Florida Road Trip

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel only read one page."

3900 miles traveled.

10 days.

7 different states.

1 amazing friend.

Laura and I in an outdoor fountain in Nashville

These are just numbers that helped me form an incredible adventure and vacation. Those ten days flew by and the nearly 4000 miles felt like nothing. Each state brought on new adventures, new people, new sights, and new experiences. I feel lucky that I was able to do this with one of my best friends, Laura.

Hanging out with Luke Bryan

We left around 7:30 on Tuesday morning with a goal of visiting Nashville and spending the night in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We arrived in Nashville to grab a bite to eat at the Wild Horse Saloon. While wandering around the city and exploring, we had fun in an outdoor fountain, enjoyed the water front, and checked out the Hard Rock Café (I have an addiction). On our way back to the car to move along to Chattanooga for the evening, I noticed a giant tour bus and a crowd of people. It doesn’t take this country girl much to notice people with shirts on that say “Luke Bryan Tour." After asking around, we realized Luke Bryan was doing a shoot for the CMT awards. Long story short, I got to stand next to Luke Bryan while he did a shoot for the CMT awards he could not attend the following week. I also got to high five him numerous times as they did “practice” shoots. I have never been that close to anyone famous that I have actually really liked. It was an amazing experience.

Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN

We arrived in Chattanooga which is about 2 hours past Nashville.  It was late, but we found a place to stay without a problem.  We got up to do a tour or Ruby Falls Cave.  It was so amazing and absolutely beautiful.  I recommend visiting this cave if you're ever in the area.  Afterwards, we got on the road, but were unsure where our next stop would be. It was mostly a day of driving and we stopped to do some planning when we realized we didn’t have to get all the way to Sanibel Island for Laura’s brother’s wedding festivities until the next day. We camped at a campground for the evening called High Springs State Park in High Springs, Florida. They had some natural springs that you could swim in, and they were so beautiful...crystal, clear, blue water.  We camped and cooked hot dogs over a fire and drank that evening. In the morning, I snorkeled before we left. It was such a fun and relaxing thing to wake up and do.

Big Blue Spring

During my snorkel

We drove the remaining 4 hours to Sanibel Island, Florida. That day we ran some wedding-related errands, had a cook out with everyone in town for the wedding. I was so amazed by the hospitality of Laura’s family. They included me in on everything and made me feel like I was a member of the family. The three days that we were to spend in Sanibel Island were three days that I expected to do my own thing, but I ended up making lots of new friends amongst the crew that was there. And in the mean time I got to spend a lot of time in the ocean, sun tanning, reading, celebrating, and eating the most amazing food. I felt so spoiled and welcomed. I also got extremely sun burnt in the pool. Which was not-so-awesome.

The scene before the wedding

Gorgeous reception area

Laura and I during the reception

Captiva Island (part of Sanibel Island)

We left Sanibel Island on Sunday afternoon for our next destination: the Florida Keys. On our way, we drove through Everglades National Park. I had put this National Park towards the top of my "must see" travel list because it is disappearing due to rising sea levels. It was neat to spend hours driving through it. It was mostly marsh land, and it was gorgeous in its own way.

Everglades National Park

We made it to Key West in the evening and went out to explore and catch some sunset pictures. Key West has a very vibrant night life. We watched some men clean fish that they had caught and I asked tons of questions because I was curious about all the fish that they had caught—they were huge! We had dinner at a Waffle House. I had never ate at one before and really wanted to try it.   We had tried to find a place to eat sushi, but had no luck which is why we settled on something so simple.  We spent the following morning exploring Fort Taylor in the rain and visiting the Southernmost Point in the USA. Laura snorkeled, but honestly, the rain made me cranky. It was still neat to add a piece of history to our trip and I enjoyed the day. But I would have enjoyed it more without the rain. We headed to Bahia Honda Key to camp for the evening. Before we arrived, we stopped at Boondocks, a restaurant my Aunt Lynn had recommended. It was an outdoor restaurant, and the alcoholic smoothie I enjoyed was incredible. Bahia Honda was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was one of the most gorgeous beaches I've seen in a while. While exploring, we saw a spotted eagle ray from a bridge that was no longer used due to hurricane damage. We had a camp site right along the ocean, which sounds amazing, in theory. However, we almost got blown away in the middle of the night due to a wicked thunderstorm that rolled through. Laura told me she thought I was going to bail on her and run to the car for safety. I happen to be slightly terrified of thunderstorms. Our tent did get ripped our of the ground from the wind, but after twenty minutes of securing it with my body weight in one corner, and Laura in the other, we were able to survive just fine. And I didn't bail on her!

Southernmost Point in the USA

Overlooking Bahia Honda

Our campsite at Bahia Honda (see the ocean in the background?)

Probably my favorite candid from the trip

Spotted Eagle Ray

A beach in Key West

After some fun in the ocean the next morning, we headed north to Orlando. One of Laura’s friends moved to Florida and she wanted to visit her. I am mildly obsessed with Harry Potter. And when I say mildly, I really mean extremely. I had to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios. We made it to Orlando around 7 that evening. Laura spent most of the night catching up with her friend who so graciously housed us for the evening. I don’t want to talk too much about Harry Potter World, but I will say it was a very neat experience. The way J.K. Rowling writes is incredible—she makes everything come alive. Drinking “butterbeer” in “The Three Broomsticks” will be a highlight of my life forever. They are adding onto Harry Potter World next Spring so I know I’ll have to return. We did not spend as much time as I would have liked there because we wanted to make a dent in our travels home. We left around 3, and began our journey back home. We stopped at Madison High Springs State Park to check out a gorgeous natural blue spring Laura found online. It was even more neat than the first one we saw earlier in the trip.  I’m really amazed at the beauty that Florida has to offer, I had no idea how gorgeous of a state it was. We ended our journey back home somewhat early that night due to torrential down pours in Georgia. We ended up getting a hotel room, which was unfortunate because we had found an awesome place to camp. The bright side to the situation was that we were able to see ourselves on TV during the CMT awards.

Butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks

Love this pic in Harry Potter World

Madison High Springs State Park

From Byron, Georgia, we headed north. On the way home, we stopped at the following state parks to view some gorgeous waterfalls.  As you can see, we had a very scenic day.  Amicoloa Falls involved climbing down and back up over 600 steps.  It was well worth it!

High Falls State Park in Georgia

Amicoloa Falls State Park, Dawsonville, Georgia

Big Falls in Burgess Falls State Park, Baxter, Tennessee

Cummins State Park in Cummins, TN

We stayed in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky on Thursday evening and concluded our trip with one last tour of the most amazing cave I’ve ever seen in the morning. It has over 300 documented miles, and counting! I had a phenomenal time on this trip and I couldn’t have picked a better person to spend it with.

Mammoth Cave National Park (from the Entrance Tour)

The original opening of Mammoth Cave