Florida: Weeki Wachee Springs and Buccaneer Bay

Want to find the best-kept secrets in an area you are visiting? Chat with the locals. We were buying a snack in St. Augustine and got to talking with the college kid who was running the snack bar (he is going to school to be a NICU nurse - how cool is that?), and he made a few suggestions about other places we should take the girls while in Florida. Another local heard us talking and joined in with a tip - Weeki Wachee Springs.

An hour north of Tampa, Weeki Wachee claims to be one of the smallest towns in the country, with a population of 12 (maybe they should spend some time in Eastern Montana?) and a mayor who herself is a former mermaid.

Opened in 1947, the park is the baby of Newton Perry, who was former U.S. Navy and trained SEALS to swim underwater in World War II. Perry was a promoter and a performer, but he was also an inventor - he invented the free-flowing air hose supplying oxygen from an air compressor that allows the mermaids to stay underwater for long periods of time, giving the illusion of breathing underwater with no breathing apparatus.

The spring is pretty amazing in itself. Named Weeki Wachee by the Seminole Indians (meaning little spring or winding river, depending who you ask), the bottom has never been found, despite the efforts of divers. More than 117 million gallons of water, an even 74.4 degrees year-round, comes up through the spring each day. It feeds the Weeki Wachee River, which is a beautiful clear river meandering through curves and turns 12 miles to empty into the Gulf of Mexico.

We took a 20 minute boat ride down the river, but there was an option to rent a kayak and paddle down, too.

We saw birds and fish, two turtles on a log, and an alligator named "Lefty" hanging out along the river. Our guide told us it is more common to see other animals on less busy days.

The river boat ride was a great way to see the gorgeous clear waters of the Weeki Wachee River.

Next we went to the mermaid show. They recommend you line up early, and they mean it! Lining up starts 30 minutes before the show, and goes until capacity is reached.

The mermaid show is performed underwater, of course, but the audience is underwater, too - in a 400 seat submerged theater. The theater is 16 feet below the spring, allowing you to get face-to-face with the beautiful mermaids as they perform their underwater ballet and tricks like eating and drinking underwater.

Reading about the park ahead of time, I must admit I expected more magic and mystery surrounding the mermaids. Instead, we got a behind the scenes look at the history of the Weeki Wachee mermaids and learned a lot about what makes the whole thing tick. That was fun, too, but not what I expected. In fact, the mermaids performed without their tails from about halfway through the show, and showed off some incredible diving skill with a 117-foot free dive.

There are other shows available, as well, so maybe we just selected the wrong one if we were looking for illusion. But it was hot, and no one was up for standing in line for another show.

The girls got their picture taken with a mermaid! Bria kept staring at her, she thought she was beautiful and pretty amazing.

Then it was time to cool off. And I do mean cool off. If 74.4 degrees sounds warm, think about your body temperature. Brrr! We were all pretty shocked when we jumped in the spring. But the water was clear and gorgeous, and we were excited to try the water slides.

Even Bria went down the slide. She stood in line for a long time, but when she splashed into the water, it was well worth it. She did it by herself!

Buccaneer Bay was added 1982. According to their website, it is the only spring-fed water park in Florida. There are four slides, and tubes are available to rent for floating on the river.

This park has the distinction of being a very "local" feeling place - in fact, there are a lot of references (in the show and in talk about the park) about it being a surviving piece of "old" Florida. You can feel that when you are there, and the history is well commemorated. 

A friend who was born and raised in Spring Hill (just a mile or two down the road from Weeki Wachee) described the spring as the "life blood" of Florida. It was very busy the day we were there, and the website says they fill up during the summer and have to cut off entrance. So come early!

Admission prices are reasonable - $13 for adults, $8 for kids 6-12 and free for children 5 and under. That price includes the mermaid show, boat ride, reptile show, and Buccaneer Bay. Annual admissions are also available. They are $60 for an individual or $120 for a family, and because it became a state park in 2008, that includes parks across Florida.

