So! Here we are at Day 11 already! The Southern Series has just a few days to go, so thanks for sticking with me! 🥰 This day started out fabulous, after a perfect night of sleep and a cozy, clean, and safe place to stay. We never booked Airbnbs before this trip that were attached to homes, but looking back, these two were actually the best of the trip! This day was unplanned, as per usual! But we ended up going to Busch Gardens (in Tampa Bay) which was a welcome surprise! It was a nice shift and gave us some time to just unwind and have fun in the park. Let’s talk about it!👇
How We Ended Up at Busch Gardens Tampa in January
Once we got our clean laundry packed up and the truck reorganized, we found a healthy breakfast spot nearby, which was *awesome* by the way! It was called Playa Bowls, and you can see how delicious they look above in the pic!! 😍 Then we headed north, not sure where the day was going to yet take us. (Also! Peep the road signs for North Port and Port Charlotte! These are a part of my past when my parents lived in the area for a while. It was cool to be able to see them in person and maybe someday visit when we had more time to explore the towns!)☺️
Along the way, we decided to wing it and go to an amusement park! This is something we don’t usually do, because they’re hella expensive and usually an all day event. Although Disney was just down the road, we decided that’s something we’ll save for kids someday and carried on to Busch Gardens instead. (PS! It was also very kid-friendly, something we had no idea of!)
I snagged some tickets online that were to include priority parking (ain’t nobody got time for those full parking lots!) and saved on a meal pass since it was a special they were running if you booked online! (More on that mishap later!)🫣
Southern Series Day 10: Everglades, Easy Days, and Slowing the Pace
Quick Queue Pass, Animals, and New Construction
We heated up some leftovers again in our little portable crockpot on the way, so that we weren’t super hungry while exploring the park. Budgeting for the win!! We also invested in the “Quick Queue Pass” just in case there were long lines so that we could save time. Turns out in January however these aren’t really necessary since most of the park is shut down for the season! 😭
Overall, we ended up spending around 4.5 hours at the park. It was super fun to see the animals and walk around the park on such a beautiful day. Unfortunately, a lot of areas were getting remodeled at the time, or closed for the winter, so I’d say around 1/3 or even half of the park was not able to be explored! We were a little bummed about not knowing this ahead of time, but alas, that’s what we get for winging it!
One thing I really thought was nice during our stroll was the signs telling us that if we didn’t see the animals out and about, they may be lounging in their shaded area for the day. This was a nice option for them to be able to choose if they wanted to be outside or not, especially with the heat from the day. Good on you, Busch Gardens! 😌
Up Close with the Animals (and a Few Rides Too)
I really loved the little pop up hole where you could climb the ladder pictured above, to see the tiger up close! This shot was not zoomed in, and it sleeping so peacefully really made the whole experience that much better. It was even cooler to view the other animals along the way, snoozing and napping in their little homes away from the sun! Just goes to show we all need a break here and there, these guys included!
It was a bummer that so many of the rides were shut down or being worked on, but we did get to go on two of them! (The third we tried got shut down while we were in line, so we called it after there and decided to head somewhere in the park to use our meal pass).
The two rides we went on were the water ride, The Congo River Rapids, (which reminded us of the similar one they have in Kennywood!) and the Phoenix Rising, which is considered a family friendly roller coaster…I’m not a big roller coaster gal, so I had to put my big girl pants on for this one.😂
It was nice that they offered lockers nearby, so you can stash your pocket stuff or purses so you don’t need to worry about losing them on the ride. (I’d recommend doing this before getting in line as they’re outside of the place you’ll need to stand). It costs about $4, but it’s worth it to not lose your valuables!
Day 9: Miami Beach on a Budget: What We Learned (The Hard Way)
Short Rides and Disappointing Food at Busch Gardens
The ride was really fun, as was the water one, but we noticed they were both super short! We’re used to rides lasting a little longer so it was a letdown to have such a short time on each after waiting in lines.
Now…let me talk about the food options. There wasn’t many. To be honest, we should have just went with the Chick-fil-A option that we passed, but they didn’t take the meal ticket. So, they recommended a few other spots that we had to walk to, that were what I’d like to gently say, “less than ideal.”
Was it food? Yes. Were there refreshments? Also yes. Were they good? No, no they were not.
The whole food experience at the park was a weird one. Certain menus were limited, everything was outrageously overpriced, and the delicious-ness factor was nonexistent. It was frankly a little sad. And we were still hungry. Also sad. ☹️
The meal ticket only covered a portion of what we thought was considered a “meal,” so that was disappointing as well. We would have rather waited and ate outside of the park, or grabbed that Chick-fil-A that we passed earlier. Alas, we were headed out at this point and planned to make our way to our newly booked Airbnb, the “Seafarer Beach Resort” on Manasota Key.
On the way, I got some work done, we stopped at a grocery store to stock up, and continued to what we thought might be a “too good to be true” looking stay. However, once we got to the place (even in the dark!), it was ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. I repeat, NO complaints, like, the best stay of the trip!
We couldn’t wait to see it the next morning when the sun was up. It was a beautiful location, quiet, and perfect. Exactly what we were looking for when trying to find a beach stay, which made us all the more excited to be able to be spending the next two days here.
We unpacked, (again, lol), made some steak salads for supper, walked up to the beach where we saw a bunch of beachcombers at night! (Manasota Key is known for finding a massive amount of fossilized shark teeth and seashells! More on that in the next post!) You’ll also notice that there are red lights on, which helps to keep the bright lights from distracting from the beach combing or beauty of the area in the evenings. I loved that.
And here we go! Check out our expenses for the day listed below, and let me know what thoughts you have on if you’d have done today the same or maybe made some adjustments? Thanks for being here! See you on Day 12!🥳✌️
Southern States Road Trip Expenses for Day 11:
- Fuel: $30.68
- Theme park tickets: $386.15
- Theme park lockers: $4.00
- Theme park food: $66.07
- Theme park pic: $5.00
- Groceries: $81.32
- Breakfast: $58.12
- Airbnb: $268.4
- Total: $899.83
