Alex thoroughly enjoyed his first flight from Boston’s Logan International to Ft. Myers Florida last week! We’d been talking about the trip almost every day for 2 weeks to get him excited about it. We parked the car at PreFlight Parking in Chelsea and hopped on the free shuttle. Once at the airport he could barely contain his excitement and didn’t sleep a wink on the 3.5 hour flight.
On the shuttle to Logan
Looking at our plane
After getting settled at Grammie & Papa’s house in Port Charlotte we made plans to visit Historic Spanish Point the next day. This 30 acre “outdoor museum” connects visitors to 5,000 years of history through beautiful walking trails, well preserved homesteads, and interpretative historical walks.
Our tour guide, Marilyn, gives us a brief orientation of where Spanish Point is, on the flank of Little Sarasota Bay
Alex hiked the entire 1.5 mile walk on his own
An ingenious invention, this orange sorter was a quick way to sort oranges according to size. Alex was enthralled by it…
Marilyn explained the process the homesteaders used to package the fruit before sailing it to Key West so that Steamers could take it all the way to New York City!
More trails!
Mary’s Chapel, originally built in the 1870’s, and more recently restored.
Some folks still get married here!
Spanish Moss, I discovered, is not really a moss at all, but an “air plant” that gets everything it needs to survive, you guessed it, from the air.
Inside one of the preserved pioneer homestead homes
Taking a breather
Some of the lush gardens
This 90 minute walking tour was well worth the price of admission!
General Admission: Free for Members (and kids under 5)
Adults and Teens $12.00 | Senior discount $2.00
Children ages 5-12 $5.00 | Guests accompanying Members $5.00
The next day we headed to Babcock Wilderness Adventures, “a 90-minute Buggy Tour through the Babcock Ranch and Telegraph Cypress Swamp. Experienced guides offer in-depth descriptions of birds, animals, plants, and the cattle and horses that are raised on the ranch.”
Open air bus
Gator’
Cypress Swamp
Short boardwalk through a section of Cypress Swamp
Alex gets to touch an alligator
How many alligators can you see?
Getting tired
Classic lunch spot
While admission wasn’t completely unreasonable, I noticed most people in line had taken advantage of a Groupon offer. I should always remember to check Groupon for these types of deals!
Without a coupon:
(Eco-Tour (1.5 hours): Adults (ages 13+) $24.00(plus tax)
Seniors (ages 65+) $23.00(plus tax)
Children (ages 3-12): $16.00(plus tax)
Babies (ages 0-2) FREE
We filled out the rest of our time in SW Florida with trips to some excellent public playgrounds in both Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda.
A short trip to downtown Venice, FL rewarded us with an excellent Italian eatery, Made in Italy. This is a fun town to walk around in with great shops and beaches.
After a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal we headed for home. Alex was excited to fly again, but this time slept for about half the flight.
Our plane!
Almost home!
I’ll post up a separate “Tips for Flying with a Toddler” in a few days. We feel like we were quite successful with only a few bumps, and look forward to sharing what we learned with you!
Adventure with Alex 
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