We are now starting week 4 of our extended Florida stay. We’re not sure what we should call this trip – it’s longer than a simple vacation but short of ‘wintering’ the whole season. We’re not ‘snowbirds’ because we don’t have property here, but we also aren’t tourists because we’ve spent so much time in Florida over the years.
Yesterday morning we packed up from our place in Lake Buena Vista, just outside Walt Disney World (above). Today we wake up in Gulfport, Florida – near the beaches & bays of St. Petersburg. We’ll be here for 16 days.
It’s quite as if we packed up from one vacation to go to another.
We came to Florida with just two suitcases, but we have since added a third. Our bags were pretty tight coming down, and we’ve done a bit of shopping along the way. Rather than keep cramming things in tighter & tighter, we’ll just pay the extra bag fee at the airline and keep things from getting smashed.
Related: Snowbird Packing
The weather in Florida is variable enough this time of year that you need to pack for several seasons. I’ve used my light winter jacket & gloves when temps were in the 30s three weeks ago. This weekend it will top 90 several days in a row. This has led to a little extra shopping.
Have you ever came home with more suitcases than you left with?
Image Credit: (c) MrFireStation.com; Hilton Tuscany Village
MrFireStation 
We have taken many trips to Florida and have missed two planned trip already due to Covid. We don’t normally fly. The last time we only used carry on for a short trip and didn’t purchase anything. Just brought back ourselves with tans and memories of fun in the sun.
It’s a long drive from the frozen north and we have used the Amtrak Autotrain a number of times to shorten the amount of time behind the wheel. The Autotrain runs from Lorton, VA (Washington, DC) to Sanford, FL (Orlando) ~17 hours. The train is unique as it takes both us and the vehicle. Not sure I would want spend 17 hours in a metal tube with a bunch of strangers these days 😦 However, in the past we got to meet many interesting people and had good experiences on the Autotrain. The cost of the train tickets have been going up the past few years and we did take it the last time we travelled.
The pros for driving is being more flexible and getting bring back a lot of stuff. My wife likes visiting the antique stores and flee markets so we have brought back many treasures that would be impossible on a plan. The negatives are of course the long long drive, and some white knuckle winter driving.
I think your don’t worry about cost and paying for the extra luggage is a great idea.
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The Autotrain! I was in Sanford FL just a couple weeks ago and saw a couple signs for it. Being from MN, I had never heard of it – even though I am a train fan. I looked it up online and thought it looked pretty cool. We’ve taken the overnight train (with sleeper car) in Europe and it worked really well. We were drinking whisky in Inverness after dinner and waking up in London the next morning. Being able to bring your car along on a trip like that would be terrific. No rental car when you get there and plenty of room to bring some extra stuff!
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Since you’re in my area, just have to tell you that the Van Gogh exhibit currently at The Dali is worth it. You do need advance tickets; they are limiting attendance. Enjoy this lovely weather!
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Good to hear from you, Pat, and thanks for the recommendation! We planned to visit the Dali Museum, but didn’t know this Van Gogh multimedia exhibit was there. Looks fun. Will definitely have to get tix!
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Shoot! Checked this morning and the Dali Museum is completely SOLD OUT for the whole month! I guess we have something for our itinerary next year!
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I’m so sorry about that. The museum is always a treat, but the Van Gogh special exhibit was really great. Only through this April, then it’s onto Indy I think.
Another thing to explore is Kayaking to Shell Key. I have not done but it’s on my try list. 🙂
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Alright … we’ll look that up for next week! 👍🏻
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We did get tix for the Chihuly exhibit. I’m a big fan of his work and minored in hot glass art in college.
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