Florida Part II - Clearwater Beach and Tampa

After the first half of the trip to Disneyworld, we headed towards the Gulf Coast and Clearwater Beach.  While driving out there, just after we passed downtown Tampa, we saw a restaurant on the bay called Whiskey Joe's. Sounds a little corny but it was actually really neat!  (It's about 15 minutes before you get to Clearwater and we were too hungry to wait until we got out there).  First, we ate up on a deck above the bay.  Avery loved searching for worms in her "dirt and worms" dessert item:

The fish tacos are yummy there, and they have two dollar beers too!  Then, they have a separate area called the Barefoot Bar.  It's got covered cabanas

And you can play corn hole

Avery was really good at it

There is also a really shallow beach there that goes way out into the bay, and Avery met a friend there

The water on Tampa Bay was even warmer than the ocean and very comfortable, even for February!

We had a few beverages and then we drove out to Clearwater.  Wow what a great beach there, we were impressed!  Our hotel was pretty cheap, called the Beach View Inn,

and on the outside looked a dive compared to the 20 story new Hyatt next door

But our room's view was perfect

And we even had a little balcony too

On the other side was we could see Clearwater Bay

The sand on the beach was perfect...very white and fine like sugar or flour.  They have cabanas you can rent for $20 all day too

We ate a few restaurants with ocean views, one of the best was called Jimmy's Crow's Nest, about 15 stories up on top of a hotel

The photos don't do justice of course, but it felt really high up

On Friday Avery and momma did yoga on the beach

And Avery enjoyed walking in the warm gulf water and playing in the sand

During a break that Avery wanted (she loved saying "let's go the hotel room mommy and daddy), she enjoyed a key lime pie on a stick...yummy!

We enjoyed spectacular sunsets from our balcony

Friday evening we went to downtown Tampa to the convention center for a race expo for the next day's 15k race that was part of the Publix Gasperilla Race Weekend we were running.  (They had a 5k, 8k, 15k, and half marathon, but we were going to fly out before the half marathon Sunday so we chose the 15k-about 9.4 miles).

The next morning, Saturday, we work up early and left Avery with Grandma.  The 15k started at 6:45am so we had to leave long before Avery woke up.  For more on the race, you can see Colleen's post here from her Live Free and Run blog.  It was a bit of a disappointment. Even though the course was along the bay, it wasn't laid out too well, and it was highly disorganized for such a huge event.  Tampa was experiencing above average temperatures in the upper 80s, and even with the early start it was a very hot race.  The race started in the dark, here's Colleen ready to go:

Here's Jim very sweaty after the race.

We both said even though Florida has great vacation and beach weather, we could never live there because you never get a break from the heat and humidity at all...there is no good "racing season" with high temps in the 50s and 60s.  Then we drove back to Clearwater, checked out of the hotel, and spent the rest of the day back at Whiskey Joe's.  It's close to the airport so we could maximize our time on the sand until right before our flight.  There was a kid's birthday party there, and before it started Avery got to use their bounce house!

Jim had one last Pina Collada before heading out

Colleen and Avery dipped their toes in the warm water one more time

and Colleen and her mom had one more laugh at the bar

At the airport Avery enjoyed their kid's play area.  Here she is flying like a plane on top of a plane

On the plane, we were lucky to have TVs.  Perfect for flying with kids

Our plan was that Grandma Woods was flying with us to DC on Saturday night, and then fly back to Manchester, NH on Sunday night.  However, we saw the New Hampshire forecast showed lots of snow for Sunday

But DC was supposed to be 50s.  So she pushed her DC-NH ticket back until Wednesday and got to spend more time with all of us!

It was sad to end the vacation, but it was nice to be home and sleep in our own beds, and eat some homemade food though!  After we got back, we picked up Kylie who was happy to see us

And Jim ran another race that is part of our winter race series here in DC.  24 hours after running the 15k in Tampa he ran the 10-Mile Club Challenge in Columbia, MD.  Here he is after finishing much more refreshed in the 50-degree crisp weather

Also, Avery played a little Tee-Ball and hop scotch in the backyard

During the next few days, Grandma Woods and Avery got to spend some quality time together

And even enjoyed a treat at Georgetown Cupcake

The extended stay was a nice surprise at the end of the trip, and Colleen's mom surely enjoyed not having to shovel 12" of snow!

