For mine and Jackie’s birthday we wanted to visit our friends in Niceville. However, instead of just driving to and from their house we decided to spice it up a bit. On top of going to Niceville, we added overnight stays in St. Augustine and Orlando to our itinerary. This also gave us the flexibility to stop at a city along the way, so that we can stretch our legs and get some food.
Our first day of travel started in an unorthodox way with all us of visiting the doctor. We had scheduled these appointments weeks before we planned our trip, so we just rolled with it. We finally left Miami around 1 pm towards St. Augustine. As soon as we hit the highway our little Tristan took his afternoon nap. He would follow a similar pattern for the rest of the trip.
Having driven halfway towards St. Augustine, we took a detour towards Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. We officially stopped in Cape Canaveral Beach after picking up some Chick Fil-A. This was only the second time Tristan had spent some quality time at a beach. Upon leaving, Tristan voiced his displeasure with great fervor but we convinced him we had to continue driving.
See photos from Cape Canaveral and St. Augustine here
We arrived in St. Augustine around 8 pm and turned in for the night. The following day, we got up early to venture into the old city. We were able to visit the main tourist attractions all on foot, in less than 4 hours. Satisfied with this, we decided to start our multi hour trip towards Niceville. Along the way, we made a nice pit-stop in Tallahassee. We didn’t have much time to take in what Florida’s capital had to offer but we had a great pre-birthday lunch. And off to Niceville we went.
After another two hours on the road we finally made it to our destination. We had to navigate through some scary looking woods but we were able to laugh it off afterwards. Once at our friend’s house, we were relieved to take a rest from driving for a couple days. At this point we had driven nearly 700 miles in just those two days.
Our first day in Niceville was packed with a lot of activities. We visited a beautiful beach and drove a few miles down towards the main boardwalk in nearby Destin. We ate arguably one of the best meals ever at a seafood restaurant and walked it off down the lively boardwalk. The day was finished at the nearby outlet mall. A very eventful first day if you ask me. The following day was my birthday where we went to, as our friend described it, a “redneck petting zoo but also with real zoo animals.”
See photos from Destin here
This description was perfect. The zoo was literally half a petting zoo and half a normal zoo. Plus, they let guests have encounters with some of their animals. I chose to have a one on one encounter with a two toed sloth as well as a Capuchin monkey. There was also a bird area that we could walk into a feed a mob of parakeets which was a treat for Tristan as well. He also rode on both a horse and a camel for the first time! I thought he was going to be scared, but he rode both beasts like a pro.
Jackie’s Birthday was the following day and she was treated to a spa day with her friend. Meanwhile the dads would stay behind with the kiddies. The day was capped off with a nice dinner on the beach. And we were off to Orlando the next day.
See photos from Crestview Zoo here
Upon arriving in Orlando, we met with Jackie’s aunt and grandma who were staying at the Disney’s Polynesian Resort. We were able to hang out there and enjoy the resort and what it had to offer. The next day we took advantage of the resort’s ferry boat and rode it towards Magic Kingdom. This was Tristan’s first official trip to Disney. Best of all, he was able to see Mickey Mouse during one of their parades. Watching Tristan smile at the park was the highlight of the whole trip.
Besides going to Magic Kingdom, we did spend a considerable amount of time at Disney Springs. While we were there, we did get caught up in the 50th anniversary stuff and bought some souvenirs to bring back home. We also tried to go to Gideon’s as we heard it was a good place to get treats. However, there was about 100 people waiting in a line to get in, so we passed that up. Instead we went to the Ganachery which surpassed our expectations. Other dining recommendations at Disney Springs include Frontera cocina, a Mexican restaurant and the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill did not disappoint either.
See Photos from Disney
After a full week on the road it we drove back to Miami from Orlando. The total distance traveled was well over 1,300 thousand miles, our longest road trip so far. My car held up for a majority of the trip until the last day when the check engine light came on. This scared the daylights out of us but thankfully we made it back home without any issues and the car is working just fine now. Make sure to check out all the photos in the links provided. I had to make separate posts due to the amount of photos taken!