Our first trip on our travel adventure is to Florida. We left on December 22 and we will be in Florida until January 28. We are currently in Tampa, Florida staying at a friend’s condo. One of the hardest parts of this travel journey is to be on the road, but not treat it like a vacation.
If we were to “vacation” every day we would be run out of money in about 6 months and probably all gain about 50 pounds. Our new lifestyle is about spending more time together and making our home wherever we are. We will get to do a lot of cool things, but we must go slow and stick to our budget, so we do not burn out.
We had a great time in Tampa. We found fun and adventure but did not break the bank.
One day, we worked on math and language arts in the morning and had breakfast and lunch in the condo. In the afternoon we visited Tampa Electric’s Manatee Viewing Center and ended the day watching the sunset on Sunset Beach on Treasure Island.
In 1986, the power plant in Apollo Beach was discharging warm water, which attracted the manatees in winter. Today Tampa’s Electric Manatee Viewing Center is a federally designated manatee sanctuary providing manatees with protection from the cold.
Tampa Electric’s Manatee Viewing Center is free to the public. It is open from November 1 until April 15 (closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve at 3 pm, Christmas Day, and Easter), and it is open from 10-5 (hiking trails and the wildlife observation tower close at 4). You can find more information at https://www.tampaelectric.com/company/mvc/
Parking and entrance to the viewing site are free. We arrived around 1:30 and got a parking spot up front (they have shuttle buses that run if you must park in an overflow lot).
We walked up to a bridge where people were lined up to view the manatees. We saw what looked like blobs in the water. The manatees were not doing much, but we also got to see sharks and other fish.
There is also a small stingray pool, gift shop, café and museum on the premises. We spent about 30 minutes in the small museum. There is information about the manatees as well as puzzles and other games to keep kids occupied.
After we saw the manatees and the kids bought shark tooth necklaces with their holiday money from family, we had a Kona Ice treat and then took the 0.71-mile trail to the observation tower.
It was a nice little hike and the view from the observation tower was intriguing. When you get to the top, on three sides you see beautiful lush mangrove habitat. On the fourth side, you see a giant power plant with plumes of smoke billowing out of three large towers.
We left the manatee viewing center at 4 p.m. and took the scenic route over to Saint Petersburg and ended up on Treasure Island. We picked up pizza at a small pizza shop and headed over to Sunset beach to catch the sunset. We stayed on the beach playing games and watching the waves until 7:30 p.m.
Making our transition to this new nomadic lifestyle has been stressful. I know it seems like it should be exotic and amazing, but often it is overwhelming and hectic. It is also lonely in a strange way. We are still wrapping up our lives in Atlanta and we are still planning out our next travel plans.
We knew this adventure would not be easy, and so far, it is not, but we are loving it. Our lives are just as full as when we lived in Atlanta, but now they are filled with more family time, and we are cherishing every minute of it.
