My visit to Cow Creek Farm started early before the Florida sun could warm the air on this cloudless morning. A faded green tractor hauling a wagon rattled into place, ready for our tour around the fifteen-acre farm. As I walked to the check-in booth, the farm’s two resident donkeys greeted me with a bellowing [...]
Tarpon Springs is known for two things; Greek food and sponges. The two may seem like an unlikely pairing; however, the relationship started in the early 1900s, when Greek sponge divers settled in Tarpon Springs and created a thriving industry selling natural sponges harvested from the Gulf of Mexico. Today, Tarpon Springs relies mainly on [...]
Sunsational Farms is an hour North of Orlando in Umatilla, Florida. I knew I had arrived when I was greeted by the enormous glowing orange perched on the front lawn. This overgrow orange has acted as a roadside attraction in many towns across Florida since the 70s. After being abandoned in a field, it was [...]
Amid stop-and-go traffic on searing blacktop pavement lies a tropical roadside oasis. St. Petersburg's Sunken Gardens is one of Florida’s last roadside attractions. Its humble beginnings started as a hobby for the landowner who drained this land of its marshy water and created the tropical garden we continue to enjoy over a hundred years later. [...]
As I look back on the past year, the list of favorite places I traveled was long. This year was a mixed bag of different adventures. Aaron and I planned two bucket list vacations that took us to the white sands of Hawaii and then to the mountains of Wyoming. We visited as many National [...]
As the end of the year approaches, I want to review the top blog post from 2021. While I put equal love into creating each post, the SEO gods are a bit pickier about which ones deserve to stand in the limelight. By the end of 2021, I will have created 54 posts and written [...]
Helen Georgia is a remote Bavarian town where you can drink beer by the letters, eat pretzels as giant as a dinner plate, and hike to waterfalls during the day. This alpine town is tucked away in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. You will feel as if you skipped time and space by [...]
The Tallulah Gorge State Park wasn’t my first choice when planning my day of hiking, but it ended up being the best choice. I spent the morning driving the winding road to Anne Ruby Falls, only to find it closed. Determined not to be discouraged by Google Maps’ failure to provide accurate information, I decided [...]
Drawn to Florida’s white-sand beaches, theme parks, and warm weather, millions of auto travelers enter Florida through the interstate system each year. Along with playing road trip bingo, anticipating the next stop along the way is half the fun. The Florida Welcome Center is one of those highway havens travelers look forward to stopping after [...]
Yellowstone National Park is an outdoor wonderland, and Aaron and I have always wanted to go on a camping trip together. This year, the pieces seemed to fall into place for one of our bucket list destinations; Yellowstone. We often plan a trip for September or October because it’s the off-season for many popular travel [...]
