Laid Back Family Getaway in Delray Beach

Visiting South Florida in the middle of August is admittedly not everyone’s cup of tea. Visiting with kids in tow can be even more challenging given the heat and humidity. However, it was my husband’s birthday weekend and he wanted to spend some time with his family (and so did we). We could hardly fault him for that, even if the rest of us were dreaming of winter snow already. So off we went. I grew up in the Keys, so I am no stranger to summers spent on what feels like the surface of the sun. 

Welcome To My Blog!

Welcome to my little corner of the internet! I LOVE to travel. It is as simple as that. As a little kid, I remember sitting for hours in our living room looking through each and every one of my dad’s Time-Life book series on different countries and vowing that one day I would see them all. Not much has changed. 

Right out of college I spent many years working in the travel industry, then I decided I needed to settle down once I started having kids. No more taking off to some far off place on a whim. Crazy right? I became a responsible adult. A teacher with a masters degree no less. Honestly, my second career choice really did have to do with my desire to help others, but I wasn’t sad that it still afforded me plenty of time off to travel with my husband and kids. There is nothing like the magic of summer break to a teacher who has been in the trenches for nine months. 

Family Fun in Hip, Happening St. Petersburg, Florida

The landscape of the St. Pete area has changed dramatically over the years. For decades, it was a mecca for retirees looking to escape the harsh winters up north and to play a little shuffleboard in the sunshine. Families would visit, but it was normally to see grandparents. I have fond memories of eating ice cream at the now demolished St. Petersburg Pier and watching mermaids swim in a tank at Webb’s City which took up seven city blocks on Central Avenue and was billed as the “The World’s Most Unusual Drug Store.” That too has been gone for many years now and for a very long time much of St. Pete’s tourism had gone with it.

     

Fast forward to today and you will find that St. Petersburg has revitalized, revamped and become one of the hottest tourist destinations for families in Florida! World class beaches that rival anything you might find in the Caribbean, along with world famous museums such as the Dali and the Chihuly Glass Collection, and enough great restaurants to make it a family foodie paradise. Downtown St. Petersburg has a multitude of shopping venues, a weekly farmers market, and two different stadiums where you can catch a Tampa Bay Rowdies professional soccer match or watch the Tampa Bay Rays play a baseball game. Not to mention, numerous parks and walking areas right along Tampa Bay that are great for exploring, picnicking or hitting the playground. You can even take a Segway tour through the area if the kids are old enough. 

   

Amazing art murals abound throughout the downtown St. Pete area