Downtown Vero Beach, Lizards and Mulligans

After having brunch in Downtown Vero Beach on Easter morning, Tim and I decided that we should make a trip there on Monday morning to walk around and see if there was anything interesting to do. We quickly discovered two things. Number one: Most of the shops were marketed towards woman. Number two: All of the shops were VERY expensive. So we decided instead of wandering the commercialized streets we would head to a nearby park and see what we could find.

We ended up discovering the Veteran Memorial Island Sanctuary, a place I had never heard of before. Each section of the island is dedicated to a different branch of the military. It was an extremely peaceful place where veterans can take a seat on the bench of their branch and civilians can walk around, enjoy the scenery and thank those who have served our country.

There were not many people within the park which was great for us since we were able to walk where we pleased and take in the sights. Tim did find a new friend though:

I still loved seeing the different birds on our trip, there are so many in Florida that we never get the opportunity to see in Rhode Island. Everywhere you go there is new wildlife!

After spending some time in the park we headed to Publix to grab some grinders (In case you aren't a Rhode Islander a grinder is another word for a sub or sandwich made at the deli. I tend to confuse people when we are on vacation by referring to them as grinders!)

Seriously, if you are in a place with Publix consider yourself insanely lucky! They make the best sandwiches! If you haven't had the opportunity to eat at Publix next time you are near one check it out, it'll be worth your time.

We parked the car down by the water in Sebastian and took a walk down the dock, looking for lizards as we walked.

See this little green guy?

Tim yelled at him not to run away because he was his new favorite. He was the only all green lizard we saw during our trip but we saw many different varieties during the week.

Above is another lizard who let us get pretty close!

We also came across this guy who was blocking our way.

Who nicely stepped aside to let us cross.

We spent some time on the dock just soaking up the sun and taking in the beautiful sights. Then headed back to the house for some down time before dinner.

Tim played some video games...

And we hunted some more lizards!

Around 6 we decided it was time to head off to Mulligans the place we had chosen for our last dinner. Tim and I decided to go to dinner alone for our last night of vacation knowing that we would be at the airport the following evening.

Mulligans is a restaurant right on the water in Sebastian and we were actually able to see dolphins swimming by during our dinner! I was so happy that we chose this restaurant for that fact alone.

We started off with the nachos as our appetizer and they were delicious. I don't eat ground beef so I just picked around that part but we both dug right in and finished them off.

The salad course was a little icky. Not the freshest salad I've ever had and I honestly was not feeling salad at that point, I wanted my main dish so I picked at it a little bit and then pushed it to the side.

Tim watched the dolphins out the window while we waited for our main course.

Tim ordered the steak and cheese sandwich and onion rings and reported that they were just okay. He wasn't a huge fan of them but he did eat quite a bit.

I ordered the fettuccine alfredo and it was awful! I had been very good about not ordering pasta the entire trip and was SO disappointed in my meal. It had a fishy taste to it which led me to believe that they had maybe boiled the pasta in something that was used for fish. Whatever it was, it wasn't a meal I'd ever order there again.

After dinner we headed home for a fairly early bedtime because we were on our way back to Orlando in the morning....

Florida Vacation: Easter and The Jungle Trail

Easter Sunday was spent with a late morning brunch with my parents. We ended up settling on the Driftwood Resort to eat since they were able to seat and serve us right away without a reservation. It ended up being a great decision because in addition to the beautiful setting right on the beach, everyone complimented their meals. 

After brunch we made a quick stop by the Disney Resort in Vero Beach. It's a beautiful resort so we snapped a couple of pictures outside after stopping in the Disney Store to pick up a gift for my moms friend.

We headed back to the house in the early afternoon and Tim and I decided that we would head out on the Jungle Trail. I had been on it before but not extensively so we decided to drive the whole way through. The Jungle Trail is a dirt road that brings you through different areas where you can head off on hiking trails and into different areas and explore.

Tim was super excited to explore! Also, since this is a picture of hm behind the wheel it seems like a good time to talk about our rental car! We ended up renting a compact vehicle from Alamo and it was great! It was a white Nissan Versa and fit both of our suitcases perfectly. It was a great car for two people and amazing on gas!

After driving for awhile we decided to stop and explore The Centennial Trail.

There was a nice walkway on The Centennial Trail that listed all the nature preserves and we were able to find Trustom Pond!

I love hiking and walking around and even though it was super hot and muggy I enjoyed exploring the area.

 We didn't get down every trail, but did explore quite a few. I would highly recommend this area because there are so many different places in the area!

After a long day of hiking we headed home where my dad had made a delicious steak dinner for us! We had one more day of Vero Beach left and two days left of our vacation when we went to sleep that night....

Florida Vacation: Brevard Zoo

On Saturday morning we woke up fairly bright and early to head to the Brevard Zoo! As an animal lover I was so excited for this trip!

Last summer we went to the two zoos in our area, Roger Williams Zoo and Southwick's Zoo and had a blast at both. We also went to Mystic Aquarium on one of our first dates! So basically we are all-around animal lovers and can't help ourselves but visiting every place that becomes an option!

So off to the zoo we went...

There are SO many birds in Florida and the zoo was no exception. From parrots to flamingos to macaws the zoo was full of winged friends! There was another zoo patron nearby who was trying to talk to this bird named Thor. She said that she has been to the Brevard Zoo many times and Thor sometimes will have conversations with her. Unfortunately we didn't hear a peep from Thor!

