Florida Day Trips - Lion Country Safari

Looking for a great way to spend the day in Florida? 

1967. That was the year that Lion Country Safari opened in West Palm Beach. Kind of hard to believe. Well, technically it is in Loxahatchee which is about 20 miles west of West Palm Beach. It was the very first drive-thru Safari Park. When you think about it, it was a drive-thru before drive-thrus were a thing. Billed as a cageless zoo at the time, where the lions would literally lie on top of your car.

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