For our family trip this year, I had a few parameters: (1) visit a place I had never seen, (2) within driving distance of where we live, (3) that is relaxing, and (4) can comfortably fit the three of us. St. George Island fit the bill! Keith had visited twice with his family when he was younger so it would be nearly new to him (& new to me and H). It’s located five and half hours away in the Florida Panhandle on the Apalachicola Bay. It is an island full of vacation homes, beaches, a state park, and not much else. We found a vacation house with two bedrooms, a screened porch, and an outdoor shower so we had plenty of space.

 
To break up the drive and allow for maximum Hen-naps, we stopped at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park on our way up north to play at its Buccaneer Bay water park and eat lunch. There is a special area for kids 6 and under called Lil’ Mates Caribbean Cove, which is where we spent most of our time. Hen had fun sliding down the slide and crawling through the spray tunnel. For kids used to bigger splash pads it isn’t very exciting, but we had so much fun. We watched bigger kids and adults play in the spring and go down the flume slides, but it was too old for Henry. 

After swimming for a couple hours, we heard there was an animal show. We never made it because there was a super sweet playground on the way which was more immediately fun. After getting hot and sweaty, we made our way back to the car, only stopping to meet a real mermaid! Henry was not impressed, and a little scared. Next time we visit we will need to check out the mermaid show (if it’s back up and running) and the river cruise. It is definitely a gem of a park and worth a return visit.