Myakka River State Park is one of Florida's oldest parks! We visited in late January, and it was quite fantastic! A highlight of our time at the park was an airboat cruise. The airboat, Myakka Maiden, is the largest passenger covered airboat in the world!
I didn't take many photos on the cruise because I was on.the.edge.of.my.seat the entire time! There were gators all over the place. Below is an audio clip I captured of the introductory words of Jamie, the boat's captain. He did a phenomenal job throughout the 90 minute cruise of giving us background information and a host of facts about alligators and the local ecosystem!
A special stop on the Florida getaway was to the Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg! It's over 100 years old. Once a personal garden, it is now owned and maintained by the city. It was a great place to explore for a couple hours. Beautiful, lush greenery and gorgeous flowering plants. A special treat in late January!
After the gardens, Justin found an awesome off-the-beaten-path coffee shop called Black Crow Coffee.
It's back to work, life, and regular routines today!
Justin and I headed to the Wisconsin Dells from Saturday-Monday to celebrate the Stoll Family Christmas! It was a blast to ring in the new year with this crew.
Two more great stops from the trip were Catalina State Park and Saguaro National Park. There's a discounted park entry for Catalina in the Tucson passport book. Lots of great trails to explore and the remains of an old village. I highly recommend Catalina State Park! Photos below...
And our last stop of the trip on Tuesday before heading back to the airport was Saguaro National Park. This would've been a great place to spend a full day or two! We only got to Saguaro National Park - West, but the park pass is good for both. There's an East section, too.
We explored for a couple hours and really enjoyed it. I highly recommend the 20-minute video at the Visitor's Center as an introduction to the Native American desert experience. We walked two of the smaller trails - including the petroglyph trail which I loved and found to be very spiritually meaningful.
Tonto National Monument: We arrived in Phoenix on Friday, and on Saturday morning, we hit the road for Tonto National Monument. It's about a 2-hour drive, and what a beautiful trek!
There are two dwelling areas at Tonto National Monument - the lower cliff dwelling and the upper cliff dwelling. The lower cliff dwelling is open and available to the public. The upper cliff dwelling can only be explored as part of a guided tour that takes 3-4 hours roundtrip. It's 1.5 miles up and 1.5 miles back. We made reservations in advance and were very glad we did! There are only several months of the year when they do the tours, and they happen just once a day.
Our tour guide, Will, blended the history of the cave with a comprehensive overview of the geology and plant-life of the region.
If we were to go back, we'd plan for a full day or two in the area so that we could do more hiking!
It was amazing to visit Tonto National Monument and step back in time. I loved this part of our trip and highly recommend it.
A little Youtube video I made!
While Justin was driving, I snapped a pic of Roosevelt Lake!
Desert Botanical Garden: This was one of our first stops of the trip, and it was a perfect orientation to the desert. I had been there before with my wonderful pal, Liz, several years ago on a 103 degree July afternoon. It was awesome to be back and explore it with Justin - this time in December. Next time I'd love to go in the spring when the flowering cacti are blooming!
There were many different sections of the park with gorgeous gardens and statues! Definitely take a copy of the map when you arrive; it's very helpful! We only were able to spend about 2 hours at the Desert Botanical Garden because they were preparing for a special event at the park, but it was still well-worth the visit.
Be warned, though, the price tag is about $25.00 a ticket. That being said, it's worth it! And it would definitely be a place to spend a full day if possible! The gift shop is gorgeously curated, too.