The meerkats were ADORABLE! They were one of the first exhibits at the zoo and there were more then a dozen of them running around their habitat. I immediately thought of Timon from The Lion King. Such a cute animal that we don't have in our zoos nearby!

One of the coolest things we were able to do was feed the giraffes! We had fed giraffes back on our third date (which I don't have blogged because well THAT would have been awkward!) but at Roger Williams Zoo it felt so structured and was a quick process. Here you were able to feed them as many times as you wanted (permitting you bought food of course) and were able to get so close to them even without feeding them!

I could've stood there on the platform for hours just watching the giraffes interact with people. They are such sweet animals and it was an incredible experience to feed them.

In case you're curious I do not know the family next to me! They were just watching me feed the giraffe! You weren't allowed to touch the giraffes since they are not huge fans of being pet but just being close to them was enough!

I'm not sure if you can tell but this was my favorite part of the zoo! I took a million pictures of these beautiful animals!

There was even a baby! I love how his legs are so far out to the sides!

We also saw some lazy rhinos...

and mirror image zebras! I love how they were standing as mirror images of one another.

Near the food area there was a little island with flamingos and other birds. We were able to buy food from a little machine and they went crazy!

Seriously, so many birds!

We were even able to feed them! Part of our ticket allowed us to buy little cups of nectar that the birds enjoyed eating right out of. We had birds fighting over who got to eat out of our cups!

There was another section where you could feed birds seed off of a stick but we had done that previously so we chose the nectar cups!

We also were able to go on a train ride as part of our ticket, however other then seeing camels we didn't see anything new! It was nice to sit down and get a bit of a breeze since it was such a hot day!

 We also were able to see a bald eagle which was a great exhibit. I don't know that I've ever seen one at a zoo before! (Or in real life I guess!)

There was also a petting zoo area where we were able to pet a tortoise. I kept petting his shell and Tim commented that he probably couldn't feel it. Well the zoo employee keeping watch let us know that they actually CAN feel people petting their shells due to having nerve endings there, pretty cool!

There were also goats that went unpictured because they weren't too exciting or friendly!

We considered going to the Treetop Trek where you can zipline over the zoo but would've needed to wait over an hour so maybe next time we visit!

The rest of the day was unphotographed unfortunately, we went to visit Tim's grandparents who live just a half hour from my parents. We had a great visit and were able to chat with them quite a bit and it was great to meet them for the first time! 

We also enjoyed dinner at Captain Hirams with my parents and we stayed a bit later then them to enjoy a few drinks and the atmosphere which is always fun there!

What is your favorite zoo? Have you ever gotten to do a fun experience at the zoo? Let me know in the comments!

Florida Vacation: Outlets, Gator Bait, Twofers, and Movies!

Oh thank goodness it's the weekend! This three day week felt longer then a normal week- I guess that's what you get when you take off on a long vacation!

Let's relive last Friday shall we?

The day started off with a trip to the local outlets. I'm so lucky that Tim is an enthusiastic shopper because we were able to go to so many stores within the outlets and both get a ton of great deals. So a shoutout to Tim for being a guy who doesn't mind shopping!

I may do a haul at some point to share what I purchased, we shall see!

Around noontime we headed back to the house where my parents lead us to our next planned excursion- an airboat ride! Our airboat ride was given by the company Gator Bait and it was incredible! 

Our driver and guide was awesome although we are blanking on his name currently (I think it was Bill? You can see him in the picture above with the visor hat). He showed us so many gators and knew his way around with ease. I didn't think it was going to be the most exciting event but I ended up loving it more then I ever could have imagined. If you are heading to the Vero Beach/ Sebastian area I highly recommend calling them up and booking a ride.

Sometimes the gators were hiding out and were a bit harder to spot but we were always able to get super close to them.

I love the above picture. This gator looks like he's smiling away! We learned so much about the area too. A lot of the areas the gators are sitting on are just patches on the water, not actual land. The gators find and make these areas so they can warm themselves up in the sun. They are animals that return to the same places every day so our guide had names for a few of them he sees every day on tours.

Tim and a gator: You can see him poking his head up in the grass behind Tim.

We had such a great time! The ride was actually very smooth, even with our driver flying over land and water and speeding in and out lanes on the swamp.

The headsets we wore were great because our guide was not only able to talk to us but we were able to speak up if we saw something.

It wasn't all about the gators though! There were plenty of birds and turtles on our trip too! We also were able to stir up the water quite a bit which creates what they call in Florida "Swamp Gas" which is a smell that is absolutely wretched! We ended up calling any drivers who made us angry during our trip "Swamp Ass" after this which I think is a name that will stick for any jerks we might encounter in the future :)

After the airboat ride Tim and I headed back to the outlets to finish up some shopping and then took my parents out to dinner at Applebees! When you order an alcoholic drink at Applebees you get two for the price of one, which my parents refer to as "Twofers" we definitely enjoyed ourselves!

We headed back to the house pretty early so Tim and I decided to go see Batman Versus Superman which was great! We both really enjoyed the movie and also enjoyed the lightning storm happening on our drive.

I took a video on my phone and ended up capturing the below picture off that video:

So cool right?! After the movie we headed home to get some sleep because we still had THREE more days of vacation to enjoy!

If you've ever been on an airboat ride let me know in the comments below! I'd love to hear about your experience!