Visiting St. Augustine in Florida and looking for a really neat place to go that is both fun and educational? Let us introduce you to Castillo de San Marcos, a National Park right on the water with cannons and a pretty amazing history.
Planning a trip and looking for things to do in Sarasota, Florida? For most people, mention of the Ringling Brothers conjures thoughts of the famed circus they owned. However, for the residents of Sarasota, Florida, the Ringling name means a lot more. Learn about the history, the beauty, and all of the fun that awaits you in this beautiful beachfront town from one former resident. Kidding Around Contributor, Melanie spent a good chunk of her adolescence there and can’t wait to share the area with readers!
For more fun in Florida, check out Kristina’s Guide to family fun in Daytona Beach.
(more…)Planning a trip to Florida’s Space Coast? The Space Coast of Florida, famous for being the home base of NASA, has so much more to offer families who travel there. Kayaking thru a galaxy sounds insane, but we have the details of how your family can experience that and other unique things during a visit to the Space Coast of Florida.
Check out highlights from our trip to the Space Coast on the Kidding Around Instagram!
(more…)Have you ever wanted to paddle through a bioluminescent sea of sparkling stars, and glow in the dark waters? It’s probably not even something you knew you could wish for, right? Well, it is a real thing, and Kidding Around’s Melanie headed to the Space Coast of Florida to get all the first-hand details about this amazing experience to share with our readers. BK Adventure Tours in Titusville, FL uses clear kayaks, and it’s the best way to experience the glowing Bioluminescent waters of the Space Coast.
Check out our Guide To The Space Coast Of Florida – It Has So Much More To Offer Than A Peek At Space Travel
(more…)Looking for something unique to do in Sarasota, Florida? Whenever the opportunity presents itself, Kidding Around’s Melanie loves getting on the water with a paddle in hand, kayaking the Lido Key mangrove tunnels Of Sarasota, Florida. This year she spent her birthday on the water of Sarasota Bay in Florida. I spent most of the trip on the water, and she had the chance to tour the unique mangrove tunnels that exist among a manatee playground.
Don’t miss our Guide to Discovering Sarasota, Florida, for more info about the area.
(more…)Planning a trip to Florida and looking for a fun, family activity? Kidding Around’s Melanie is showing us around her former hometown of Sarasota, Florida! Mote Marine Aquarium was one of the first stops she made because she couldn’t wait to share the work of this facility with our readers.
To see more from our trip, check out our Sarasota, FL story highlight on Instagram
(more…)Planning a trip down I-95? KAG contributor Kristina has some wonderful ideas for families to check out in the Daytona Beach area.
I had the opportunity to spend some time on the Atlantic coast in Central Florida and I tried to make the most of the time I had with my kids. We are homeschooling so I was searching for things to do that were both fun and educational, although you could certainly do any of this stuff without the homeschooling aspect.
The Daytona Beach area is about a seven-hour drive from Greenville and only about 90 minutes from the Disney hotspot of Orlando. There is a lot to explore in this area and I hope you have the chance to check these places out!
This article contains Stay22 affiliate links.
This old sugar mill has a fascinating history in and of itself and the ruins are really neat to see. You may recognize some similar equipment as was used in the cotton and textile mills in South Carolina. But then you’ve got actual dinosaurs scattered throughout the botanical gardens! They are cement and it’s a blast to find them with your kids. Although kids cannot play on them, they are certainly a fun part of wandering through the beautiful flowers and old oak trees laced with Spanish moss.
There are also a couple free little libraries throughout the garden (a great opportunity to swap some books on your long drive). Restrooms are available on site.
950 Old Sugar Mill Rd, Port Orange, FL
Admission: Free
Website
We loved this place because it has a huge kids area that combines learning with fun. It has several science-related exhibits that kids can enjoy, a play pizza parlor, a remote-controlled race car track, and even a planaterium. And if you have a Roper Mountain Science Center or WNC Nature Center membership, you get in free.
Admission: $12.95/adults, $6.95/kids ages 6-17, free/under 6; also free if you have an affiliated ASTC membership.
352 S Nova Rd, Daytona Beach, FL
Website
This small park is such a treasure. It has great nature walking trails that wind through the preserve and come to a little playground and tower that you can climb up and look out at the ocean. There are boardwalks through the marshes with kayak launches as well. Birds, crabs, and other wildlife are plentiful. The trail also has some fitness equipment, which my kids loved playing on.