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9 Legendary North Dakota Places to Bring the Family

Looking for a legendary way to spend your summer? North Dakota is the place to go! Here are nine of our favorite hot spots to spend a sunny day in the Roughrider State.

Dakota Dinosaur Museum - Dickinson

Roaming the halls of dinosaur bones never goes astray with our children. The fact that many of the dinosaurs in the Dakota Dinosaur Museum were found locally adds an awesome twist to this great adventure in learning and makes it a stop we love to make when we are in the Dickinson area.

There is a children's corner, which is a fun place to sit and take a break from the excitement, and a park outside for running around on the grass after.

Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for kids 3-12. Watch your dates, though - the museum closes for the season on Labor Day.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one of our favorite places for wildlife viewing in North Dakota. Bison roam freely, which is usually the only kind of traffic you will encounter. We were excited to learn that 186 species of birds call the park home, too! How many can you spot? And don't forget the Prairie Dog Town! Watching the black-tailed prairie dogs is well worth the hike.

There is lots more to see, too. Drive the scenic loop, check out the visitors centers, and lots more.

There are two units of the park - the North Unit is located 14 miles south of Watford City on Highway 85, and the South Unit is accessible from exits 24 and 27 off Interstate 94, near the Montana border.

Entrance is $20 per vehicle, or use your National Park Pass.

Tip: If you don't already have a National Park Pass, we highly recommend it - it is a bargain at $80 and gets you into national parks for a year. We make a point of visiting national parks whenever we can, and the experiences are well worth it!

North Dakota Heritage Center

For learning about the history of this beautiful state, no location has more to offer than the North Dakota Heritage Center, on the capitol grounds in Bismarck. There are thousands of exhibits chronicling the state, including art, interactive exhibits, and lots of technology. In addition, learn about the energy development that is currently evolving the state into a destination for workers from across the globe.

Plan to stay a while, and pop into the James River Cafe for a bite to eat midway through. As you are leaving, be sure to look up - you are standing next to the tallest building in North Dakota! You are more than welcome to walk the grounds, which are a part of the capitol's Arboretum Trail.

Knife River Indian Village

Spanning nearly 1,800 acres near Hazen, the Knife River Indian Village is the place to go to see archaeological remains from the Northern Plains Indians. We love to explore the exhibits, including going inside the earthlodges we had previously only seen in books. There are lots of tools and other items to see, and the ranger talks are very informative.

In addition to the Native American history, Lewis and Clark came through here in October of 1804, camping nearby at Fort Mandan, so this free site is a fun place to add to your Lewis and Clark knowledge.

International Peace Gardens

The International Peace Gardens have a little something for a range of tastes. With historical sites, beautiful flowers, an interpretive center and so much more, there is sure to be something to please everyone in the family. Plus there is lots of room to run off some energy! Take the time to explore one of the park's many hiking trails, wander through the Formal Garden, or wander through the peace poles to read "May Peace Prevail" in 28 different languages.

Located near Dunseith on the border between North Dakota and Manitoba, the Peace Gardens are a symbol of the relationship between two countries. The park is sprawling - check out this map to plan your visit.

A daily pass is $15, and a season pass is $30.

Note that you are crossing through Canadian customs on the way back from the park, so bring along the family's passports to make for smooth sailing. If you don't have passports, photo ID is required, and you may spend a little extra time at the crossing.

National Buffalo Museum

Jamestown, North Dakota is home to the National Buffalo Museum, a can't-miss stop along I-95. The bison (or American buffalo) played a significant part in the area's history, and this site offers the opportunity to learn more through a series of exhibits and artifacts.

Plus there is a live herd, featuring the only true albino bison in the world, named White Cloud. And of course the world's largest buffalo! The 26-foot tall concrete bison, weighing more than 60 tons, has been standing over Jamestown since 1959.

There is also a frontier village and gift shop. The museum is $5 for adults.

