Over spring break my family and I took a trip to our condo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This was an amazing trip that we didn’t let coronavirus affect. Since we did so many amazing things throughout the week that I want to be able to tell you guys all about while not making this post too long, I decided to split it into two parts. In this post, I will focus on the first half of the week. Each day throughout the week we took little trips to see some great places in the mornings and then spent our afternoons at the beach and pool.

The Beach at the condo

On Saturday morning my family and I left our house at 3 a.m. to make it to JFK airport (which is an hour away) for out 6:30 a.m. flight to Fort Lauderdale. After trouble getting tags for our bags and long lines we just made the flight as they called the final boarding call. During the 2 1/2 hour flight I listened to music and slept.

Flying to Fort Lauderdale

Once we landed in Fort Lauderdale I was so excited to be there. After retrieving our bags and getting our rental car we headed to breakfast at the pier near the condo. I ordered my usual, chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries on top and a side of bacon. After an amazing breakfast, we went to the condo and spent the rest of the day at the beach and in the pool and hot tub.

On the second day, we went to a place called Lion Country Safari. My family and I love to come here every year. This drive-through safari has so many amazing animals like giraffes, zebras, rhinos and so much more that walk right up to the car. After the safari, we go to the small amusement park and petting zoo that is also there.

Rhinos at Lion Country

Feeding birds at the petting zoo

On Monday, our third day in Fort Lauderdale, we went to Flamingo Gardens. As you could probably guess they have flamingos there but they also have so many more cool animals as well as other amazing natural sights on this historic property. We took a tour of the property and fed the flamingos and other animals.

Flamingo Gardens

On our fourth day in Fort Lauderdale, Tuesday, we spent our day on the beach relaxing and enjoying the warm water. After spending the day at the beach we went on a cruise called the Jungle Queen down the New River in Central Fort Lauderdale. I mentioned this cruise in my blog post about my last trip to Fort Lauderdale but this time there were so many new sights to see. The cruise brought us down the New River past the section of homes referred to as Millionaire’s Row and other multi-million dollar homes. Every year I look forward to seeing these $20 million + homes and hearing about the people that own them. Some of the most incredible homes belong to big CEO’s like the CEO of Ray-ban as well as the producer of the show Miami Vice, and athletes such as Tiger Woods, amongst other celebrities.

Beautiful homes on the canal

Beautiful multi-million dollar yachts

Fun Fact: Florida has been referred to as “the yachting capital of the world”

I hope you enjoyed the first half of my spring vacation blog, come back next week to hear about the rest of this incredible week. Below is also a rlly cool GoPro montage I made from clips I took throughout the week.

Growing up I spent most of my summers at my family’s beach house in Long Beach Island, NJ. One of my first blogs was about my time in LBI for my 18th birthday, but this week I want to tell you guys all about my favorite places on LBI.

My family has owned our beach house for many years, but in 2012 it was ultimately destroyed due to flooding from Hurricane Sandy. The floods caused the house to fill up with four feet of water throughout. After a really long renovation process, we also made the decision to raise the house to prevent further tragedy in possible future natural disasters.

Our beach house

While you could probably tell from previous blogs, the beach is most definitely my favorite place to visit, I’ve also found some really cool spots on Long Beach Island. One of my favorite places to go is Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. I often go there with my family to see the lighthouse and walk along the fishing pier to the end where there’s a really nice beach with tons of shells and a great view of the lighthouse. We usually spend a really long time here because there’s so much to see.

Barnegat lighthouse

Some nights we go to a small amusement park in LBI called Fantasy Island. This amusement park has a whole bunch of rides and an arcade too. My siblings and I have been going here ever since we were little so this has been a really big part of my trips to LBI.

Fantasy Island Amusement Park

Thundering Surf Waterpark is also another place that I’ve loved to visit when I spend time in LBI. My niece and I love to go on the waterslides and ride on tubes down the lazy river. After spending the day at the waterpark were usually exhausted and end up going back to the house to relax.

Waterslides at Thundering Surf

As I mentioned before, I always look forward to just spending time on the beach with my family. I’ve been going to LBI since I was a baby and each and every summer my family and I spend many days of our time down in LBI at the beach for hours at a time. Beach days are what my family and I look forward to the most because even though we live 5 minutes away from the beach at home, it’s just different on LBI.

The beach at the end of our street

Another great part of Long Beach Island is the amazing food. I love to go to the Blue Water Cafe or Dockside Diner for breakfast. Some of my favorite restaurants for dinner include The Beach House, Howards, and Robertos. I also like to go to Rita’s for Italian ices.

My Favorite Restaurant in LBI

Trips to LBI have been a big part of my summers my whole life and I look forward to spending as much time there as possible each and every year. This year I’m so excited that I’ll get to see my college friends on Long Beach Island. One of my best friends here at Penn State also has a beach house in LBI just 5 minutes away from mine. I’m so excited!