Admission: free
Website
We did the full moon boat tour and it was the coolest thing. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the area and we learned all about the local ecosystem, birds, dolphins, and manatees. The sunset was unreal and seeing the full moon rise was amazing. We got to see the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse (which we climbed the week before) so my kids had fun seeing it light up. The Marine Discovery Center also does kayak tours and the boat is covered so you are shaded from the sun. The center itself has some crabs, an eel, a corn snake (which we got to see eat some mice), and other fish plus a walking trail.
520 Barracuda Boulevard, New Smyrna Beach, FL
Admission: Free to the discovery center itself but the boat tours are an extra cost.
Website
Climb the 203 steps that twist up the middle of Florida’s tallest lighthouse. You can also tour the old houses of former lighthouse keepers and a really neat lighthouse building with lots of mirrored panes that show how the lights work. There are also other historical aspects to the lighthouse which are worth taking some time to explore.
4931 South Peninsula Drive, Ponce Inlet, FL
Admission: Free to tour the historical homes and buildings about the lighthouse. To climb the lighthouse, the cost is $6.95/age 12+, $1.95/ages 3-11, free/under 2.
Website
Want to swim and canoe in crystal clear water over the summer and see manatees in the winter? Then you have to go to Blue Spring State Park. It’s an easy day trip from the coast or Orlando and completely worth it. Read our review here.
2100 W French Avenue, Orange City, FL
Website
During those hot months, which is most of the year in Florida, Riverwalk Park has a great splashpad and playground plus lots of space for kids to run around. We loved hanging out here. You can also rent kayaks and canoes to use on the river.
3459 S. Ridgewood Avenue, Port Orange, FL
Website
If you like to fish, this is the place. There are two piers to cast your line into the intercoastal waterway. I didn’t see anyone catch anything when I was there but the view was awesome. You can see the Daytona Beach skyline and it’s just a neat location to check out, maybe have a picnic. There are restrooms and boat launches as well.
Ramp at the bottom of the bridge onto Daytona Beach
Admission: Free
Just an hour south of Daytona Beach and the same distance from Orlando, the Kennedy Space Center and nearby Cocoa Beach should definitely by on your day trip list. I love all things space-related so going to the complex was just fascinating. And since my kids and watched the 2020 SpaceX mission, they were just as interested as well – and kept asking if we would be seeing the astronauts, Bob and Doug. Cocoa Beach is close by so going to the pier there and checking out the fun shops was an easy add-on.
Space Commerce Way,
Admission to the Kennedy Space Center: $57/adult, $47/child
Admission to Cocoa Beach Pier: Free
We spent a day at New Smyrna Beach at Flagler Avenue browsing the shops with lots of cool apparel and jewelry from local artists. We had lunch overlooking the beach at Breakers, which was fairly reasonable. If you want to drive on the beach from there, it will cost you $20. Or just park in area lots and walk on the beach. There is also Smyrna Beach Dunes park with access to fishing and swimming.
Admission to Dunes Park: $10
Admission to the drive on beach at Flagler Ave: $20
This was my favorite day trip I took my girls to because the feeling of walking through our country’s oldest city was just amazing. We loved it. Of course there are touristy aspects but the locally made pumpkin spice latte and Castillo San Marcos made me fall in love with the city. The fort – Castillo San Marcos – is built right on the water and has a very interesting history. The free Junior Ranger Program is a must-do if you go to make the most of your visit and learn about it! The old town was such a pleasure to walk through. There are little shops and restaurants and cafes that are fun to wander around in. If you’re Catholic and want to attend Mass, the cathedral downtown is just the place. The church is decorated beautifully. You can head to the Alligator Farm Zoo in St. Augustine to make it a full day trip.
St. Augustine, FL
Admission: No fees to walk around Old Town or the fort, although you’ll have to pay for tickets to Castillo San Marcos and any of the attractions in town.
Where would you choose to go in Florida on the Atlantic Coast?
Ever wanted to know what an airboat ride feels like? KAG’s Kristina took her kids on one in Everglades and tells us about it.
An airboat tour of the Everglades has been on my want-to-do list for awhile. There is so much magic in those murky waters and sawgrasses. I always thought seeing it in person would be quite the experience – oh, and I’m totally obsessed with all things related to the invasive pythons that are making a mess of the environment there. Have you seen the snakes the python hunters have caught? They are huge!
