The Trip of a Lifetime: Nowicki’s Pandemic Adventures
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During the pandemic, like many, I hit a breaking point. With my husband working from home, three elementary aged children doing their best at online learning and a three-year-old, something had to give.
Though I am lucky enough to stay home, I spent my days continuously bouncing from one kid to the next trying to be sure they are in the right (virtual) place at the right time all while neglecting #4. So, I enrolled #4 in preschool three full days which helped, but I still was lacking the ability to take care of simple errands, daily chores, laundry, cleaning, and myself. While we all were working our tails off to keep up, my kids were still falling behind, I felt defeated.
In November 2020, I lost the race for a board spot in our local public school and a few of my girlfriends and I went on a weekend getaway to Southwest Florida (SWFL). My parents own a place there, so it is an inexpensive trip for us, and we ALL need a break sometimes! We spent our days at the beach, or the pool and I found myself reflecting on the past year. That is when it hit me that it was time for a change, something that could never happen in ordinary times, something that would make this time in our lives seem a bit more “normal.”
When I got home from my girls’ weekend, I told my husband, “We are packing up our family!” He thought I was joking, because, well, I regularly produce LOFTY ideas. And his response was, “you’re crazy!” So, I left it alone for a bit.
I kept mentioning it to him here and there, he is one of those that must warm up to the idea, but he just kept laughing it off. After a bit of research, I found we could send our kids to school there. That is when I got to work, yes, my parents have a place there, but we were going to stay long term, so I started looking for a place to rent. One night at dinner, after the kids had gotten up, I pitched it to him. Still skeptical, he agreed that it would be an amazing experience that our family would never forget, the trip of a lifetime!
We decided to remain in Michigan though the holidays, and come January 2021, we packed up our family and headed south! Check out my blog post How to save your sanity on your next ROAD TRIP to see how we made the drive more enjoyable! New year, new beginnings!
On longer road trips we always try to do an overnight at a national park, and this trip was no exception. (My husband and I have a goal to take our crew to ALL the national parks). We stopped overnight in Columbia, SC and the next morning were up bright an early for the short drive to Congaree National Park. After checking out the visitor center and a lengthy hike, we hopped back in the car and continued our journey south!
Congaree National Park
We made a quick pit stop for Dinner at Crabby Joe’s, so our kids could see the Atlantic Ocean (A few of them had not been before). They got to run on the beach and stick their toes in the water while we waited for a table! We filled our bellies and were back on the road.
Every year for Christmas, we get the kids an experience gift. This past year I snagged an amazing deal on a Four Park Ticket to SeaWorld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove. Our next few days were spent in Orlando checking out new (to us) theme parks! We stayed at our go to Hilton Double Tree Disney Springs because we love the two separated rooms, and its location in Disney Springs! Not to mention the savings, being a Hilton Honors member and we also accrued points during our stay!
Discovery Cove was a wonderful all-inclusive experience, unlike any other theme park I have been to. The kids loved swimming with the dolphins, the snorkel experience and the unlimited food and drinks! It was by far our favorite of the bunch! The next day we did SeaWorld, which was also fun, we loved seeing all the wildlife and of course the Manta coaster! We had planned to visit Aquatica also, however had to rebook because of weather (it was cold)!
Swimming with dolphins at Discovery Cove
We were now enroute to SWFL, our destination, which would be our home for the forseeable future. We visited the beach and settled in before the kids started school the next week. We were all nervous and excited, but they were troopers and jumped right in! With the big three in school, #4 and I started exploring! We visited parks, splashpads, beaches and attractions of all sorts! See all of our adventures at #nowickispandemicadventures!
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My mom and I made a pact to visit a new beach each week, it was amazing visiting all the different beaches and seeing what they had to offer. We then would revisit the beaches we liked best for Sunday Funday Beach Edition. We really enjoyed this family time. My husband began fine tuning his sandcastle building skills, and the kids and I would search for shells and play in the waves for hours! This time together would become the most memorable part of our trip for most of us!
The kids were excelling in school, and soon began doing karate. After school, the kids would hit the playground or swim at the pool often followed by soccer and/or football. It was as normal as it could be, and I am so incredibly grateful for that!
#4 and I found a wonderful group of firends through MOPS, some that we still are connected with. They were super welcoming and that became the highlight of #4’s trip!
We had so much of our Michigan family and friends come down and visit us while we were there, which was really so much fun. It was so nice to see familiar faces and for the kids to see their friends and cousins!
Mucky Duck is the spot for watching the sunset, Captiva, FL.
We made several small trips throughout our time there. We visited Tampa for a weekend, used our Busch Gardens ticket and stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites on Clearwater Beach. Of course, we HAD to do a Disney trip, and so we spent four nights at Animal Kingdom with two park days, which was amazing and worth the extra $$$ (check out my blog post Doing DISNEY: How to get the most bang for your buck). We went on a few day trips in my brother’s plane, to Marathon key, taco Tuesday in Acadia and Venice beach! The kids and I flew back to Michigan for a long weekend to see family and friends! Yes, I flew alone with all four kids for $60, check out my blog post The 5 secrets that will earn you free flights to see how I did it! We also did a weekend trip to Biscayne National Park where we took the Heritage of Biscayne boat tour of the mostly aquatic park. We stayed overnight at the Home2 Suites in Florida City, FL racked up points and got a great deal using the Hilton honors program! We also visited John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park where we took our crew on their first snorkeling adventure!
Biscayne National Park and Heritage boat tour.
The kids finished sports, and school, my hubby was anxious to get back to the office and so we decided to head back north. Not to mention the fact that we also purchased a cottage in Northern Michigan during the time we were in SWFL, yep another BIG idea! No really it had been in the works for years, the right one just happened to pop up at an inopportune time, but we made it work!
As we packed up and drove off it was bittersweet, what an amazing time we had, but we (most of us) were ready to get back home. But not before one last adventure, on our road trip home we hit another National Park, Mammoth Caves! This was my husband and I’s second time visiting but the first time for the kids. It truly is amazing! After exploring the visitors center and a hike, we spent the night at The Hampton Inn in Cave City, earned points all while getting a great deal through Hilton Honors! The next morning, we were back at the park for our cave tour, we chose the Broadway Tour, which was great for the kids, a good distance, lots to see and just long enough to keep their attention.
Mammoth Caves, Broadway Tour
Next stop, HOME.
People ask all the time, “How was your time in Florida?” and to be honest all six of us answer in a unique way. Even though we had many of the same experiences, our kids missed the familiarity of home, even though it was incredibly different due to the pandemic. Looking back, I would do it all over again in a second! I love SWFL as does #4, the rest of them are good with a visit, but the time that we spent together and the adventures we shared are priceless and will forever be what our kids remember of the pandemic!
