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Trip Report
Exploring Florida
A week traveling across the sunshine state.
North AmericaUnited States9 days / January 2014
Highs & Lows
Discovering St. Augustine
Not having more time for the parks at Orlando and Tampa.
Itinerary Overview
This long-needed family trip was some of the best times we’ve had, visiting new places and enjoying each other’s company, nothing better than that.
We decided to begin the trip with some magic, in Orlando. Here we divided our time between some nice time shopping and eating well at the outlets, Mall at Millenia or Disney Springs, and hanging out at the parks. Orlando truly is the destination for everyone, not only does it have something for everyone to do, but to eat as well; while some of us went to a Mexican place, the others to an Italian, one beside the other. The most fun is always the parks and this time we went to a family favorite: Epcot. This Park is not only great because of the Disney magic, but because it allows you to visit 11 countries in just one day, walking through the beautiful and characteristic buildings of each, enjoying the food and truly getting to know about the culture. This is only topped by the great fireworks of Illuminations of Earth, making it a day to remember.
Next up we chose a much different and a bit more low-profile plan, so we headed off to the other end of Florida, driving over to Tampa. Here the itinerary was somewhat different; we got to walk around the city and beautiful buildings, as well as visit the lovely Florida Aquarium, the Museum of Art and have great fun eating and listening to some live music at the local Hard Rock. Even though we didn’t get any time to visit Busch Gardens or Clearwater which is supposedly beautiful, we had the time of our lives, ate great and enjoyed every second together.
To finish our trip, we chose to do something different than before. We drove over to St. Augustine to a lovely bed & breakfast which caught our attention from the first instant. This place is supposed to be one of U.S. A’s oldest cities and it lives up to its name with all the historical landmarks there are to visit. This was a slow pace, more romantic kind of setting which took over us immediately. Besides resting, we got to visit gorgeous places such as St. George Street one of the best places to eat something nice, Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Park and the Castillo de San Marcos which blew our minds away since we never expected to find something like this in Florida. This place was definitely unexpected and totally worth the stop.

Orlando Visiting the world in a few days
We decided to begin the trip with some magic, in Orlando. Here we divided our time between some nice time shopping and eating well at the outlets, Mall at Millenia or Disney Springs, and hanging out at the parks. Orlando truly is the destination for everyone, not only does it have something for everyone to do, but to eat as well; while some of us went to a Mexican place, the others to an Italian, one beside the other. The most fun is always the parks and this time we went to a family favorite: Epcot. This Park is not only great because of the Disney magic, but because it allows you to visit 11 countries in just one day, walking through the beautiful and characteristic buildings of each, enjoying the food and truly getting to know about the culture. This is only topped by the great fireworks of Illuminations of Earth, making it a day to remember.

Tampa Skyscrapers and the sea
Next up we chose a much different and a bit more low-profile plan, so we headed off to the other end of Florida, driving over to Tampa. Here the itinerary was somewhat different; we got to walk around the city and beautiful buildings, as well as visit the lovely Florida Aquarium, the Museum of Art and have great fun eating and listening to some live music at the local Hard Rock. Even though we didn’t get any time to visit Busch Gardens or Clearwater which is supposedly beautiful, we had the time of our lives, ate great and enjoyed every second together.

St. Augustine Mystery of time
To finish our trip, we chose to do something different than before. We drove over to St. Augustine to a lovely bed & breakfast which caught our attention from the first instant. This place is supposed to be one of U.S. A’s oldest cities and it lives up to its name with all the historical landmarks there are to visit. This was a slow pace, more romantic kind of setting which took over us immediately. Besides resting, we got to visit gorgeous places such as St. George Street one of the best places to eat something nice, Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Park and the Castillo de San Marcos which blew our minds away since we never expected to find something like this in Florida. This place was definitely unexpected and totally worth the stop.
Q & A
What would you have changed?
I would try to visit Busch Gardens or some other parks.Restaurant recommendations?
The food was amazing, my favorite place to eat is Epcot due to the variety of food available.Tips you would give a friend?
Try to visit small towns by the area around Tampa, there is a lot to discover.Packing tips?
Florida is gloriously warm no matter the season, take advantage of that and pack light.Transportation Tips?
Florida is a state that requires a car to move around, not much to do there.Booking details?
I make most of my reservations on Expedia or directly on the hotel websites.
Lodging
AirBnB
Hilton Tampa Downtown
At Journey’s End Bed & Breakfast