Ok, back to the airboat ride. Don’t those airboats with their enormous fans and flat, wide bottoms look cool? I was imagining flying through the waters and looking for gators and pythons. What I experienced was a tad different than what I had pictured.
This article contains Stay22 affiliate links.
The Everglades aren’t actually swamps but a super slow moving river of grass. The Everglades National Park is the third largest National Park and to see it, you really need a boat. There are hiking trails but you need a guide since you’ll be slogging around in knee deep – or deeper – water. You can camp there also, which scares me to death because of the wildlife even though I love camping.
I had briefly thought about renting kayaks to explore the Everglades but reason won out and I couldn’t comfortably do that with my two small kids. So an airboat it was – which I always wanted to do anyways.
There are a ton of airboat companies that do tours in the Everglades and we picked one of the closer ones to Ft. Lauderdale, Sawgrass Recreation Park near Alligator Alley. It was a 30-minute airboat group ride and included admission to the small nature park that housed snakes, alligators, and other wildlife – including a section where you could touch a baby gator!
I chose this particular spot because it had good reviews on Google, was reasonably priced, closest to where we were staying, and included that little nature park. Almost all the airboat companies offer private tours as well, which were just out of my budget, costing at least $300 for a small group.
A 30-minute airboat ride at Sawgrass Recreation Park, if you buy the tickets online, is $21.45/adult, $11.60/child, and kids 4 and under are free. Any age is welcome on the airboat.
Our airboat group had 14 people and we sat in every other row on the boat so there was plenty of space. Masks were required inside at the gift shop, ticket counter, and nature center as well during the boat ride.
Airboats, much to my surprise, go really fast! Admission includes ear plugs, which definitely caught me off guard. But then I realized why they were important – the boat was super loud because the engine was not in the water but spinning the large fans in the back of the boat.
Our captain made sure to get us life jackets for kids ages 6 and under and got us situated on the boat. Then we took off into the water.
We sped around the channels and zipped over the shorter grasses. It had just rained so the longer sawgrass was wet on top so when we ran over them with our boat, the water from the tops hit us right in the face. So word of warning – don’t sit in the front of the boat and maybe bring a light jacket and sunglasses.
We did slow down a bit to coast along and search for gators but weren’t successful. We did see a smaller one near the dock which was cool. Our guide said that the alligators come out more at night and that you can do a night airboat tour (which sounded pretty neat). We did some birds and got to marvel at the huge expanse of sky and water meeting over the low, flat grass-covered, alligator-infested river. I did love that part of it and was happy our guide knew his way around since I imagine it’s easy to get lost in there.
The park is also the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles live together and is home to snakes, birds, mammals, and even the elusive panther. While we didn’t see any of those while on the airboat tour, the Sawgrass Recreation Park nature center had everything but the panther.
We got to see a couple alligators being fed treats by the staff and much to the delight of my kids, got to pet a baby alligator and learn about their habits and diets.
Also, if you love biking, there is a long levee right near the Sawgrass Recreation Park where you can bike along the edge of the Everglades. Our guide told us you can park at Markham Park nearby and ride for miles. I hadn’t even thought of exploring the area that way and it looked like a really cool experience.
If you have a chance to visit the Everglades, I certainly recommend stopping to enjoy the park and do an airboat ride. It’s a fascinating place – next time, I’ll do that nighttime airboat ride!
Would you do an airboat ride through the Everglades?
If a trip to Central Florida is in your family’s future, consider a stop at Wild Florida, a gator-themed park that has lots of unique experiences for your family. KAG’s Kristina has the scoop.
There is a lot to do in the Orlando area besides the theme parks. One such adventure is Wild Florida, less than an hour from downtown Orlando. The park is home to lots of alligators, crocodiles, snakes, a Florida panther, birds, and our favorite – goats. The park also has airboat rides on the nearby lake, the headwaters of the Everglades, as well as a drive-thru safari and unique animal experiences. We only did the gator park so that is what this review will cover.
Find a place to stay in Orlando, FL. This article contains Stay22 affiliate links.
Even though South Carolina has alligators, they (thankfully) aren’t located in the Upstate so I’m not too familiar with their characteristics and lifestyles. Wild Florida does a great job of educating their guests on all things gator and croc-related with boards around the park explaining different facts about them. There are also gator feedings twice a day and a place where you can feed smaller ones yourselves.