Geographical Center of North America

Have you ever wondered where the geographical center of North America is located? If you're driving along Highway 2, you'll soon learn it is in Rugby, North Dakota. Everyone needs to pile out of the car and take the obligatory family photo next to the 15 foot obelisk that marks the site!

Fort Union and Fort Buford

This is really three sites in one. Start by checking out the Confluence Center, located at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers 20 miles west of Williston. The center features traveling exhibits (at a charge of $5 per adult and $2.50 per child, which also includes Fort Buford), and a beautiful view of the rivers.

Next door, explore Fort Buford State Historic Site, the remnants of a military fort built in 1866. There is a stone powder magazine, cemetery site, and an officers quarters building, where visitors can now explore a museum. A few times a year, there are also reenactments at the fort, which are a special treat.

Fort Union Trading Post is a few miles to the west, on the border with Montana. The fort was an important fur trade post between 1828 and 1867, and is filled with interesting nooks and crannies to scope out. Watch a blacksmith hammer out a horse shoe, climb to the top of the fort and look out over the river, and visit the exhibits inside the Bourgeois house on the site where seven Native American tribes traded buffalo furs and smaller furs for goods from around the world. During the summer months there are often tepees set up out front, for added interest. 

Medora

A list of North Dakota attractions wouldn't be complete without mentioning historic Medora, located near the western edge of the state. Options for a real cowboy-inspired experience abound. Check out the website to learn more.

If you have an evening to spare, don't miss the pitchfork fondue or the Medora Musical!

Where have your North Dakota adventures taken you? Share your favorite spots in the comments, we'd love to read them!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by North Dakota Tourism. All of the opinions expressed are our own!

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Florida: Tide Pools at Sebastian Inlet

Last week, we visited the Sebastian Inlet State Recreation Area to play on the fishing pier, visit the museums, and work on their Junior Ranger program. At the time, it looked like everyone and their brother was at the tide pools, but a storm was rolling in, so we decided we needed to come back on another day to check it out.

The inlet is on A1A near Melbourne Beach, Florida. Located on the inland side of the barrier island, it is a good spot for little kids to hang out, because it is protected, mostly shallow, and has lots of sand bars. Then of course there are all of the rocks and crevices to explore for ocean life!

It isn't quite what I expected when I heard the term "tide pools," but that didn't make it any less fun to investigate. (I'm more apt to think of tide pools as the shallow sort you splash around in up to your ankles, like those in Washington and Oregon.)

There were crabs and lots of interesting fish, barnacles, limpets - and you weren't just looking at them from a distance, you were literally able to shimmy right up next to them.

We didn't see any manatees the day we were there, but from what I have read (and the signs with instructions on what to do if one comes near you), this must be a popular hangout for them.

This wasn't the cleanest beach I have been to (come on, people, clean up after yourselves!), but that is probably a reflection on how busy it can be. We were there at low tide, but I would venture it doesn't matter a lot. This was a really neat little spot to take the small ones to.

Admission is $8 per carload, and includes both sides of the park. There are camping areas available, as well. Come for the afternoon, or come for the weekend! You're sure to find lots to explore.

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Florida: Sand Key Park

We made our first trek to the western side of Florida this week, visiting the Gulf Coast and taking in some sun at Clearwater Beach. Clearwater has been named the Best Beach Town in the U.S. by a reader's poll in USA Today, and it is a title they wear with pride.

After driving along the beach, we found ourselves in Sand Key Park, a gorgeous little spot just down from the main beaches.

Sand Key Park was beautiful, less crowded, and had cheaper parking than the Clearwater beaches - completely ideal for our group.

(I later saw a review of the park that said, "Fantastic beach! Glad there wasn't any parking in Clearwater!" That is pretty much exactly how we felt.)

All day parking was $5. If you are local to the area or plan to visit often, annual parking passes are $75, or can be acquired free by completing 100 hours of volunteer service to the Parks & Conservation Resources Department. Learn more here.

