Inexpensive Fun Family Day Trip Adventures

The summer is a great time to have family adventures. My family and I went on two recent day trips that were very memorable.

The first adventure was to Caladesi Island State Park. It is located just west of the Dunedin Causeway and you can only get there by boat.  We decided to rent a boat on Indian Rocks Beach (Island Marine Rentals) for the day and travel up the intracoastal. The boat ride was fabulous. Our girls were so excited to be on the boat, and it was a gorgeous sunny day. We were able to see dolphins and enjoy the scenery along the waterways.

We docked the boat at Caladesi Island marina.  We got there right around lunchtime, so we at ate our packed lunch at the picnic area. On the top of our girls list was to find “pretty” shells. We strolled up and down the beach and found very “pretty” shells.

We discovered not only can you walk the beach and just relax, but there are trails you can follow that have a variety of plant and animals along it.  We were lucky and saw gopher tortoises that were nesting. If you prefer kayaking, there are kayaks you can rent and enjoy and 3-mile mangrove kayak trail.  There’s also a park for the kids.  So there’s a lot to do on island or you can just relax and get a tan.

The cost to get on the island was $6 for our family. I would suggest checking out the fees online before you go. If you didn’t have your own boat to take you, you can always take the ferry service from Honeymoon Island State Park.  There is a fee for the ferry service. Click here for a coupon for $1 off the ferry service.)

Our next family adventure was to a farm just north of Tampa called Sweetfields farm.  We travelled there to pick vegetables and to go through a giant sunflower maze.  The maze was incredible. This particular farm has two mazes a year, a sunflower and a corn maze.  Both of the mazes are over right now, but the corn maze will be ready in the fall.

 

You can still enjoy the farm and pick vegetables and berries. This was the girls first time to a farm and their first time picking vegetables.  The vegetables were all organic. They were also very big.

The girls were so excited to pick their own vegetables. We picked squash and zucchini and cucumbers.  Right now in the u-pick fields are blackberries. You can pick your own fruits and vegetables on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The vegetables were delicious and our girls loved eating them because they picked them.

Two family day trips that were fun and ones we are ready to do again!