We got to see the exotic animal show when we went to Wild Florida, which was super interesting. The guide brought out a blue-tongued skink, a Burmese python, and an American alligator. The crowd loved learning about the animals and seeing them up close. Reptiles have lots of cool facts about them and seeing them up close like that was enjoyable for my kids, especially since they are homeschooled and we are learning about animals like these currently in our studies.
There are several enclosures throughout Wild Florida that house alligators, including two albino ones. You can walk over a wooden walkway to see tons of alligators right below you in the lagoon – terrifying and fascinating.
Wild Florida has several different snakes at the park like the copperhead, pygmy rattlesnake and even a King Cobra. They also have an enormous Burmese python, which are invasive species in the Everglades just a couple hours south. I love anything having to do with python hunters so seeing one up close was pretty neat.
They also have a neat aviary where you can walk through a bird enclosure and feed the birds from a stick (there’s a small fee to buy one). There are so many gorgeous birds in the aviary so walking through was quite the memorable experience.
Several lemurs are at the park, which my kids loved. They are pretty cute I have to say. Other exotic animals live at Wild Florida, many of which have been rescued or donated if their owners couldn’t care for them.
While my kids, ages 9 and 6, enjoyed all the animals at Wild Florida, the petting zoo was our favorite. The park allows you to walk into the big, fenced in space where there are lots of goats and even some baby goats! You can buy food to feed them or just go in and get happy playing with them.
Readers at Kidding Around Greenville know how obsessed we are with goats so this part of the park was especially awesome. The goats are very friendly and the babies were adorable. It was a lot of fun to play these animals.
There is also a small cow and large tortoise here plus some peacocks, although we didn’t see anyone trying to pet them.
I thought the size of Wild Florida was not too big but also not too small, a very Goldilocks-esque kind of park . There is plenty to see and do plus an on-site restaurant and lots of areas to sit and enjoy a meal.
We spent around two hours there and would have spent more time except that it was brutally hot. The park had fans and mists everywhere but Florida heat can be oppressive so be sure to hydrate well when you’re there.
You can add on an airboat ride to your park ticket as well as the drive-thru safari.
If you want to take a break, there is a shaded playground near the alligator lagoon, which makes for a nice rest.
In accordance with local regulations, masks are mandatory all throughout the park, both indoors and outdoors.
There are hand sanitizing stations all throughout the park.
Admission to the gator park alone is $10/adults (ages 13+) and $8/kids. Follow them on Facebook for special deals. When we went, they were doing a promotion where you got free admission if you donated canned goods to the park.
Wild Florida has several Animal Encounter packages for guests, most of which require kids to be at least 12 years old. You can see what they offer and prices here.
Airboat rides start at $30.50/adults and $27.50/kids. And the drive-thru safari is $29/adult and $20/child. You can also combine experiences with Adventure Packages and they do offer transportation from some parts of Florida.
The park is open daily from 9 am – 6 pm.
Wild Florida
3301 Lake Cypress Rd, Kenansville, FL
407.957.3135
Looking for something straight out of a fairy tale where you can see manatees, paddle a kayak, and go swimming in crystalline waters? Blue Spring State Park, less than an hour from Orlando, is the ideal place. Here’s what happened when KAG contributor Kristina took her kids for an adventure there.
You know when you see a photo of someplace that is just so unbelievably gorgeous that you save it on Facebook or Instagram or put it on a list you have of places that you must go to? I have a list like that and Blue Spring State Park has been on it for a bit. I think I found it through a kayaking group and right away, I knew I had to go.
So when I found myself spending some time in Florida, Blue Spring State Park was at the top of my list and this beautiful oasis with clear, spring water ended up being one of my family’s most fun adventures in the state for lots of reasons.
This article contains Stay22 affiliate links.
My grandparents and dad’s family all lived in Florida so I ended up spending a significant amount of time there as a kid and teenager but we never explored that much, spending most of our trips on the Orlando area or at the beach.
So I didn’t have any knowledge whatsoever of these perfect, clear springs that dot Florida’s hot and humid landscape. There are several in the central part of the state and most are located within Florida’s state parks system.
The water is so clear because it’s filtered underground through limestone and is abundant in minerals that keep it so pristine (thank you big park educational boards that explained all this). Here is a list of other freshwater springs throughout Florida.
On a previous trip to Florida eons ago, I vaguely remember my parents taking my brothers and I to see manatees. I thought they were pretty neat, having had grown up in the Northeast, where we don’t have the big sea cow around.
