Traveling on to the lovely state of Florida. How can I describe Florida… hot, like you are drinking the air, grumpy? Ah that’s right, humid! Humidity has a way of bringing out the devil within, even at the most happy of times. When we were planning our across the country road trip, we purposely planned it along with the weather. Exploring Florida in October sounded a lot more pleasant than in the summer. Well, it was still surprisingly hot, hot, hot. Tank and shorts type of weather, unless you prefer having taco pits.
One of my oldest friends lives in Hollywood, FL and she kindly invited us to spend a couple of nights with her and her man. We arrived Friday October 25, 2019. The two of them did not waste any time and got us a Lyft to go grab dinner at Tatts & Tacos. Tattoos not required! We did not get the memo to dress up Halloween style, but it was very entertaining to people watch and see all the creative costumes. If you are looking for a great spot for dinner and drinks, I highly recommend checking this place out.
We cruised back to their place and drank some more while enjoying each others company. In the late hours of the evening, we decided we were hungry again and took another Lyft to get ramen at Go Bistro, a place our friends hyped up. The minute we walked in, it felt like we were V.I.P. Seriously though, the workers knew our friends and were pumped that we were there. I mean, they gave each of us sake shots on the house! Safe to say, Go Bistro lived up to the hype! It was a wild night and the pups held down their fort while we drank and ate the night away.
We woke up fairly early and cooked up some breakfast tacos and picked up some coffee as a thank you for their hospitality. Our plan for the day was to go visit Everglades National Park. In the majority of the national parks, what pets can do is extremely limited so it is very important to read up on the policies before visiting. We let the pups have a break and hang out at their house while the 4 of us cruised together to the Everglades! We originally considered camping there and were so glad that we didn’t. When we arrived, we could not believe the humidity.. sticky icky and not the good kind. We stopped at the visitor center to learn which trail would be the best for our short time there.
With our limited time in the park, we were able to do 2 trails – Pahayokee Overlook and Anhinga Trail. Both trails were a short boardwalk loop where you can see different types of wildlife. Walking on the boardwalk through the sawgrass marsh, feeling the humidity of the swamp consume us, we kept our eyes on the thousands of lily pads trying to spot any wildlife. Slowly coursing the water, we saw an alligator creepily peering through the lily pads. Scary and incredible to be so close to a gator. We also saw all kinds of birds, turtles and fish on the Anhinga trail. The Pahayokee Overlook was nice, but uneventful in seeing wildlife. The Everglades were a success and we marked off another park from our bucket list.
The 4 of us made our way back to their home and our pups, got cleaned up and had an incredible dinner that our hosts made for us. I am talking juicy tender steak, smothered in mushrooms, roasted artichoke and a side salad.
Out on the town for our last night in the Miami area, we went to this unique innovative art museum called ARTECHOUSE. Bringing science and art together to create a rad experience! According to their website, they have 2 other locations in Washington, D.C. and N.Y.C. The museum itself was small and simple, but worth the experience. Greeted at the front door, we were instructed to put on these strange slippers over our shoes and then taken into the museum. The main room hosts a large screen with visuals you won’t want to miss, with bean bag chairs to sit and let your imagination do its thing while watching the artist’s incredible creativity. Definitely a great place for photo ops! We wrapped up the evening with some bar hopping then back to their casa.
We woke up early, said our see you laters and made our way to Orlando for the next part of our adventure…
Outside is the right side. 