Florida: 3 Wild Days with Kids in Bradenton/Sarasota

We did it! Our first official family vacation with two kids. Let me tell you, traveling as a family isn’t easy. My kids were (almost) 4 and 16 months and it was a struggle to balance our adventure with naps and childhood tempers. Once you have kids, you no longer take vacations. Instead, you take trips. Family travel is just parenting in another location. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun. It is a blast to discover new places and share the world with your children. This trip was in two parts. The first park was in the Bradenton/Sarasota area of Florida.

This was an amazing trip and I love all the pictures that I took in Florida. While I have a lot here, you can also check out my Instagram and my Florida 2020 highlight to see more (including some videos).

Getting To Florida

Flying with kids is really intimidating. I’ve done it enough times that I have learned a few tricks for keeping babies and toddlers entertained on an airplane. Hint, part of it is a LOT of snacks. We also often have early flights so the kids end up being really tired and will sleep a lot on the plane. That sure makes life easy. Plus, the flight from New York to Florida is only ab out 2-3 hours so it really wasn’t bad.

When we arrive in Tampa, we rented a car and drove to our Airbnb that we were renting in Bradenton, Florida. It was a gorgeous house in a nice neighborhood and it came with a pool. The first day there, all we did was hang out by the pool. This was our “travel day” and so we needed to rest and adjust to being away from home. I definitely recommend doing this when traveling with young kids. Having a whole house to stay at was also great for the kids (and our wallet) since we were able to cook their favorite foods and have more room to run around. We were living our best life for sure!

Florida Day 1

Robinson Preserve: Bradenton

Our first full day we decided to go hiking. We were visiting our good friend (and best man from our wedding) who had moved to Florida a couple years ago and wanted to take it easy the first day. So, we decided to explore the well maintained trails at the Robinson Preserve in Bradenton, Florida. It was a quick 5 minute drive from the house and was great for walking and talking. As the kids ran around and explored the new environment, we were able to catch up with our friend.

Click here for tips for hiking with a toddler and with a baby.

Another perk of these nice wide trails was that our youngest could spend time out of the pack and walk on his own, getting some of his energy out and exploring his new environment.

There was a really could observation tower that we climbed and amazing boardwalks for walking around this natural wonderland. It was such a great way to explore and see a lot of the area we were staying in. The tower was a big hit with our oldest and it was a lot of fun finding wildlife to point out.

We even found a little beach that was just perfect. There were tree branches to climb and animal footprints to examine. Since it was windy the whole time we were in Florida, this was the closest we got to hanging out on the beach. Honestly, I loved it and so did the kids. It was an absolutely perfect way to kick off this trip.

Florida Day 2

I started this day off with a quick 2 mile run to Bishop Point. It was gorgeous with amazing views. The rocks had a lot of barnacles on them so I was nervous about taking the boys there, but I’m glad that I did the run so I at least got to see this amazing panoramic water view.

Exploring Sarasota

On our second day in Florida, we took a little break from hiking, but not from exploring! We took a quick drive down to Sarasota for the day. I got a bunch of suggestions from a local mom and we had a great day (without spending much money too!).

The Ringling Museum

The day began at the Ringling Museum. It is free to walk around the grounds and the kids loved it there. We found secret gardens, hidden forests, and an awesome playground complete with one of the best sand pits I’ve ever seen. The museum is on the property that John and Mable Ringling (of the circus brothers) owned in Sarasota, Florida. They had an incredible mansion on the property and gardens to spare! If you want to explore the art museum or inside the mansion there is a fee, but the grounds were free to wonder.

If you are planning a trip to Bradenton and/or Sarasota, Florida with your kids I highly recommend The Ringling to get some energy out, see some amazing things, and have fun together as a family. Even if you are not a budget, this is a must stop for any family.

Downtown Sarasota

After leaving the museum, we drove to downtown Sarasota for lunch. Based on recommendations, we went to Poppo’s Taqueria. It was delicious! They made the tortillas right in front of us and you can taste the freshness in all their ingredients. A burrito and a beer was the perfect lunch after all that walking.

After lunch, we walked around downtown a little and down to the Sarasota Bayfront Park. There, we found another playground and some fun art to look at. The statues of playing kids were a favorite since our oldest could pretend to join them. Here was the first time I REALLY missed cloth diapers while on vacation since our 16 month old had a huge blowout. I knew it was coming since his digestion was messed up from the travel but the cloth usually contains it. On vacation we were using disposables so we ended up with an emergency shirt washing in the sink. Luckily, it was warm enough for him to run around shirtless! Check out my Instagram Florida 2020 highlights to see the hilarious cuteness.

Florida Day 3

Myakka River State Park

The entire time we were in Florida, my (almost) 4 year old kept asking if he could see alligators. “Can we go see alligators, Mommy?” I must have heard that a million times. So on our last full day in Bradenton, Florida we went hiking in Myakka River State Park. This is a huge park with tons of trails. We picked a trail that is one of the first on the road into the park and runs along the river. I was told that this was the spot we were most likely to see alligators. Right away after parking we were able to walk onto a bridge and see an alligator. On our hike along the river we ended up seeing at least 6 more which made our son’s day! He was so happy to see the “REALLY BIG” alligators (some of them were actually huge!). We also found palms to play with, trees to climb, and both boys loves exploring since it is such a different environment than they are used to back in New York.

Canopy Walk

From there, we went a little further down the road. There is a 45 minute nature walk that I had wanted to do, but the littlest was getting antsy so instead, we took a shortcut to the canopy walk. This was so cool. There are two towers connected by a suspension bridge through the forest canopy. It was a great way to see the park from above and learn more about the habitat. The second tower goes up 75 feet so you can look out over the top of the forest. The wind was crazy up there but it was totally worth it.

Florida Vacation Summary

These three days in Florida were WILD! We hiked two trails and explored all around the Bradenton/Sarasota area of Florida. We saw birds, alligators, turtles and more. For families like us that prefer to explore the natural areas while on vacation, this was a great location. There was so much more to do that we weren’t able to fit in since we were working around naps and generally exhausted children. Next time we visit, I want to return to Myakka and Robinson and have a huge list of other areas we didn’t get to see at all. Wild Florida is truly amazing and I can’t wait to go back.

We only had these three days because on day 4, we had to drive back up to Tampa to meet up with all our extended family and board a cruise ship to sail around the Caribbean! This was full of even more adventure. Stay tuned for more about our first family vacation: THE CRUISE! First, I wrote up our experience on the ship with my top tips for cruising with kids.

What do you like to do on vacation? Have any questions about our trip? Ask me in the comments below!

 

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