

On Sunday after church, we went to Blue Springs state park to see the manatee. They congregate around the springs which are consistently 72-degrees because they can't be in water less than 68 or they will die. With Sunday being in the 40s, there were over 800 manatees in and near the spring. This made for great viewing! It was fun to watch them swim around and see the groups of moms and babies. 

Monday, we went to Sea World and Disney Springs. We had a lot of fun at Sea World. We went to all of the shows, viewed the aquariums and habitats, and rode the few rides they had going. (It was too cold for most of the roller coasters.) This was my first time going to anything like this. I haven't even been to the Denver Aquarium. The shows were amazing! I clapped and squealed in excitement multiple times. Going to Sea World was not on our original list of things to do. I'm glad the weather didn't cooperate to do the other things because I loved seeing everything there. 

Disney Springs wasn't that big of a deal to me. This part of Disney has no entry fee. It is kind of like an outdoor mall area with shops and restaurants lining the "streets." We went to a cookie shop, hat shop, the Star Wars shop, Marvel shop, and a chocolate shop along with the restaurant we ate at. The restaurant was way overpriced for what we got. I had a club sandwich with fries and a Cherry Coke. Chad had a grilled grouper sandwich with fries and a coke. It was good, but not something particularly memorable. Of course, we may just have a problem with fancy food. Who knows? The cookies were ok. Again, they were a bit overpriced for something that wasn't particularly memorable. At the chocolate place, we got a big s'more to share. That was fairly good. It was definitely fresh and had a hint of cinnamon. This was the only Disney type thing we really saw, too. I would say, I'm glad I went to know what it was, but it's not something I would really seek out now that I know what it really is. 

Tuesday morning, we went to a French bakery, bought a variety of pastries, and brought it back to the house where we all shared them. They were so good! It was a wonderful breakfast!

Then, we ended our trip with a boat tour of De Leon Springs where we learned about a lot of different birds. We say how the trees adapt after storms and how interconnected the water systems are. I wouldn't say it was the highlight of the trip, but it was fun to learn about the vegetation and wildlife in Florida. It was a good, calm way to end our trip before heading to the airport for the long trip home.