Mom, Janice and I took a vacation to Florida. I had a conference near in Clearwater (near Tampa) and flew in a few days early. We drove down to Naples and hung out at the beach and toured the Everglades. We saw scores of gators just floating in the canals alongside the road as we drove down to the Everglades. We took the must do airboat tour and were able to spot a manatee and hundreds of birds. Check out the pelican that landed on our airboat! We traveled out amongst the islands and had a dolphin surfing off of the wake of the boat. It was so much fun to just explore Naples and hang out with Mom and Bin.
How can I state how much that I enjoyed the 87 degree water? This was exceptional; I understand why people love the beach. The beach was only seconded by the beautiful flora and loads of wildlife.
I think that Bin’s favorite sight was the Banyan tree at the Edison plantation as the roots dropped from the branches and found the ground they have grown to around 400 ft circumference. We all thought that this would make an incredible playground. I wanted to play in amongst the tree—but it was roped off.
Later we drove back up to Clearwater so that I could attend the conference while Bin and Mom played and played on the beach. They wouldn’t get out of the water—until they became very sunburned. Luckily, my skin was preserved as I was inside under florescent lighting. :-) Mom found all kinds of fun seashells and spent hours digging the in sand for shells. One morning we got up early to go swimming and were splashing in the water when Bin got stung by a stingray. Then mom and I started looking around and counted over 7 stingrays in the water. Luckily the sting was not too bad and Janice is really tough as confirmed by the resort staff. ;-0
We traveled into Tampa for an afternoon and toured Busch Gardens. Bin and I braved two rollercoaster’s and took the safari tour with Mom and fed a giraffe a whole lot of lettuce—isn’t she cute!
I am ready to head back!
