Here we are, back in the Sunshine State for another winter vacation away from the cold Ottawa winter.
As I sit here typing this up, we're on our last night, and what an excellent vacation it has been, filled with fun each and every day.
We started by travelling to Syracuse, New York, on February 9 to fly out the next day with Allegiant Air. We've used them in the past out of Ogdensburg, but this time, because of the cost, we decided on Syracuse.
The flights cost us a little more than $650 CAD for the four of us, return to Clearwater, Florida.
Since we travelled to Syracuse the day before the flight, I used Park, Stay and Fly to book a room. It included a night at the hotel, parking for 10 days, and transportation to and from the airport.
Oh, and breakfast for the four of us.
For $129, that's a deal that's pretty hard to beat.
We arrived in Florida at about 1 p.m. Monday afternoon and headed to my parents' place. We didn't do too much that first day. It was mostly about relaxing after travelling, having a nice BBQ and sitting outside in temperatures considerably nicer than what we'd left behind in Ottawa.
Day 2 - John's Pass and Pirates
Day two had us heading to John's Pass near St. Pete Beach.
If you've never been, it's much like the tourist areas you'll find in just about any vacation destination. We've visited John's Pass many times during our trips to Florida, but this time we were doing something different.
We were going on a pirate cruise aboard The Pirate Ship.
And this was a blast.
The kids were completely entertained for an hour and a half while the adults enjoyed some free drinks.
Hard to complain about that arrangement.
Day 3 - Shopping and Golf
On day three, we all went our separate ways.
Jodi, Mom and the girls headed out shopping for the day at the Ellenton Outlet Mall and some other shops. The girls were able to spend some of the money they'd saved on new school clothes and random toys.
Dad and I joined six others and hit the links.
It was not a good day on the golf course for me, except for the cost. $39 for a round, including a cart and seven beers. As for the actual golfing, it was horrible. Definitely not on point — or in the hole — at all.
Man, oh man, those Floridians love having houses close to the fairways and my golf ball apparently loves those houses.
[GALLERY — original Day 3 photos]
Day 4 - State Fair Day
State Fair Day.
Day 5 - Valentine's Day
Shopping, pool and dance.
Day 6
Pool and dinner at family friends'.
Day 7
Pool and a large family dinner — ham, scalloped potatoes and all the fixings.
Day 8 - Siesta Key
Beach day at Siesta Key.
Day 9 - Back Home
And just like that, it was time to head back home.
Not a bad way to escape an Ottawa winter for a little while.
Looking back from 2026
There's one part of this trip that makes it feel considerably different looking back at it now.
This was February 2020 and COVID-19 was already in the news while we were travelling, but it still felt like something happening somewhere else. We were flying internationally, going to the Florida State Fair, shopping, eating out, golfing, packing onto a pirate boat and spending our days around pools and beaches. Everything still felt completely normal.
We had absolutely no idea just how quickly that was about to change.
Only a few weeks after we got home, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Borders tightened, schools closed, offices emptied, travel essentially stopped and we all became very familiar with phrases like "social distancing," "flatten the curve" and "two weeks."
Looking back, this ended up being our last completely normal family vacation before the world shut down.
That's probably what makes these pictures stand out to me now. At the time they were simply pictures from another Florida vacation — the kids having fun, visiting family, hanging around the pool and enjoying some February sunshine.
A few weeks later, normal looked very different.
We couldn't have known it while sitting on Siesta Key Beach, but we were right at the end of one chapter and about to stumble into a very strange new one.
