Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Quick Trip

This past summer, we spent a week in Florida. While we were there, we went to Busch Gardens Amusement park for the day. We bought yearly passes, because it was cheaper and those tickets expire on December 31st. So last week, we skipped school for a couple of days and headed down to Florida.
Instead of staying in a hotel, I rented a house for us through Airbnb.
It was a cute little house and perfect for us. We stayed in the town of
Safety Harbor, which is an adorable little town.
On our last morning I went for a run to the pier and waterfront.
On Friday we spent the entire day at Busch Gardens and had a lot
of fun. We surprised the girls with a safari experience, we all rode roller
coasters ( that made 360 degree turns), played games, saw Santa and Rudolph,
ate food and looked at all the pretty lights.
We rode around in the back of a truck and learned all about the
animals of the savannah. We saw zebras, wildebeests, antelope,
giraffes, ostriches, and lots of others I don't remember.
The highlight of the safari is meeting the giraffes. This was Cupid.
She walked right over and sniffed around .
She was REALLY CLOSE to us.
Love her long eyelashes.
That's one long tongue! We all had a chance to feed her and
take some pictures. It was amazing to be so close.
And we were bundled up! A cold front was in the South, so even
Florida was a little chilly. As the day went on, it got warmer and by
the time we left Florida it was sunny and in the 80s !

After the safari, we went on the first ride of the day. The Cheetah Hunt.
We all went together and I am not too fond of rollercoasters or heights.
I rode the entire thing with my eyes closed and praying that we
wouldn't fly off the tracks!
Later on Raphael and the girls rode it again!
Loved Santa!
It was a fun day at the park!

Saturday morning, Rebecca and I walked to Phillippe Park.
Named after a famous French man who lived in the area.
Odet Philippe was credited for introducing the grapefruit to Florida!

Then we all went to the town of John's Pass in the Madeira Beach area.
And it was another cute little beach town. Florida does not disappoint with
the perfect beach towns. We wander around, bought souvenirs, ate lunch,
watched dolphins and then found our way to the beach.



We headed back to the house to clean up, because we had reservations
for dinner at the Columbia Restaurant. It is a family owned place that
has been open for over 100 years. We went to the original restaurant in
Ybor City. The city has a strong Cuban influence and there were many
interesting stores, coffee cafes and cigar stores. We need to go back
with more time and really look around.
We had time to wander down to Centro area and look around.
They were getting ready to have a parade, so there were lots of
people.



On Saturday nights, they have flamenco dancers that put on an
incredible show. We ate an amazing dinner and then watched the
show. The dancers were so talented. It was truly something to watch.
The restaurant was huge! Over the years, they have added rooms and
each one is different style than the others. And the place was busy!!
It was a good weekend away!
We are looking forward to Christmas!


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