Our 3 day weekend get away to the Tampa area began with a two hour trip from Jacksonville to Gainesville with a pit stop at Devil’s Millhopper. Devil’s Millhopper is a sinkhole that you are able to walk around the upper perimeter and then climb down the 214 steps to the bottom! The kids enjoyed it and they got some wiggles out before we ate our picnic lunch and set out on the drive to Crystal River.
We checked into our hotel and the kids went for a swim in the pool before we decided to go grab a bite to eat. We looked for a good spot and stumbled upon Charlie’s Fish House Restaurant and Seafood Market. The food was mediocre and the service was slow but the view over the bay at sunset was breathtaking.
We headed back to the hotel and got an early night sleep as we were to be up bright and early to be at the dock at 8.15am for our Crystal River Manatee Tour and Dive.
Day 2
I had purchased our tickets via Groupon and got a great rate for the 5 of us to snorkel with the Manatees. Unfortunately we were not able to redeem them before the promo expired but we were able to use them towards a regular price tour. I’m not sure it was worth the full price but it is definitely worth getting the groupon deal.
We all got wet suits, snorkles and went out on the boat looking for Manatees in Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. There is no communication between the other boat captains as to where the manatees are located which I found annoying but understandable! We eventually came upon a mama and her baby. We all got in the water with pool noodles to help us float and not kick up the sandy bottom obscuring our view. We were all able to see them and our guide took some amazing pictures. My kids were done after 10 minutes and wanted out of the water and back on the boat. I could have stayed watching them for hours!
Once back on dry land we got changed and had snack and headed towards Clearwater Marine Aquarium, about 2 hours away.
We got there a little after lunch. Clearwater Marine Aquarium is free for military and their dependents so we just had to check it out. We had watched Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2 and were excited to finally meet Winter and Hope, the stars of the movies.
This aquarium is a working rescue, rehabilitation and education center and visitors get to experience all of these things as you wander around the facility. We were able to see turtles who were missing flippers swim happily amongst their other rescued buddies. Winter and Hope were there too, Winter without his prosthetic tale. We were able to hold one of his tales and see exactly how ingenious the design was.
The Aquarium is split up into two facilities so we took a complimentary Jolley Trolley ride to the “Winter’s Dolphin Tale Adventure”. As you can imagine this facility is dedicated to the movies with props on display and different sets recreated. We didn’t spend too long here and headed back to the aquarium via their boat shuttle. It was a beautiful boat ride back right before sunset. We decided to head towards Tampa – where we were staying that night – and go to dinner close to the hotel by Busch Gardens. We ate a Zeko’s, a Mediterranean Restaurant, with killer Gyros!!
Day 2
BUSCH GARDENS!
Busch Gardens is free for Military and up to 3 dependants once per calendar year through the Wave of Honor program. We hadn’t been there yet this year so we just couldn’t let that opportunity go to waste. I purchased our All Day Dining Deal online and had our park tickets printed out, we only needed to purchase Ella’s ticket at the window. We go up to the window with all our paperwork to get our passes and our wristbands and the very awesome sales rep didn’t charge us anything for Ella! He gave her her pass for the day and set skipped off towards the front gate. Best surprise ever.
We had been told that there are allowances for children with disabilities. Even though I don’t see Kian’s ADHD as a disability but more of a superpower, we were able to get him a time stamp card that allowed him to not have to wait in line at the rides but to come back after a certain time and he would be able to go straight to the front of the line. This truly made for the most enjoyable experience for all 5 of us as we were all able to stay together and utilize it. We ate our way around the park, enjoyed almost all the rides and stayed until the very end of the day.
We rode the Skyride numerous times to quicken our way to the other end of the park. The Serengeti Railway ride is a great relaxing way to see all the animals in their ‘zoo’. The thrill seekers loved Cheetah Hunt, SheiKra and Kumba, whereas the Treetop Trails, Sand Serpent and Jungle Flyers were more mine and Ella’s pace! The dining deal was well worth it for the 5 of us to eat 3 meals and snacks throughout the day. We got water whenever we wanted so we didn’t have to carry bottles around with us. We visited Crown Colony Cafe for lunch, Dragon Fire Grill for snacks & Zambia Smokehouse for dinner. We left the park full of food and memories of another great day spent relaxing with moments of heart racing excitement mixed in. Hopefully we will be back before we leave for our next move to Seattle.