Florida Trip Part I - Disneyworld

We headed down to Florida for a trip to both Disneyworld and the beaches in Clearwater near Tampa.  Grandma Woods (Colleen's mom) came down from New Hampshire to join us as well!  Before we headed out Colleen got a mani and pedi, and of course Avery wanted one too.  So she got her nails painted red like Mickey!  Here's daddy helping out:

 Avery liked letting her nails dry with momma:

 The next day we flew down to Tampa and headed right for the beach since we had 5 hours until Grandma's plane landed.  Avery showed daddy how to make a sand castle:

 Then Avery and momma enjoyed the sunset before we headed over to the airport:

 We picked up Grandma from the airport and went right to the hotel between Tampa and Disney.  The next day we got up early and headed right for Disney, Avery had fun with Grandma in the back of the car: 

It was a pretty quick drive until we reached the gates of Disney World:

We spent our entire Disney time at Magic Kingdom since it is more kid-friendly than Epcot or the other parks.  However, it is quite a process to get into the park.  First you pay to enter, then drive into a huge lot, then take a shuttle tram:

Then that drops you at the monorail, then you take the monorail.  After the monorail you go through security.  Then you go through the ticket line, and finally you are in!  We were going to stay on the resort to eliminate all that hassle, especially if Avery needed a nap during the day, etc.  However, the on-property hotels were running $400 a night, ouch!  Finally we were in.  We went to the castle first to get the iconic pictures:

Avery first saw the Dumbo statue and was so excited (she had just watched the movie a few nights before!)

 Then we went to meet some characters...first we met Goofy:

 Grandma did too:

 Then we met Donald:

 And Minnie.  Avery was very excited about that since she was dressed up as Minnie herself:

Avery loved trying on the Mickey ears and white gloves before a show at the castle:

 Then we went to the It's a Small World ride, and Avery was mesmerized by the all the singing kids:

 We did some other ride and attractions like the Jungle Cruise, and we liked going under the waterfall:

 We did other rides and attractions like the Swiss Family Tree House, a couple shows, tea cups, etc.  Then came a highlight of the trip.  During one of the parades, when everybody was focused on that, we went in to see Mickey.  There was no line at all, and Avery had 5 full minutes with Mickey to herself.  (Usually there is a line for the characters and they make you take a quick picture and move on).  When she saw Mickey she ran at full speed over to him and give him a huge hug.

Then Mickey showed Avery one of his magic tricks, a disappearing bird trick:

 Then we left and went to get dinner at Downtown Disney.  After dinner we went to a dance party out by the lake, and Avery and momma danced for awhile:

 Unfortunately Colleen got her groove on a little too much, because she went down in pain during Gangnam Style with a badly twisted ankle.  It swelled up badly, and was a direct result of a sprained ankle she got on Christmas day during a run.  Luckily it only set her back a few days in her training and seemed to heal up.  The next morning we went to have breakfast at Cape May Cafe.  The Disney characters come around to your table during breakfast!  If you are going you'll need to make reservations way in advanced since it fills up.  Also neat was that they had Mickey waffles:

 The food was actually not too bad for a buffet (but of course never as good as ordering individually).  Avery got to meet Donald:

 And Minnie:

 And even got a high five from Minnie:

And goofy:

Then went to the park and Avery got to meet more characters.  She got to meet Tinkerbell:

 And Periwinkle:

 We went back to our hotel for awhile since Avery needed a break.  We swam in the pool, and Avery thought it was hilarious to dump water on daddy's head:

We ate a late lunch/ early dinner at a place called T-Rex Cafe, which was sort of gimmicky but the fish tacos were really good!  Our table was in the ice cave:

Yes, your eyes will hurt after eating in that section.  Back at Disney, we were excited for nightfall.  While we staked out a place on the Main Street to wait for the Electric Parade and fireworks, Avery enjoyed a cool ice cream cone:

It was neat seeing the park all lit up:

Once the parade started, Avery kept saying "it's magical!!!"

Then the fireworks started, and we were wondering if Avery would be scared...she flinched a few times but really seemed to like it!

She liked the shooting stars the best:

Then we wandered around some more.  We rode the Dumbo ride.  She wanted to ride it again, but the second time we were in line she took advantage of a neat area.  While you wait in line they give you a buzzer, like a restaurant.  However, it's a huge kids play area with things to climb on, tunnels, etc.  All in a circus tent theme like the movie.  Avery didn't want to ride the ride again, she was having too much fun in there!

We left and were sad to go.  We were going to bed and waking up to drive to the beach in Clearwater, near Tampa, the next morning.  On our way out we got one last picture, and thought this one was good, it covered up the letters of "Begin" so it read "Let the Memories Be".  Sometimes an accidental thing like that works out perfect:

(Here's how it normally looks)

And with that we were on our way, so long Disney!  We'll try and get Tampa and beach pictures up on the blog soon!