Our 2024 Recap- A Year of Learning & Adventure
Welcome to our 2024 recap! We’ll be updating this post throughout the year to recap our 2024 adventures. Along the way, we’ll learn all about the world around us!
This year we have trips planned to Alabama, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, Delaware, and New Jersey. We’ll also be visiting the Florida Keys, and Disney World, and taking a cruise to The Bahamas.
One of our main goals this year is to collect stamps in our National Park passports so you’ll see lots of National Park sites on our itineraries this year.
Table of Contents
Let's Dive into the 2024 Recap!
January
[Jacksonville Zoo] [Fort Clinch] [Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve]
We celebrated the New Year by selecting our destination for our 2024 Christmas trip. We placed the names of all of the states the kids have not visited, yet, in a New Year’s top hat. Each kiddo got to select one state. They selected West Virginia, Oregon, and Minnesota. With the options narrowed down, we put the 3 states back into the hat and drew one of them to include in our Christmas itinerary.
We ended up selecting West Virginia. I spent the month of January planning our adventure. Our trip will take us to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and DC. Wait until you see all of the cool stuff I have planned!
January brought along the winter sports season. The boys started flag football and all 3 kids began tball/softball. We ended up being all the ballpark 5 days a week!
We still managed to squeeze in some fun, though. Smiley turned 10 years old! We celebrated by visiting the zoo with some friends, attending a laser light show, hitting up a bounce park, and going to the movies.
Later in the month, we visited Fort Clinch, one of our favorite state parks! Fort Clinch is one of the best-preserved 19th-century fortifications in the US. The Civil War era fort was a vase for Union operations in the area.
When we visited, it was pretty cold out so we had the fort all to ourselves! We got to chat with a Union soldier who answered all of our questions. As always, the kids had a great time running around the fort pretending to be soldiers.
While we were there, we picked up our new Florida State Park Pass so we can check out more Florida State Parks this year.
Did you know we have a National Park in our backyard? Cedar Point, part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the house. The Timucuan Preserve hosts weekly guided hikes (or events). We gathered up a few friends to do the Cedar Point Hike. We met up with Ranger Josh for a 2-hour, 2-mile walk through the woods. We learned about the ecosystems and history of the area.
The hike included a visit to the Fitzpatrick Ruins, the remnants of an 18th-century plantation. It was neat to hear about the history of the people who lived there- including the story of 2 slaves who escaped!
I hope we’ll be able to check out more of these guided hikes before the weather heats up. It’s always nice to get outside and explore with the babes.
February
Over President’s Day weekend, we packed up the kids (and the pups!) and headed up to North Carolina to visit Ashley’s side of the family. On the way, we stopped by Congaree National Park. The park is one of the newest national parks in the country. It preserves the largest tract of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. While we were there, we explored the boardwalk and Firefly Trail. It was an excellent place to stop for lunch and give everyone a chance to stretch our legs!
Congaree National Park is known for their annual synchronous firefly movement. We visited during the day time, so we didn’t get to see any fireflies, but I bet it’s quite a sight to see!
While we were in North Carolina, we visited Alexander’s Ford, which is part of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. In 1780, the Patriot militia camped here en route to Fort Ninety Six. This would be their final camp with the full militia together as 2 days later, several of the militia were killed during the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Battle of Kings Mountain was the first patriot victory to occur after the British invasion of Charleston.
Later in the month, we headed back to Fort Clinch (can you tell it’s one of our favs?). This time, instead of hanging out at the fort, we chose to skim the beach for shark teeth. Although we came up empty-handed, we still had a blast!
March
[Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site] [Providence Canyon State Park]
[Jimmy Carter National Historical Park] [Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens] [Universal Orlando Resort]
To kick off our Spring Break, we took a quick trip out to Alabama to visit a friend of ours. Our first stop was the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. I was impressed with how kid-friendly the site was. The kids enjoyed crawling into a “cockpit”, listening to information on telephones, and signaling for planes to land. The site had several airplanes, parachutes, uniforms, and other memorabilia from the Red Tails. The museum was extremely well done.
