It was a year post-pandemic. You could have the flu and return to school the next day. Or you could be ‘potentially’ exposed to covid and have to miss school for a week. Or you could drive to Florida and forget about it all…
Hunkering down indoors with 4 kids is not my cup of tea. See… I’m an outdoor cat. Toddlers and elementary aged kids function best with movement and a sense of purpose. (And so do Moms and Dads.) For us, the flakey school schedule due to a virus of paranoia freed up our schedule trip of a lifetime – driving a family of six to Florida and back. Schools wouldn’t care if we were gone for a week or two. Work wouldn’t mind if you worked remotely. Perfect – let’s go!
April break Florida road trip plans began! We were going to celebrate a new mini van purchase and avoid a flakey school schedule, visit family and friends, and go to epic places! We found the cure to covid! (not really…)
It would take 3 days to drive to Florida at family trip speed. And 3 days to drive back. We budgeted 2 weeks to be away – with a little over a week in the Sunshine state.
Disney World was at the top of the list, followed by visiting friends in Sarasota, and friends in southern Florida – close to the Everglades!!
Our friends recommended we go to Holiday Park Everglades for an airboat tour – I love local recommendations.
As a mom with little kids – taking your family on an airboat tour to see alligators up close is definitely scary. None of us had seen an alligator out in the wild before and I’m afraid of dogs running up to me. While I love the idea of adventures of seeing wild animals up close on a boat with your kids – I love it more when they are done and everyone returns safely to land.
It was a great airboat tour – loud! The loud fan is to calm the nervous parents – like a noise machine – and maybe also to let the alligators know we’re comin’! Okay maybe it’s to glide thru shallow water too…
We drove out for about 15 minutes. Then coasted quietly for a while while the guide filled us in on alligator behavior, the habitat of the Everglades, and how we would be able to spot an alligator. It was a little creepy knowing they were lurking around the boat and we may or may not see them. They are stealthy. We had no problem keeping our hands and feet inside the boat.
I caught a great video of this Alligator coming right up to the boat – if i remember correctly (I’m writing this 5 years later) this happened a couple times. It was exciting!
I highly recommend an airboat tour in the Everglades. Seeing alligators out in their natural habitat is very cool.
Enjoy!