It was so amazing, we spent more than five hours floating around in the water, collecting sea shells, checking out fish, and watching the boats go by.

Two of the boats we saw were SO exciting! We didn't get pictures of the dolphin tour going by, but it was really cool, and we might have to do it next time we hit the Gulf Coast. It was called Sea Screamer, and it was a huge yellow speed boat, with a pod of dolphins chasing along behind it in the wake. The people on the beach cheered as it went by! Super neat!

The second boat was a pirate ship that does cruises from Clearwater, called Captain Memo's. The littles in our group got really excited every time it went by. Everyone loves pirates.

The park features the same pristine white beaches and incredible clear gulf waters, along with lifeguards from March to September and amenities like changing rooms and umbrellas for rent. We trotted out our new beach tent for the first time, but the water was so amazing, we mostly looked at it from a distance!

We collected tons of gorgeous shells, and made these fun picture frames out of some of them to remember the day.

As the sun dipped low in the horizon, we went back into Clearwater for a seafood dinner by the water at a fun little place called Jimmy's Fish House and Iguana Bar. They take their sunsets seriously!

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Florida: McLarty Treasure Museum

The McLarty Treasure Museum is a small museum located on the southern edge of Sebastian Inlet State Park. It tells the story of the 1715 Plate Fleet (from the Spanish "plata," meaning "silver").

Eleven of 12 ships in a fleet sailing along the coast of Florida sank in a 1715 hurricane. Around 1500 survivors struggled to shore, their ships and cargo at the bottom of the ocean. Tragic, but it was what those ships were carrying that have fed lore for generations since.

During the 1500s, 1600s, and 1700s, the Spanish were digging vast quantities of silver and gold from Mexico and South America, then smelting it into ingots and coins and sending the riches across the Atlantic in wooden ships. Treasures of the New World were gathered, and Oriental rarities were collected from across the Pacific.

Each year, ships that had been gathering riches gathered in Cuba with a year's worth of loot and made the perilous journey north along Florida's east coast, then back to Europe. Spain used warships and forts to protect the ships from pirates, but they were no match for Mother Nature.

The survivors established a shelter, but many died of exposure and exhaustion. Within weeks, help came from the Spanish establishment in St. Augustine to the north, and workers came from Havana to begin the salvage effort. According to signs at the museum, the Spanish forced Indian slaves and hired experienced divers to retrieve the treasures from the bottom of the ocean.

The four years following the hurricane were a flurry of official and unofficial salvaging operations, along with pirates of various nationalities searching for - and stealing from each other - treasure. In the end, less than half the items listed on the ships' manifests could be extracted from the sand and silt and returned to Spain.

It would be 1928 before the wreckage of one of the ships, the Urca de Lima, was found. By strange fate, it would be another hurricane in the 1950s that would reveal additional archaeological spots. A second ship, El Capitana, was found, and by the mid-60s, modern findings would include silver pieces of eight, gold doubloons, silver and gold bars and plates, pearls, jewelry, rare Chinese porcelain, and countless everyday items used by passengers.

Centuries after the wreck, treasure hunters are still finding millions of dollars worth of riches at the site, and most of the ships remain hidden in the deep. Among those rumored to still be missing is the ship carrying the dowry meant for the Queen of Spain

You don't have to be a diver to get lucky here, either - beach combers with metal detectors have been known to find jewelry, coins, china and more along the shore. For this reason, this area is known as the "Treasure Coast."

The McLarty Treasure Museum is located on the National Historic Landmark site that marks the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet Survivors and Salvaging Camp. For a $2 admission per adult, you can browse a small collection of items that have been salvaged from the wrecks, view a video about the efforts, and step out onto the observation deck to look out over the ocean and imagine what lies beneath.

To feed the budding treasure hunter or learn more, check out "Pieces of Eight" by Kip Wagner. Why not grab an inexpensive metal detector and visit the nearby beach for a little hunting of your own?

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