The next morning we got up and headed to Georgia where we hiked Providence Canyon State Park. The canyon was created after years of bad farming practices created massive erosion in the area. The park showcases just how much impact humans can have on our planet.
Several days of heavy showers made the trails muddy as hell, but we didn’t let it stop us. We strapped on our hiking boots (or our messiest of shoes) and hiked down to the floor of the canyon.
Let me tell you, this place is a kid’s dream! The babes had an absolute blast going in and out of slot canyons, climbing up the clay hillsides (where it was allowed), and splashing in the puddles.
All in all, we hiked 2 miles. I am so glad we visited when it was cooler (in the low 80s). This place would be scorching hot in the summer!
We also stopped by Jimmy Carter’s National Historical Park while we were out that way. We were all extremely impressed with how well done this park was. In fact, it might just be one of my favorites we’ve ever done!
We started off with a visit to Jimmy Carter’s Boyhood Farm. We were able to tour the home, visit the family’s shop, and stroll around the property. Even better, the farm was pet-friendly so LB and Parker were able to walk around with us. They got up close and personal with guinea hens and horses.
We thought it was really neat that Jimmy Carter narrated several of the information stations scattered around the farm. It was cool to hear him tell us about his life.
Plains High School, where Jimmy Carter once attended, now serves as a visitor’s center. We were able to visit the Principal’s Office (without even getting in trouble!), classrooms, and the auditorium.
This site was also pretty interactive. The kiddos got to sit in student desks, sit at the Presidential desk, examine relics from his presidency, and learn about his accomplishments.
While we were in Plains, we got to see the Carter Compound, where the former president now lives. We also so the First Lady’s childhood home and her garden. I’m really glad we made the stop!
New triplet tigers were born at our local zoo, and we couldn’t wait to meet them! While we were still on Spring Break, we visited the Jacksonville Zoo to see Mina, Machli, and Beppy. Every time we visit the zoo, we also make sure to see Banks (a baby Jaguar) and Kevin (a 2-year-old gorilla). The kids have enjoyed watching the babies grow!
For our last adventure of the month, Smiley and I went down to Universal Orlando Resort (better known as Univeral Studios). It was so great spending time with just her! We had an absolute blast riding the rides, sipping on Butterbeer and checking out the theme park.
April
[Huguenot Memorial Park] [Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens] [Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sancturary]
In April, we celebrated the kiddo’s Gotcha Day. We took a trip to their favorite beach, went to the movies, ate at our favorite taco place, and had delicious ice cream.
Later in the month, the whole fam-damily joined my parents at our favorite campground. The kids spent hours splashing around in the lagoon and pool.
Stinky had a little accident at school that required stitches, which caused him to miss a field trip to Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary. On the day that he had the stitches removed, he and I went to the Zoo (per his request) and to Catty Shack, since he missed out. It was great spending the day together!
May
In May, we were hosted by Wild Adventures Theme Park. We were impressed with everything that the park had to offer. The kids had an absolute blast on all of the rides- there was something for everyone! The park is also home to several animals that we got to interact with. Not only did we enjoy a safari ride, but we also got to feed birds and alligators and visit with giraffes.
The kid’s favorite part of the park was the water park. The waterpark boasts several slides, a wave pool, a lazy river, and a splash bad. It was a fantastic day and we can’t wait to go again!
Like the Floridian’s that we are, we spent most of our weekends at the beach soaking up the sun and playing in the sand.
June
Brace yourself, June was a busy month for us! With school out for summer, the kids and I stayed incredibly busy. We filled our weekdays with trips to the zoo, the Hanna Park splash pad, and local adventures and crammed our weekends full of beach days and boat days.
We channeled our inner-farmers and picked blueberries and played with chickens at Blueberry Ranch, and went on a hike with about 20 goats at Jaybird Hammock Farm.
