My Mom Went to Florida and All I Got Was...

One really good time.

I've been MIA, but not without good reason.  My family took a much needed vacation to Florida.  Far from relaxing (we do have 2 kids under 3), it was really fun and I definitely come back bearing tips, tricks and places to hit should you decide that you need a break from the cold. 

Let me start by saying that the beginning of February is the *perfect* time to go on vacation.  There are no crowds and if you're like me, you're sick of snow and desperate for a getaway.  And if you have kids, Florida is an easy, East-coast convenient destination.  And while I was excited about the prospect of warmth, the week before we took off, I dreaded travel day.  But you know how the anticipation is always worse than reality?  Here's how I made that true in our case:

• Curb-side check-in.  While I'm typically pretty certain that airlines are all run by monkeys without kids, this is one evolution that is invaluable.  We hopped out of our cab when we got to the airport and from the cab, put our bags down at the check-in counter.  From there, they were whisked away, not to be carried (by us) again until we landed.  This left two free adults to look after two rowdy kids.
• Use the Family-Lane at security whenever it exists.  You finally get to cut the line, legally!!
• Bring a portable DVD-player on the plane.  Whatever if they watch 3-hours of Dora.  It's better than 3-hours of running up and down aisles.  Oh, and I took all my own advice.  It (pretty much) worked.
• Rent car seats from your car rental company AND HAVE THEM PLACE THEM IN THE CAR prior to your arrival.  You don't want them to install it (who knows if they will do it properly) but having them in the car at least expedites the car rental process (which is typically excruciating after a plane ride).
• RENT ALL YOUR BIGGER ITEMS!  The days of traveling with a portable crib, high-chair and stroller are over!!  Now there are companies who specialize in renting everything from double strollers to sand toys to baby bath tubs and cribs.  For the last several years, we have used The Baby Travel Company and let me tell you, the service is second-to-none.  You can order online, or call Clara, the wonderfully helpful owner, and tell her what you need.  Their brand-name items are spotlessly clean, in perfect condition, and new (unlike other rental companies who are offering strollers from the dark ages).  They drop-off wherever you are and pick-up at your convenience.  For a few dollars, this is the way to go.  I can't say enough about the Baby Travel Company.

As for activities, we discovered some new ones, based on the fact that our first week of vaca was COLD and the beach was not an option.  Here goes:

• Miami Seaquarium.  It doesn't happen often, but once in a while I find myself pleasantly surprised by one of these attractions, and the Seaquarium was one of those unexpected experiences.  You can walk around and just view the animals (like at a zoo) but the best part is that they have shows that start every few minutes.  We saw all of them.  We watched the dolphins perform from the top-deck of the giant tank (but we stayed out of the "splash zone" to avoid being soggy for the rest of the day).  Another dolphin show featured Flipper (from the show, Flipper), and it was performed in the lagoon used as the set for the original show.  The Sea Lion show was the best but all had one thing in common - healthy looking animals performing with humans who were really into it.  It was clear they weren't merely going through the motions.  But rather, they appeared to really love the animals and did a a great job performing with them.  A must-see. 
• Monkey Jungle.  I wasn't looking forward to this excursion.  After a rather lame visit to a similar type place last year (with parrots), I was expecting the worst.  The trip there was long (it took about 1.5 hours from North Miami) but once we arrived we had THE best time.  Essentially this place is a 30 acre reserve where monkeys roam free.  Throughout is a cage for humans.  The concept is that the monkeys live in a natural environment and visitors can observe them as such.  You can feed the monkeys (see video below) and there are short "shows" during which the monkeys are fed real food, so they come running from every which direction giving visitors a great opportunity to really view them.  We were even treated to a monkey fornication show - not my choice in entertainment, but entertaining nonetheless. 

 

We played in the park at South Beach, the playground at Aventura Mall, and tried to hit Wannado City in Sawgrass.  A very cool concept, Wannado is an indoor "theme park" where kids can be anything they want to be like a fireman, a TV director, a doctor, a chef or an actor, and they actually perform their roles using scaled-down real-life tools.  Kids can ride the fire truck or the ambulance and they even get paid for their jobs.  Keep this in mind though - parents are discouraged from participating so your child should be at least 4 or have older sibs to keep him or her comfortable.  My almost-3 year old wasn't ready for the independence needed to really get into it.

In all, a really fun trip.  Even though my 16 month old didn't sit down the entire trip home, even though American Airlines lost our luggage, even though Mother Nature didn't cooperate until week #2, it was a successful trip.

And now I need a vacation from my vacation.

For additional reviews, visit Uptake.com. 

Comments

[miguelina]

I'm from Miami and I'd never heard of the baby travel Company. Thanks so much for the tip!

[Cat]

Thank you for posting positive things about South Florida. More often than not people think it's all drunken debacuhery and still "Spring Break-like." Or it's just South Beach and go home. Or visit grandma, drive to Orlando, go to Disney and go home.

Real people with real kids live here. And real fun places too!

Glad you had a chance to run away from the snow.