Put on your Florida Everglades Vacation Pants

Hanging with the American Alligators in Everglades National Park

We had quite a year planned for travel this year. We were going to hit all 12 Disney Parks around the world. We were going to hit a new continent (Asia) and hit 5 new countries. Travel is so important to us, but with recent global events, vacation won’t be happening for many people around the world, including us. We have cancelled all our trips and are staying home. We want to do our part to help. With that being said, I am going to have a lot more time to work on creative things. 2019 was a really busy year for me and my family. My husband started working and I have taken on a lot of extra duties at work (I’m a 3rd grade teacher). I am looking at the things in my life I can control and what I can remain positive about. One of the things is I will be able to work on with my time at home is my blog, my podcast, and my travelgram. Things I love so dearly, but have had to put on hold for other parts of my life.

In the coming weeks, I will be posting all about our past Spring Break trips on my Instagram. I’ll also be putting some more thorough write-ups of our past travels here. My first post in this series, found below, is about our trip to the Florida Everglades. I know none of us can travel right now, but you have plenty of time to plan your future travels. So here it goes…

We traveled to Florida in March of 2012 and had the most wonderful time. Alligators, Crocodiles, Manatees and so many exotic birds and wildlife. I never knew Florida outside of the Disney World bubble, so it was so fun to visit a natural and beautiful part of the state. My son Luke was only one year old at the time and my daughter Audrey was three. It was fun to take our littles on such a fun adventure across the country from where we live in California. I also loved going somewhere warm. We usually take our Spring Breaks in cold places to follow the deals. This time we got a pretty amazing deal to Florida.

Trip Budget

Here is a snapshot of what our trip to the Florida Everglades cost us. Remember, we took this trip in 2012, so the prices may differ a bit. We went for 7 nights overall, but the Florida Everglades section was 4 nights and we did two nights at two different hotels. Here are the stats.

Airfare – $264 – We got flights from LAX (Los Angeles, CA) to FLL (Fort Lauderdale, FL) for $88 round trip. Luke was free because he sat on our laps. Jet Blue Airlines always has some great deals from California to Florida. Plus we love their blue chips!
Rental Car – $155 – We rented an economy car for our 9 day long trip, so our portion for the Everglades part of the trip was only $155 with taxes and fees. We used Hotwire to book our rental car from Budget Rental Car.
Gas – $30– I calculated the round trip cost for gas on https://www.fueleconomy.gov/ . But remember that is for an economy car back in 2012, so budget a little more for gas.
Lodging Costs – $521 – for 4 nights of hotel at two different hotels. Details about where we stayed below.
Attractions – $110 – We paid for a pass to go into Everglades National Park for 7 days. We also did a boat ride through the National Park. That’s about the extent of our costs.
TRIP TOTAL = $1080 for our family of four. Pretty good dealio for a trip to a hot vacation destination from California.

Trip Lodging

We like to change up our lodging styles, even on the same trip. We love to support small businesses especially when we travel, but sometimes traveling with young children you need to know what you are getting as well. So we usually mix it up. On this particular trip we started off the trip by staying at a little place on an island off the western side of Florida. It was quaint and remote and perfect. There were a lot of mosquitoes in the evening, but that’s to be expected, so come prepared with bug spray. It was called Parkway Motel and Marina on Chokoloskee Island.

The other place we stayed at was a Comfort Inn by the eastern side of the park. It was a great jumping off point to Flamingo, Florida (where we saw the Crocodiles) and the 2nd part of our trip when we headed to the Florida Keys. Upon further research, the Comfort Inn has now been changed into a Quality Inn. It was only $88 a night, but it was no frills. It was your basic hotel room, nothing too special, but it did the job and was affordable.

Trip Activities

Hiking – In the park and surrounding areas there are so many different hiking/walking opportunities. Remember, the highest point in Florida is 345 feet above sea level (in the panhandle), so we’re not talking about very strenuous hiking. Since a lot of the land is so swampy, there are many raised boardwalks. This was great for pushing our double stroller and also great for the kiddos because they can walk on the boardwalk very easily. Another cool part of the trails is all the wildlife. We saw almost 100 alligators, 3 Crocodiles (only place in the world where they live together), Manatees, Lizards, and so many unique Birds. March and April are a major migration time for the birds, so we saw some of the most beautiful species in the world. It was amazing. Check out the Everglades National Park Website for more information about the trails.
Boat Tour– There are tons of swamp boat tour opportunities. Since we had two young children we decided to do a National Park Boat Tour around the canals and wetlands instead of a loud swamp boat tour. It was very educational. We saw a lot of unique creatures on the tour. Here is a link to the boat tour we did. We did the 10,000 Islands Tour which is as cool as it sounds. The cost is now $40 a person and kids 4 and under are free.
Flamingo – Okay, this is the southern visitor center in Everglades National Park and this is where you see the Crocodiles. This is the only place in the United States where you can see a Crocodile in the wild, and the only place in the world where they exist in the same habitat as Alligators. We saw three Crocodiles while we were here and it was so cool. Although, we didn’t see any Flamingos in the town called Flamingo, all the buildings are pink.
Beaches – There are several beaches on the eastern part of Southern Florida with cool snorkeling and sand castle building opportunities. We did both. The Everglades side of the state does not have many beaches, rather it has wetlands. I also wouldn’t recommend swimming or hanging out on the beaches in the Everglades. Hello, alligators…stick to the paths and trails.
Biscayne National Park – While you are staying in Florida City, you can hit the totally unique Biscayne National Park. Most of this park is an underwater sanctuary, but there are boardwalks and mangrove canals as well. We had so much fun checking out the visitor center and surrounding areas. If you love diving or snorkeling, it would be cool to see the park from under the water as well.

There you have it! Our amazing trip to the Florida Everglades. We also combined this particular trip with a visit to the Florida Keys. I will come back soon and give you all the details for that trip. Check out the gallery below and remember: sharing is caring. Go ahead and share this post if you found this guide helpful and you want to plan a trip here as soon as possible.