On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, we left our house in Maine with a truck, a U-haul filled with our stuff, and no definite return date in mind. My husband and I had quit our jobs, packed up our house, taken our kids out of school, and were about to set out exploring the country full-time!
We drove from Maine to Pennsylvania and stayed overnight at a hotel in Harrisburg before heading back on the road to North Carolina. In North Carolina, Brian had a meeting to evaluate a possible investment property with a fellow real estate investor. While he saw the property, the kids and I found a local playground and had a great time. We met an amazing family from New Hampshire there and the Mom and I had a great chat!!
From there, we drove down to South Carolina. Brian had a real estate conference with My First Million in Multi-Family, a real estate investment group he is involved in. While he was attending the conference, the kids and I explored the downtown Charleston area. (For a summary of what we did in Charleston, see our blog entry about the best things to do in Charleston!)
After the conference was over, we headed down to Bushnell, Florida to pick up our RV. (For a tour of our RV, see our blog entry introducing the new RV!) We had purchased the RV in the late fall, sight unseen, while we were still in Maine. (We did hire a private inspector to perform a professional inspection of the unit before buying it.) We encountered some issues with the RV over the first few days. Inexplicably, the fireplace was no longer working and, unfortunately, the company had put the wrong tires on the unit, so we couldn't take it when we arrived. The RV dealership put us up at a nearby hotel for the weekend, while we waited for the tires to be fixed. After a few days of delay, we were finally cleared to hit the road!!
For the month of March, we stayed at the East Toho RV Resort & Marina in Kissimmee, FL. (See our campground review about East Toho for more information about that resort!) East Toho is close to Disney and Universal Studios, which we knew we wanted to see while we were in Kissimmee!
On the days when we weren't touring the Orlando area, we were getting settled into our new RV and starting to homeschool the kids.
So, what did we do in March?
Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas
We took an 8 day cruise on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas. We had actually booked and paid for this cruise before we started traveling full-time, so we just planned our camping trip around it.
We are HUGE fans of cruising. This was the 6th cruise for Brian and Darcy and the 3rd for Lauren and Brady.
(There is an ongoing dispute in the family as to whether Royal Caribbean or Carnival is the better cruise line. We'll let you know if we ever resolve it!)
This cruise had stops in Haiti, St. Maarten, San Juan, St. Croix, and CocoCay. We had been to St. Maarten, San Juan, and CocoCay before, so the Haiti and St. Croix stops were new to us.
Labadee, Haiti
Brian, Darcy, Lauren, and Brady standing in front of the colorful Labadee sign with the Jewel of the Seas ship in the background.
Labadee is a small peninsula on Haiti that is leased to Royal Caribbean, so it is only accessible by Royal Caribbean guests, employees, and contractors. There has been some recent violence and kidnappings in Haiti, particularly in the capital of Port-au-Prince, so we were a little apprehensive about this stop, but we ended up feeing perfectly safe.
There were several local vendors selling items. We made it a point to purchase a souvenir from one of the local vendors and paid them more than what they were asking for the item. (It is always hard to be vacationing in some of these areas of extreme poverty. It is a poignant reminder that while we are enjoying a warm vacation, the people next to us are suffering. We always try to make it a point to spend some money with some of the local vendors and crafters. It is never enough, but it is something.)
Labadee is beautiful. It feels very much like any of the cruise lines' private islands--everything has been designed with the guests' comfort in mind. There were several different beaches to choose from, all of which were beautiful. We had not booked a shore excursion here, so we chose one of the beaches to go to and found a free set of loungers with an umbrella to help keep us out of the sun. We spent most of the day playing on the beach and in the water with the kids, who LOVED the beach!!
Because Labadee is "owned" by Royal Caribbean, lunch was provided for free on the island.
Labadee also has a small splash pad for kids. Even though it was small, our kids had a blast with it!!
All in all, we enjoyed Labadee tremendously and would definitely go back!!
St. Maarten:
Picture of one of the beaches on St. Maarten
This was our second time on St. Maarten. Once again, we had not booked any shore excursions for this stop. The kids decided to stay on the ship and play in the kids' area (Adventure Ocean), so Brian and I used the opportunity to have a date day. (Which are rare, when you're traveling full-time with young kids!)
We got off the ship and enjoyed the day at a beach near the port. The water was beautiful and crystal clear. We got loungers right near the water and enjoyed laying in the sun and watching the water. In the late afternoon, we got some drinks and lunch at a nearby restaurant.
