We grabbed our eye patches and bandanas and headed to the beautiful waters of Treasure Island to start our Florida Pirate road trip! We chose a hotel on the beach so we could wake up to the soft sounds of crashing waves, and beautiful view of the Gulf Coast.
Our first morning began with breakfast on the beach and a treasure hunt. My husband custom-made a washed up treasure map in a bottle and a small treasure he buried with gold doubloon’s and costume jewelry. Our kids had a blast looking for the buried treasure.
Then we headed over to Historic John’s Pass to start the adventure off by sailing on a pirate ship filled with a crew of pirates and a captain. The pirate crew did a wonderful job entertaining the kids with an on-board treasure hunt, water gun battles, pirate stories, and they rocked the ship with the boom from the cannon.
The ship cruises Treasure Island waters and Boca Ciega Bay, which provides a wonderful opportunity to see dolphins. When the music starts, be prepared to let loose with your kids doing the limbo, and dancing the Macarena. The Pirate ship cruise is located off of John’s Pass Boardwalk which offers waterfront dinning, and shopping galore. After enjoying a pirate cruise and waterfront dining, head over to Hubbard’s Marina and look for a red and white light house to encounter chilling ghost stories about how the pirates haunt John’s Pass.
After the fun filled day of pirate encounters at John’s pass and Treasure Island, the kids should be passed out in the car snoring to tunes of “Yo Ho Ho a pirate’s life if for me.”
Now, start taking this family road trip inland to Tampa Bay to join the legendary pirate Jose Gasper, in spirit of course, for a good night's rest. Wake up and visit a beautiful replica of an exquisite pirate ship at Tarpon weigh station. Continue to Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Football Team, and meet their mascot, Captain Fear.
The main attraction inside the stadium, besides the football team, is the Buccaneers Cove, which hosts a 103-foot authentic replica of an early 1800’s pirate ship, complete with a crew to raise the sails, skull & crossed swords, a mouth that breathes smoke and eight cannons that release confetti, mini-footballs, and Buc’s merchandise into the stands. Even if you are not a football fan, this stadium is sure to entertain everyone in the family. Plus, this stadium is the future site Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.
Time for Day 3, which if you have involved your kids in the initial road trip planning, they know exactly what is on the itinerary for that day. Disney Orlando created a pirate attraction inspired by the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie and this one at Magic Kingdom takes you on an encounter with Barbossa and Captain Jack Sparrow. While waiting in line for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, we were surprised by a guest appearance of Jack Sparrow himself stumbling through the line and then climbing over a gate to stand up on a bench and started speaking to the crowd. I have no clue what he was saying as I was still in shock over the fact I was that close to the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow, the best pirate ever to set sea. Magic Kingdom in Orlando Florida has so much to offer pirate lovers on a Florida road trip.
After spending a full day at Disney, continue to the east coast of Florida and enjoy a nice relaxing day at Cocoa Beach. Then check out Cape Canaveral to view our modern day space pirates at Kennedy Space Center.
I am usually the family trip planner, but this time everybody gave their input on what they wanted to see and do. Therefore, the trip flowed peacefully and kept everyone’s interest the whole time. This Florida road trip is perfect for families with young children. Ship Ahoy!
Wow..... its great.
Posted by: Hewston | March 02, 2008 at 10:17 PM
Wow!! Absolutley fantastic.
Posted by: Cruise Deals 2011 | January 06, 2011 at 04:26 AM