Blogposts about our 2020 road trip to Florida are now complete. As with last year’s road trip Escape the Tundra – Finale, this post will provide an outline of where we went, what we saw and links to posts associated with each stop.

If you haven’t seen any of them, you may want to start at the beginning. Near the bottom of each post, there is a green link that will take you to the next one – it’s pretty simple to navigate. If you’ve seen some but not others, pick and choose from the list below. I’d also suggest a desktop or laptop rather than your phone so photos are a little larger. If you click on the first in a series, you can scroll through them by clicking the arrow. Enjoy!

Our itinerary:

Dodging the Deep Freeze 2020
This intro speaks to the fact that I’ve grown to dread three months of each year – the inspiration behind “Dodging the Deep Freeze.”

The Emerald Coast
Panama City Beach, FL (14 nights) Landmark Holiday Beach Resort. The Packers dash our Super Bowl dreams. Day trip to Destin, Grayton Beach State Park. Our first warning sign about gators, but no gators.

Pines, Swamps and Springs
Our stay in PCB continues with visits to Conservation Park, Vortex Spring, Ponce de Leon Springs State Park, and Morrison Springs.

Gator Lake*
Our stay in PCB continues with a visit to St. Andrew Bay and its State Park. You’d think with a name like Gator Lake, there would be gators – but no! (hence the asterisk). Plenty of Herons, so that sorta made up for it.

Farewell PCB
We finish up our stay in PCB with a trip to Camp Helen State Park.

The Scenic Route
Perry, FL (1) Hampton Inn. En route to our new home base, stops along our scenic route included: Port St. Joe, Cape San Blas Lighthouse, St. Joseph Point Lighthouse, lunch at the Owl Cafe in Apalachicola, St. George Island and its lighthouse, Crooked River Lighthouse, Bald Point State Park, St. Mark’s National Wildlife Reserve, and Cedar Key Museum. A long, but wonderful two days.

Island Living
St. Pete’s Beach, FL (6) Bluegreen at Tradewinds Resort. Lots of relaxing and “beach time.” Day trip to Fort De Soto.

Gardens and Glass
One of my favorite blogs: flowers, flamingoes and floats. Sunken Gardens, a stroll around the resort, and the Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg.

Between the Greens
Kissimmee, FL (7) Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort – West Village. Day trips to Celebration, a jaunt to Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park with gators!, and lots of down time.

Swan Lake
We continue our stay in Kissimmee, at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando.

The City Beautiful
Orlando, FL (7) The Fountains. Visits to: Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek, Kissimmee Lakefront Park, the Fountains’ Lake Eve and its wildlife and pools, the House of Blues at Disney Springs, Tibet-Butler Nature Preserve.

Drink, Dine, Relax, Repeat
Oranjestad, Aruba (14) La Cabana Beach Resort and Casino. Introduction to the island and some thoughts about us being beach and pool people.

Exploring Aruba
We continue our stay in Aruba in the Palm Beach area: Bubali Bird Sanctuary, bird-watching at the salt marshes, sunset cruise on the Jolly Pirate.

Up North
We rented a car to explore the north side of Aruba including: Arashi Beach, the California Lighthouse, Faro Blanco Restaurant, Chapel of Alto Vista, Baby Bridge, Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins, Baby Beach, and Charlie’s Bar and Restaurant in Sint Nicolaas.

It’s Party Time!
They know how to party at the Lighting Parade at Aruba’s Carnival, Arubian Taste, and the Kukoo Kunuku party bus.

The Capital City
We explored Oranjestad with an Aruba Downtown Walking Tour: Aruba’s oldest house of worship, the “I Heart Aruba” sign, the Aruba Parliament Building, Fort Zoutman, sculptures of eight blue horses, and more.

Back to the Sunshine State
Weston, FL (5) Vacation Village at Weston. Day trips to Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse, and a Shark Valley Tram Tour.

The Great Escape
We continue our stay in Weston with an airboat ride and live alligator show at Everglades Holiday Park. We stopped at Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum on our way north.

There’s No Place Like Home
Ormond Beach, FL (1) Casa del Mar. Ponce Inlet Lighthouse & Museum, St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum in St. Augustine, FL (7) (1) Grand Villas at World Golf Village. Originally seven nights, but left after only one to avoid the ‘rona.

Deep Freeze Recap
That about does it for this road trip! I can’t wait to get started on the next one!

Visit YouTube to see a slideshow of my favorite photos along with a song I love.

Happy trails,
Barb