Somerville, Mass – There are many keys to a successful family vacation: planning, flexibility, novelty, down time, etc. In our family, however, the most important element is not what you would expect. The surefire guarantee of a good time for…
Big Cat Habitat
Sarasota, Florida – We took a break from the beach to visit the lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!) at the Big Cat Habitat & Gulf Coast Sanctuary. It’s like a zoo, except all of the animals are rescues.…
Venice Rookery
Sarasota, Florida – This is birding at its best. Pull up a chair, pour yourself a glass of wine, prop up your binoculars, and the birds come to you! Actually, they are coming home to roost at the Venice Rookery,…
Nakomis Drum Circle
Sarasota, Florida – What better way to kick off winter break than feeling the beat at Nakomis Beach? Here, on Wednesday and Saturday nights, local drummers bring their instruments and provide the rhythmic accompaniment to the setting sun. Other revelers…
Experience Kissimmee
Boston, Mass – We’re not going to Florida this year, so I was happy to receive an invitation from Experience Kissimmee for an event in Boston. In addition to drinks and swag we got to: Ride an air boat in the Boston Harbor thanks…
Myakka River State Park
Sarasota, Florida – It’s wonderful to have snow-birding (grand)parents. We don’t have as much time as we did last year, but there’s no way I’m passing up a *free* vacation in sunny Florida. One of the highlights of the week was…
Busch Gardens
Tampa Bay, Florida – So there we were–the culmination of our stay in Florida. Daddio had arrived from New England. Auntie had arrived from New York. Another Auntie lives in Tampa, so we all made plans to meet at Busch…
The Ringling
Sarasota, Florida – As I mentioned in my previous post, Sarasota claims to be the Circus Capital of the World. (A quick Google search reveals that Peru, Indiana also claims that title, which I will not dispute, but we’re here in…
Circus Sarasota
Sarasota, Florida – Turns out that Sarasota is the Circus Capital of the World. Who knew? There is much history to this moniker (which I will post about shortly), but the main reason is that Sarasota was for many years the…
Swimming, Snorkeling, Soaking
Sarasota, Florida – Last week, we took an impromptu getaway to the Holiday Inn in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was fun, but I was being ironic when I called it a vacation. This week, we took a proper getaway–like, on an airplane–to…