Brian and I enjoying the beach in St. Maarten!
San Juan
We had been to San Juan before, but we had not walked around Old San Juan during that visit, so we enjoyed walking around and exploring Old San Juan on this stop.
A street of beautifully colored buildings in San Juan.
St. Croix
At St. Croix, we met one of Brian's fellow real estate investors, Jimmy Thorpe, who took us on a tour of the resort he and his wife recently purchased. They are making SO MANY improvements to the property, which is right on the beach and absolutely gorgeous!! The food was delicious and the staff was super friendly! Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures because we were so busy chatting with Jimmy and enjoying the food and the view!
If anyone is interested in a vacation to St. Croix, definitely check out their resort! You can make reservations here.
Perfect Day at CocoCay
One of our favorite stops was to Royal Caribbean's private island, CocoCay. This was our second time and CocoCay and it is simply amazing each and every time!
Included for free on the island are several beaches, a pool with a swim up bar, a kids splash area, and lunch. For guests who want even more entertainment, there are additional experiences that you can pay for, including access to a waterslide park and hot air balloon rides.
If you have the option to take a cruise that stops at CocoCay, we can't recommend it enough!!!
The kids splash area at CocoCay. Access to this area is free to all guests.
Lauren, Brady, and Brian swimming in the pool at CocoCay.
Universal Studios
We spent one day at Universal as a family. After that, Lauren and I went back one day just the two of us, so we could do more of the scary rides that Brady isn't quite ready for yet.
Harry Potter World is, without a doubt, one of the most AMAZING places ever!!! We spent most of our time in Harry Potter World. The kids got a magic wand and practiced some spells, drank Butterbeer, and escaped from Gringotts!
When Lauren and I went, we made sure to do Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure a couple of times, even though the line was super long! Lauren and I LOVED that ride!!! If you like rollercoasters, Hagrid's Motorbike is a MUST DO ride!!!
Darcy, Lauren, Brian, and Brady in front of Gringotts.
Brady enjoying Butterbeer!
Lauren enjoying Butterbeer, wearing her Gryffindor headband and Hedwig earrings. She's holding the magic wand that the kids got in the park.
Lauren in front of the Hogwarts Castle.
Picking fresh Florida oranges
We love to go apple picking in the fall back home, so we were excited to try picking some oranges in Florida!
We found the Showcase of Citrus on-line, and saw that it had good reviews, so we decided to give it a try. We were not disappointed! It was such a cool place!!!
The Showcase of Citrus has everything you could ever want. In addition to having tons of orange trees to pick your own oranges from, there is an open-air store with all sorts of things for sale, including toys, hot sauces, soaps, and food. (We bought some orange blossom honey for Brady, who LOVES honey!) You can also get some ice cream or orange frozen drinks and sit in one of the many chairs under the ceiling fans, listen to the country music playing on the speakers, and stare out at the orange groves.
In addition to the store, the Showcase of Citrus has two playgrounds (which our kids LOVED!) on site, as well as several animals near the entrance way, including pigs, kangaroos, and ducks. The Showcase of Citrus is a licensed wildlife exhibitor, so if you want to, you can pay to take a huge 4x4 further out onto the property and see some exotic animals, including zebras and water buffalo. We decided to skip that tour, but we saw a ton of people go on it while we were there. It certainly seems like it would have been an awesome experience!!
All in all, we all agreed that the Showcase of Citrus is an awesome place! We would definitely go back!!
Lauren and Brady holding freshly picked oranges, as well as Muffin and Butter, in the orange grove at the Showcase of Citrus.
Airboat ride
One of our other favorite things to do in Florida is go on airboat rides! There is NOTHING like the feeling of freedom you get from feeling the wind on your face as you race through a Florida swamp, seeing birds fly in front of you and stopping to watch alligators sun themselves in their natural habitat!
This airboat ride was right next to our campground in Kissimmee, FL. It was a 30-minute ride and we saw countless alligators and plenty of birds. We loved it! The tour company, Gator Airboat Rides, did a great job and our guide was very nice and very informative. We would definitely recommend checking out a tour, which can be booked here!
Darcy and Lauren on the airboat ride.
A view of the water and the corner of the airboat.
An alligator!
Disney's Magic Kingdom
What would a trip to Florida be without a trip to Disney's Magic Kingdom!?
