We just returned from a vacation to Florida and I have to say it was one of my favorite vacations to date.
We left July 16th at 4:00a.m. heading to Miami, Florida for the DOS Assembly. We stopped in DeFuniak Springs, FL. on Monday evening and got up early Tuesday morning for our final leg to Miami. We traveled across Texas, Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. It was a beautiful drive, for the most part. From east Texas to a few hours north of Miami the drive was green and hilly. We really enjoyed the scenery.
We arrived in Miami on Tuesday, checked into our beautiful hotel, Don Schula Resort, and headed to the Cathedral to register for the assembly. The assembly went from Tuesday through Friday. It was a great week of seeing priests and their wives and children. Unfortunately, not very many children came this year. However, there were enough for the girls to have a great time.
Fr. Justin spent most of his time in meetings with the Bishop and other priests. I spent most of my time in the pool with my kids. :) Katya did go to the Seaquariam with a group of kids one day. On Wednesday, I had lunch with Vladyka Dmitri and the other Matushki (wives of priests).
Thursday evening the assembly came to a close with a banquet. The food was cuban and very good.
Friday morning we headed to our vacation destination, Cape San Blas Florida. We went west through the Everglades, saw a bunch of gators, and then North up the Florida coast. We took a breather in Tampa while the 5:00 traffic unwinded. Tampa has a beautiful downtown area. It is very vibrant and is super clean. We stopped downtown, grabbed some dinner and listened to live music.
We jumped back in the van and traveled for another hour or so and stopped for the night. The next day, Saturday, we arrived at our condo on the Cape. We had no idea what to expect, so when we got there and saw the beach we were so excited. While Fr. unloaded the van, I took the girls to the beach (which was only a few feet away).
For the next five days we played, relaxed and watched the dolphins swim and jump up an down the coast. The beach was beautiful, the water perfect and the sunsets amazing.
Attached to our condo were two other condos. The one upstairs was not rented, but the one next to ours was rented to two families from Tennessee. They had six children all together, so Katya and Thea had a great time playing with them.
We had plans to go to visit some near by towns and go to St. Josesph's State park, but we ended up just hanging out and relaxing. We had one day of hard rain for a few hours, but it was nice to sit inside and watch the storm on the ocean. The storm was short lived and by the end of the day we were back on the beach.
The girls were troopers on the trip. They watched a few movies, did some beading, colored, talked, sang and had a few fights, but overall, they were awesome. I dare say we have 'road tripping' down!
Over the next few days I'll share some photos of our trip.
