We had some time to kill on our last day between our rental check out and our flight home so we decided to go to the Key West Aquarium. Aquariums are always a family favorite and we’ve been to some great ones across many states and countries. The Key West Aquarium is small but worthwhile. They pack a lot of punch in their small space and do some important conservation work. The Key West Aquarium was celebrating its 90 year anniversary when we were there. Opened in 1935, it was both the island’s first tourist attraction and the country’s first …

Last on our list of water-based activities in Key West was parasailing. My boys had gone parasailing years ago in Ocean City, MD but were eager to go again, and the friends we were traveling with had never been. On our walk back from the Hemingway House we stopped by the marina behind Opal Key where we had taken our jet ski tour. Fury also had a parasailing booth there and we purchased tickets for a late afternoon tour. We decided that only the kids would parasail, the moms would ride along, and the dads would go entertain themselves. Fury …

Writer Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West for about 10 years, and his Spanish Colonial home is now a museum and National Historic Landmark. Built in 1851 and purchased for the Hemingways in 1931, the house was in poor condition and required major restorations when they moved in. Tickets were a little pricey at $19 per person, which made me a little less upset that 3 of the 4 boys hadn’t joined us. Included tours start every 15 minutes and last 20-30 minutes, or you can wander the house and grounds on your own. We chose to wander. The home …

After two days of on-the-water adventures, we decided to take a beach day. While Key West has incredible turquoise blue waters, the beaches themselves leave a little something to be desired. The amazing coral reef that surrounds the island blocks the ocean’s waves and keeps sand from washing up on shore and creating beaches. While there are no naturally occurring beaches, Key West has several man-made beaches. The beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park is widely recognized as the best beach in Key West. There is a fee to enter the state park – $6 per vehicle plus 50 …

My youngest son turned 16 this year and, as he told me many times, had reached the magical age where he was allowed to operate a jet ski. All he wanted for his birthday was to go jet skiing. Unfortunately, his birthday is in January which is decidedly not jet ski season in North Carolina. So when the boys were a little disappointed that our ski trip was canceled, I quickly researched jet ski options in Key West and found that they were plentiful. The second I told my youngest that he could jet ski in Key West, snow skiing …

There is no shortage of snorkeling tours to choose from in Key West. And most of them include free adult beverages. (This is Key West after all.) From morning tours with mimosas to afternoon tours with unlimited cocktails, it was easy to satisfy both your snorkeling and your drinking needs (but only after you finished snorkeling!). Since we were with our kids and are well past our party-boat days, we ignored the beverage options and prioritized the boat ride and snorkeling part of the experience. We chose the Key West Sailing and Snorkeling Reef Adventure with a company called FishMonster …

We have been going to Hilton Head for over 10 years now. For many years when the kids were young, we filled our visits with activities. From Vanishing Island boat rides to pirate ship adventures, we kept the little kids busy! In recent years, we have spent most of our time relaxing at the beach or in the pool at our rental house. This year, we decided to get out for an adventure again. With teenage boys, we were looking for something a little more active / adventurous than a typical dolphin cruise or kayaking trip. The various water sports …

We spent the last of our 6 Florida theme park days at Magic Kingdom. The timing of our day revolved around our spot in the Virtual Queue for TRON. We had a much lower group number (40) for TRON than we had for Guardians of the Galaxy (100) two days earlier. That meant our estimated callback time was earlier – 11:30 am. This was a pretty good time for teens – not so early that they grumbled over not sleeping late enough but not so late that the parents were itching to go. We actually got the alert that our …

We headed to Animal Kingdom on our third Disney day. After two days of speeding through lines at Universal with their Express Pass and two days of crawling through Disney lines, we decided to splurge and purchase Genie+ for our Animal Kingdom day. Our priority in Animal Kingdom was Avatar Flight of Passage and that wasn’t even available as part of Genie+. That ride had to be purchased as an Individual Lightning Lane at $20+ per person. There was no way we were paying for that so we opted to try to minimize our overall waiting by spreading out our …