On Tour with J&B, Week 4, 2017
Click on photos to enlarge.
We spent this week with family in Florida. One of our daughters named Jennifer (we have two) and her husband, Mark, and our just-turned-four-year-old grandson, Beau, drove up to Winter Haven from south Florida to spend a week camping with us. We were able to get a cabin for them every night near our campsites, except the first night. So we really were camping together — great fun.
Great campsites at Ft. Wilderness.
Lego Land with our grandson Beau.
RV Parks:
Winter Haven: Cypress Campground, older park, lots of trees, no grass, close to LegoLand. Disney Ft. Wilderness Campground, lots of room around all the sites and rustic cabins nearby where the kids stayed
Silver Springs: Silver Springs State Park, very spacious sites and nice cabin for the kids
Crescent City: Renegades on the River, brick pads, grass, wide
St. Augustine: St. Augustine KOA, older, pretty tight, but close to town.
The kids at Legoland.
The answer is “yes” — grandpa was sore for days after lifting 40+ pounds of wiggling weight!
Yep, camping is fun!
Winter Haven, FL — Met up with Jenny, Mark & Beau Easter Sunday. Day one of our Family Vacation! We enjoyed a delicious baked ham dinner (used the convection bake on our microwave for the first time) and enjoyed a leisure evening at the campground. The kids stayed in a hotel nearby. Monday morning breakfast at the camp, and off to LegoLand, oh boy! Beau enjoyed it . . . and so did we . . . until the Florida heat got to us. Then off to Disney Ft. Wilderness RV Resort and Cabins for two nights.
This was an exceptional RV park, with serpentine roads which enhanced privacy, large campsites, and managed forest areas. The kids had a nearby cabin, and we had a very spacious campsite in the woods. (Beau was a little concerned that we were in the “deep woods” where the big bad wolf lives, but we never did see him.)
We played with bows and arrows, pine cones, moss from the trees, and anything else we found.
Had a nice walk in the woods, explored the area, went to Disney Springs for an hour or two, but again, the heat got to us and we were back to the deep woods to chill out.
Our campsite at Ft. Wilderness.
The broom was Beau’s choice from the Ft. Wilderness Trading Post — no toy for this boy!
And grandpa showed Beau another use for his broom!
Silver Springs, FL — This was a tourist attraction in the 1820s. The Silver River is a picturesque river with overhanging cypress and Spanish moss and the springs are one of the largest artesian springs ever discovered. The Silver River flows into the St. Johns River. We enjoyed a 40 minute glass bottom boat tour on this pristine river that was very informative — the first glass bottom boat tour began In the late 1870s! Interesting to learn that Sea Hunt, Tarzan and Creature from the Black Lagoon were filmed here in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The campsite was spacious and once again the kids had a cabin close by.
Silver Springs.
Crescent City, FL — This was a great location on the St. Johns River, the longest river in Florida and very popular for recreation and commerce. Our concrete site was wide with landscaping and grass, and steps from the kids cabin . . . and the Tiki Bar and restaurant. We rented a 20’ Bentley pontoon boat for the afternoon and had a really fun trip on the St. Johns River and a gorgeous tributary. We love boating!! Wanted to stay another day, but they were booked, darn.
Renegades On the River.
Enjoying the day on the St. Johns River. This was a scenic tributary.
The cabins at the St. Augustine KOA — pretty nice setting.
St. Augustine, FL — The oldest city in America with an interesting history. We enjoyed exploring the city via the Old Town Trolley. Flagler had a big hand in opening this city to tourism and commerce by building several large ornate hotels, formed the Florida East Coast Railway, and built a railroad bridge over the St. Johns River in 1888. Many of these hotels have been restored and there is an interesting diversity of architecture here.
And that’s the end of our Family Vacation — it was great!!!
Beau in the Birdcage at the Old Jail, St. Augustine.
One of the old St. Augustine churches.
