Things to Do
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Exploring Hontoon Island State Park
If you love day trips and hiking, exploring Hontoon Island State Park is the adventure for you. Hontoon Island is located in Deland, Florida, making it a great day trip from Orlando. The island is only accessible by boat. Take your own private boat or the ferry. Keep in mind the ferry’s last trip is 7:00 at night, but that can change so be sure to check with the park rangers. Hiking Hontoon Island has several hiking trails to explore. We hiked the Hammock Hiking Trail to Indian Shell Mound. This was a fairly easy hike, a bit wet in places, but manageable. It was a long hike, about 3…
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The Old Spanish Sugar Mill
We woke up on a lazy summer Saturday and with a craving for pancakes. With not much going on we decided to take a little day trip to The Old Spanish Sugar Mill for the best pancakes around. The Restaurant The Old Spanish Sugar Mill Grill and Griddle House is a unique restaurant located in De Leon Springs State Park, Florida. It is a Do – It – Yourself restaurant, where you make your own pancakes on a built in griddle right at your table. If you order the All You Can Eat Pancakes, which of course we did, you get two pitchers of pancake batter. The red pitcher is…
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Hiking Wildcat Den State Park
On our annual trip back to the Midwest we took a little road trip to a hidden Iowa gem. Hiking Wildcat Den State Park was an exceptional way to explore Iowa’s history and great outdoors. Wildcat Den State Park is located just outside of Muscatine, Iowa. This a unique park to explore for the day. The shaded trails lead to beautiful rock formations and stunning views of nature. Historic Stuctures There are several historic buildings located at Wildcat Den State Park. The most prominent being the Grist Mill. The mill, built in 1848, is in the process of being renovated. We were not able to tour the mill the day…
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5 Things to Take on a Nighttime Kayak Tour
Our family had an amazing adventure last night. We experienced a bioluminescence tour at the Merritt Island National Refuge in Florida. Bioluminescence is the creation of light by a living organism and the release of this light. During the months of May-October in Florida you can experience this amazing phenomenon. The water glows when you move your paddle through the water and you can see fish streak all around you. I recommend the clear kayak tours because you can see all of these organisms glowing under you. I highly recommend Get Up And Go Kayaking tour company. Our guide Penny was absolutely amazing and informative. She kept track of all…
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How to Make a Rustic Bubble Wand
I read several articles on how to make a bubble wand using dowel rods and hooks. My son’s third grade class had been playing with them at their end of year party and he loved how large he could make the bubbles. I thought I could make one. It looked fairly easy to do. After a quick look in our garage this morning to find supplies, I realized I didn’t have any of it in the garage. So I came up with my own bubble wand using what I had on hand. I made a very Rustic Bubble Wand using the simple materials I had. To the surprise of me…