We also put our Florida State Park pass to good use by visiting 3 new-to-us state parks! Our first park was Gold Head Branch State Park. The babes explored the park by bike, hiked the trails (we even got up close and personal with a deer!), and went swimming in one of the park’s lakes.
Later in the month, we went to Key Largo with some friends. While we were in The Keys, we stopped by Windley Key Fossil Reef State Park to learn about the quarry and Henry Flagler’s Railroad.
We also popped by the nation’s first underwater park, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Unfortunately, the water was too choppy for us to be able to enjoy a glass-bottom boat ride, but we made the best of our visit by spending some time at the beach.
Our house in Key Largo was located right on a lagoon, so much of our time was spent swimming, snorkeling, and paddleboarding in our backyard.
One of the most popular things to do in The Keys is feed tarpon, something I have done previously in Belize. I thought the kids would get a real kick out of it. Most people head to a place called Robbie’s to do this, but after checking out their web cam and seeing how busy they were, we opted to feed the fish at Bud n’ Mary’s instead. We had the whole place to ourselves! The kids had so much fun feeding the massive fish. We even saw a gazillion nurse sharks!
On the way home from The Keys, we popped into Biscayne National Park to collect yet another passport stamp. With a long drive ahead, we opted not to do a boat ride (boooooo!) and ended up just doing a little swimming while we were there. I guess this gives us a reason to return, right?
Sites Visited in 2024
Florida
South Carolina
North Carolina
- Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens
- Fort Clinch State Park
- Timucuan National Preserve
- Universal Orlando Resort
- Huguenot Park
- Hanna Park
- Gold Head Branch State Park
- Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
- Biscayne National Park
- Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
Alabama
Georgia
- Auburn University
- Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
- Providence Canyon State Park
- Jimmy Carter National Historical Park
- Wild Adventures Theme Park
2024 Recap Numbers
Number of States Visited This Year: 5
Number of Other Countries Visited This Year: 0
Number of Florida State Parks: 4
Number of National Park Sites: 6
Number of Buc-ee’s Stops: 4
Number of Miles Traveled: 3474.3 miles
Our 2024 Goals
Goal
Progress
- ✅Visit the Keys
After living in Florida for over 32 years, I FINALLY made it down to The Keys! While I usually prefer beach holidays in the Caribbean, I was pleasantly surprised by The Keys. I have a feeling we’ll be back!
- Hit the High Seas
Unfortunately, our cruise for this year was canceled, but…there will be more cruises in the future.
- Visit More National Parks
We plan on visiting at least 10 National Park sites this year. We’ve added them to all of our US itineraries. So far, we’ve visited the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Congaree National Park, Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park, and Biscayne National Park.
- ✅Hit up the Theme Parks
Smiley and I took a field trip with her TOT group down to Universal Studios in March. In May, the kids and I went on a sponsored trip to Wild Adventures Theme Park.
Disney World and Hershey Park are all also on our itineraries for this year!
- ✅Add a New State to the List of Places We’ve Been
The kids made their first trip out to Alabama over Spring Break. Later this year they’ll visit: West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey for the first time.
- ✅Plan Our Christmas Trip
I spent the month of January mapping out our Christmas trip. It will take us to all of the above-mentioned states (except for Alabama).
- Accrue Airline Miles
We plan on saving up airline miles so we can fly somewhere next year.
- Increase Instagram Followers By 10% (6741)
- Increase Blog Traffic by 25% (168.212)
- Add content for 1 state and 2 countries
So far we’ve added content for St. Maarten and South Carolina. Just one more country to go and we’ll meet this goal.
The 2024 Recap for the Blog
Top 5 Posts
Nerdy Numbers
New Posts: 16
Traffic Increase: TBD
Estimated Miles Traveled: 2274
Updated: 3/30/24
Annual Focus
New Pages
- Iceland
- National Park Sites
- Florida State Parks
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