First Family Road Trip (WI to FL) with a Cruise! June 3-19 Mainly pics from my crappy camera!

First ever road trip for my bride and I and our trio of minions (ages 12,10,9). We left home in North-of-Nowhere Wisconsin about 11:00 A.M. on Friday, June 3 and arrived at my father-in-law's winter home (trailer) in Spring Hill, FL about 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, June 5. Motels in Bloomington, IL and Forsyth, GA on the way down and lots of stretch and gas breaks.


We hopped in the car and sped to Miami the next morning to hop on the cruise to the Bahamas! We took the turnpike. It cost about 20 or 25 bucks in all, but it was pretty smooth sailing. Here are some pics from atop the boat as we sail out of the port of Miami...I did not see Horatio Crane, Crockett, Tubbs, nor any of the Golden Girls...







Day 2 of the cruise was spent at sea. Day 3 was spent on the beach at the island of Half Moon Cay. Day 4 we were at Nassau. We spent the day on Balmoral Island and did the Dolphin encounter and enjoyed their beach, pool, etc. Day 5 (Friday, June 10) we were back in Miami.



















Drove back to my father-in-law's place and spent a small handful of days there doing local things. The highlight of that portion of the trip was visiting the Homosassa Springs park to see the manatees. We made our way down to Treasure Island in the Tampa/St. Pete area to enjoy four nights on the Gulf. We stayed at a place called Sunset Vistas. Good times!












After a ton of fun with the family in FL it was time to load up the car and head north. We made it home in 2-1/2 days, spending nights in Cartersville, GA and Rockford, IL. We made it home in time to toss the Florida house keys to my father-in-law at the family Father's Day lunch cookout. Here are some pics I snapped on the ride home (when it wasn't my turn to drive)...

















My minions had travel journals/atlases they had been working on during the trip. They allowed me to read them when we got home. On the "favorite new experiences" pages, here were the four most popular responses:









They did make other good memories besides the restaurants, thank goodness!

My bride and I are trying to plan a Vegas trip to recover from this one!!!

Thanks for allowing me to share this report!

RICHARD

 

Thanks for sharing your report and pictures. I love road trips, too...

 

Thanks for sharing your family trip. Very funny about the new experiences! Gotta love the way kids think!

 

Nice!
Wife and I love road trips and cruises...
HOWEVER...I tried Golden Corral, 10 years apart, different locations (Had it here in town a LONG time ago; they closed it, and then opened a new one up)
BOTH TIMES ended up with food poisoning (first time my dad at the old location; then this time ME) There WILL NOT be a third "try".

 

Wish my crappy camera was as crappy as yours. Or, maybe it's the cameraman. They were great.
Thanks for putting them online.


Don

 

Nice pics! And it looks like you picked a good time to drive through Atlanta. I sure don't miss that traffic...

 

Nice pics. We love to cruise. We are going on a River Cruise down the Danube which has been our bucket list. Thanks for sharing.