Manatees, I learned from watching a YouTube video about them while waiting to get into the park, don’t have a lot of body fat so they need fairly warm water to survive, above 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The natural springs are 72 degrees year round so they migrate there every fall and stay till early spring.
Conservation efforts by Florida’s parks have significantly increased the protection of these gentle giants and their populations have grown. Swimming with them is prohibited.
I didn’t think we would see any manatees while there since we were a little bit early in the fall but surprise, we saw a couple of them! One swam right by us while we were canoeing and then another slipped by us while were tubing down the spring.
Manatees are super protected by the parks. A woman in a kayak followed the manatees everywhere and told people to basically get out of the way and let the manatee swim wherever it wanted. Her kayak even said “manatee observer”. Legit job.
I love kayaking and decided this had to happen there. I went through Blue Spring Adventures to rent a three-person canoe, which was super sturdy and spacious. I am much more comfortable in a kayak but the only three-person option, which was my situation with my two small kids, ages 9 and 6. We rented a canoe for an hour and it worked out perfectly since it was the ideal amount of time to paddle the spring and head back without having the kids get bored.
Blue Spring Adventures also has guided kayak and canoe tours. They are located right inside the park and I thought their prices were very reasonable (we paid around $25 for the hour canoe rental for three people).
If you are planning on paddling through the spring, be sure to take the first time in the morning since they close that area from 11 am on since more people are swimming and tubing. You are required to wear life jackets, which come with your rental.
When paddling the spring, you are not allowed to get out of your boat or off your paddleboard and go for a swim.
The spring flows into the St. John’s River, where bigger boat nature tours are offered. We didn’t do that but the reviews online were very good.
The water is a little chilly but it does feel great on a hot day, which are pretty prevalent in sunny Florida. And you can see straight to the bottom, which is around 18 to 20 feet. There are a few platforms that are easily accessible. Kids are welcome to wear puddle jumpers or life vests and you can bring a tube or flotation device as long as it’s not larger than six feet.
Snorkeling and scuba diving are also permitted. I definitely wanted to snorkel after taking our tubes down the spring a bunch of times. It’s not far at all from the furthest drop in point till where you get out. You can walk down a beautiful boardwalk trail to get to that furthest point where you can swim or put in your tube.
If you don’t have a tube, you can rent one for $6 for the first hour, $3 for each additional hour.
Snorkeling seemed really fun. There are huge alligator gar fish (totally harmless) and some smaller fish that you can view just from looking in the water. I can’t even imagine how cool it would be to see them through snorkeling or scuba diving.
OK, not gonna lie: I Googled the heck out of this topic. In Florida, you have to assume that alligators are present in any freshwater or brackish water springs, lagoons, ponds, etc. So yes, there are alligators there. We saw one in the lily pads while canoeing.
The park has signs that there are possibly alligators there when you go swimming but gators usually prefer warmer water and in general, are pretty shy and avoid people. This doesn’t mean I didn’t have my eyes peeled the entire time we were in the water!
Also, the park rangers walk the boardwalk that overlooks the spring and they are on the lookout for alligators and will close the swimming area if any are spotted. The last time someone was killed by an alligator at the spring was in 2015.
Blue Spring State Park is a popular park so you need to get there early, like before they open at 8 am. They will close when they reach capacity, which happens soon after opening. We got there at 7:30 am on a Saturday morning when we had the canoe rental reservation for 8:30 am. We didn’t make it there until 8:40 am with the long line and getting inside the park.
The ranger told me they let in around 140 cars before they close it. We were probably number 30 or 40 in line. So get there early.
So many people brought tents and coolers and we even saw an air bed. You can easily spend the day here and apparently that’s what people do. You can bring in food but they also sell hamburgers and hot dogs and other concessions.
Be sure to bring lots of sunscreen and bug spray. It’s Florida so there will be bugs and sun. Be prepared.
You can either buy your admission online or just pay when you get there. It’s $6 per car so certainly an affordable trip for a family.
Blue Spring State Park is an easy day trip from Orlando, where it’s a short 45 minute drive. It’s the same distance from the Daytona Beach area as well. If you’re in the area, a trip to Blue Spring State Park is an amazing adventure that your family won’t forget!
Would you go swimming at Blue Spring State Park?
Blue Spring State Park
2100 W French Avenue, Orange City, FL
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Blue-Spring