The kids last went to Magic Kingdom four years ago when they were 3 and 5. It was a rough trip (Lauren had a TOTAL MELTDOWN with crying and screaming because Elsa looked *in her direction* but not *directly at her* during a performance at Cinderella's Castle). After that, I swore that we wouldn't take the kids back to Disney for a few more years, when they would be a little more mature. Thankfully, this trip was much, much better!!
Brian, Darcy, Lauren, and Brady in front of Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom. Brady is holding Butter, who got to explore Magic Kingdom with us!
Cinderella and the Prince on a parade float.
While we were there, Disney World was still celebrating its 50 year anniversary. It was running a special fireworks show, Disney Enchantment, to celebrate. Brady really wanted to stay for the fireworks. We are SO GLAD that we did--the show was AMAZING!!!
First, Cinderella's castle had been re-decorated back in October 2021 to celebrate the 50-year anniversary. Since we hadn't been to Disney since 2018, the "new" castle was eye-catching, even before the fireworks show started above it!
Cinderella's Castle decorated to celebrate Disney World's 50th Anniversary.
While we waited for the fireworks to start, we had a late dinner at The Plaza Restaurant on Main Street. The Plaza is the last restaurant on the righthand side of Main Street, and has a PERFECT view of the castle, if you get one of the window seats.
We had to wait a long time to get a table and none of us were particularly impressed with the food, but the view of Cinderella's Castle at dusk alone was well worth it!!
Our view during dinner at the Plaza Restaurant.
After dinner, we made our way to Main Street and found some room on a curb to wait for the fireworks show. As darkness fell, Main Street became standing room only. When the show started, a hush fell over the crowd.
The show--which was 15 minutes long and consisted of non-stop fireworks, music, and visual displays on the castle--was absolutely SPECTACULAR!! It was truly inspirational. We were all so glad that we stayed. It was the highlight of the day!!
Disney Springs
We also spent some time exploring Disney Springs. Disney Springs is a free shopping area away from the parks. Parking is free and there are all kinds of stores and restaurants. No matter what you're looking for, Disney Springs has it.
Our kids' favorite stores by far were the M&M store and the Lego store.
The Lego store is AMAZING!! During busy times, be prepared to wait in a line just to get into the store and to deal with large crowds inside of the store. However, it's well worth the wait! The store has about every Lego set you can imagine, and an area where you can design your own Lego character. What really impressed our kids were the amazing Lego creations everywhere, from larger-than-life dragons to Baby Yoda, and the outdoor free Lego play area. Brady did NOT want to leave the play area!!!
The other favorite for our family was the M&M store. In addition to all kinds of M&M merchandise, the M&M store has a WALL of dispensers filled with M&Ms, sorted by color and flavor. You want only purple milk chocolate M&Ms? Easy. You want mint M&Ms and key lime pie M&Ms? Not a problem.
You can fill a cup for a set price or get a bag and pay by weight. While neither option is cheap, the joy on the kids' faces as they run around and fill up a cup with all new kinds of M&Ms to try is worth every penny!!!
The wall of M&Ms at the M&M store in Disney Springs in Orlando, FL.
Brady posing with the Red and Yellow M&M outside of the M&M store.
Epcot
Brian loves the World Showcase, so we wanted to make sure we got to spend a day in Epcot!
Lauren enjoying her day at Epcot!
We enjoyed touring the World Showcase and going on several of the rides (Frozen and Test Track were two of the kids' favorites).
The Flower & Garden festival was going on while we were there, and we LOVED finding the character sculptures in each world!
Towards the end of the day, we had stopped to get a frozen lemonade because Brady was hot and tired of walking. Unbeknownst to us, we picked the PERFECT spot to stop. A couple of minutes after we sat down, a gate behind us opened and guests were allowed to go into an alley and visit with Eeyore, Pooh, Goofy, and Stitch. There were almost no lines, so we easily got to visit with several of the characters. It took a little bit of convincing to get Brady to go, but once he did, he LOVED it!! (I will talk more about our visit in a separate blog about Disney's disability services!)
Brian, Lauren, Brady, and Darcy pose with Winnie the Pooh.
Darcy and Lauren pose with Eeyore.
After meeting the characters, we walked over to the Disney Boardwalk (another free area of Disney that is much smaller than Disney Springs, but has some cute restaurants and stores along a boardwalk on the water) for dinner.
At the end of March, we packed up and left the East Toho RV Resort and drove a couple of hours to northern Florida. For most of April, we will be staying at an RV resort near Jackonsville, Florida.
Stay tuned to follow our adventures in April, and safe travels!!
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