Spring Break Beyond Spring Training

We did more than just baseball on our Spring Break trip this year - we were able to also get in plenty of beach time and sightseeing.  But, first, we had to get to Florida.  Joe and I decided that it would be a "fun" adventure to drive to Jupiter, FL, since we had never conquered a long road trip before.  Let's just say, it was a one and done.  But, the first picture shows our excitement of starting our trip at 6am - if only we had taken an after picture to show that our excitement had not lasted the entire car ride!

We arrived in Jupiter, FL, late on Easter Sunday.  Olivia absolutely could not go a single day in Florida without sand between her toes, so we took a late night walk on the beach.

There was plenty of beach time after our first baseball game.  During low tide, a fun rock formation would become accessible to explore.

My beautiful Olivia.

Baseball and beach in the same day made for a great day!

Waiting for a yummy dinner at Dune Dog Cafe.

Morning walks on the beach are the best.  The kids gathered a nice shell collection by the end of the vacation.

A fantastic dinner at Food Shack.  The S'Mores Pie was delicious!

After our final baseball game, we explored the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary - a very nice but small sanctuary. 

It was chilly, cloudy, and drizzling, but we still managed some beach time!

Our final full day in Florida was all about sightseeing and beach.  At a baseball game, we sat next to a man who told us about a scheduled sea turtle release at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.  We are so happy he told us about this (and that he warned us about arriving very early due to the crowds)!

The turtle was brought down to the beach via ambulance, then carried on a stretcher until about 30 feet from the ocean.  The team then released the turtle, who instinctively made its way to the ocean and swam away.  The entire crowd cheered as the waves took him away.

The Loggerhead Center was part turtle rehab and part turtle education.  For the rehab part, they were very open about the fact that they cannot keep the turtles forever - if improvement is not made on the rescued turtles so they could be released into the wild, then they would be euthanized.  There were about 24 tanks of various sizes around the facility, all full of turtles with various needs.  

Next up we visited the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum.  This was a guided tour up the 100 steps to the top of the lighthouse built in 1860.  It was so incredibly windy at the top - several times I thought that my phone would blow out of my hand!  I am not normally afraid of heights, but this time I was - I pretty much stayed right up against the wall of the lighthouse, walked around the perimeter one time, and then retreated back inside.  Joe and the kids, however, had a great time teasing me about how brave they were by staying close to the fence area and sticking their feet under the railing.

We ended our final day on the beach.  Ethan built an entire sand castle village and we took a long walk down to more rock formations to explore.

On our way home, we spent the night at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo inside of a Pullman Car that had been remodeled into a hotel room.  This experience was also a one and done - the kids loved it, but Joe and I agreed that the cars all needed a major remodel (the bathroom was awful - full of cracks and peeling paint and slanted floors).

The pool stayed open until midnight, so arriving at 10pm still gave the kids plenty of time to swim.  After surviving the Atlanta traffic, they deserved this fun!

Final day of spring break!  After breakfast we explored the hotel grounds before heading back home.

This is the exterior of our Pullman Car hotel room.

We couldn't resist one more side trip to Metropolis to see the Superman statue!