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Athens photo dump + photo tips (SAVE + SHARE this Athens photo dump + photo tips (SAVE + SHARE this post)! Also get you a tripod, mine is also a selfie stick which I love. It’s literally the single item I use to take our videos and photos 90% of the time. You can set your phone on a timer for photos or use a Bluetooth clicker, I’ll link it in my bio! 

Always shoot with your back camera and with the sun facing you! I personally use Lightroom to edit all of our photos and for videos I edit in splice, VN or capcut.

Last but not least shout out to @vavaasatisfaction for this hair, my girl did that and I’ll def be running this style back!
Things to Do and Where to Eat with 48 Hours in Hou Things to Do and Where to Eat with 48 Hours in Houston with kids #AD @traveltex (SAVE + SHARE this post):

1. Visit the Cockrell Butterfly Garden

2. Explore the Houston Space Center

3. Walk along the paths at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center

4. Check out all the rooms at Color Factory

5. Eat at @Gatlin’s BBQ (Black-owned) and be sure to arrive early as they close at 6pm

6. Try the Brisket at @TruthBBQ

7. Eat ribs at @thepitroom

Have you been to Houston? What other recommendations do you have? 

#GetYourOwnTripToTexas #NationalBBQMonth
Hello Houston! It’s #NationalBBQMonth so what be Hello Houston! It’s #NationalBBQMonth so what better place to experience it than here. #AD @TravelTex 

We’re excited to eat our hearts through the city! If you live in or have been to Houston, what are your recommendations for BBQ places we have to eat at while here? 

SAVE + SHARE this post for your own foodie trip to Houston #GetYourOwnTripToTexas
24 Hours in Athens (SAVE + SHARE this post): We l 24 Hours in Athens (SAVE + SHARE this post):

We landed at 10:30am the day before boarding our cruise and hit the ground running. The best way to get over jet lag is to get on the current time zone immediately so that meant no time for sleep as we needed to stay up. 

🇬🇷 2:00pm Traditional Greek food tour with @foodaroundathens 

🇬🇷 6:00pm: Walk around the neighborhood of Anafiotika 

🇬🇷 7:00pm: Went to the top of the hill near the Acropolis for sunset

🇬🇷 8:30am: Self-guided Acropolis visit

🇬🇷 10:00am: All about Athen e-bike tour with @athensbybiketours

🇬🇷 1:00pm: Lunch at @hoocut for one of the best gyros we’ve had

🇬🇷 2:30pm: Head to the cruise port!

Yes we’re crazy but also we got right on the time zone and were good to go the rest of the trip plus we made the most of our time in Athens!

Do you hit the ground running if you land in a new time zone during the day to beat jet lag or do you sleep and take time adjusting? We love the app Timeshifter to help with jet lag management!
Athens - Boarding Virgin Voyages - Santorini - Rho Athens - Boarding Virgin Voyages - Santorini - Rhodes - Bodrum - Mykonos

What an amazing sailing it was! 10/10 recommend!

Let me know any questions you have and tag who you want to go on this cruise with!
Couples Posing Ideas (SAVE + SHARE this post): So Couples Posing Ideas (SAVE + SHARE this post): So we absolutely suck at posing but here are some amazing poses @geraldhazizi helped us with during our short photoshoot with him in Santorini. I will be using these as references moving forward lol, I love how they turned out. 

We used my phone and tripod most of the trip to capture images or asked fellow cruisers but I’d say this professional shoot in Santorini was worth it. Our session started at 10am so not super early at all, Gerald knew all the best spots and how to avoid the crowds!

Which pose is your favorite?
Tips for sailing on @VirginVoyages Resilient Lady Tips for sailing on @VirginVoyages Resilient Lady (SAVE + SHARE this post):

1. Download the app, it is essential to make your bookings, see what’s going on during your sail, etc.

2. There are 6 speciality restaurants on board for dinner (these are all included in your voyage at no extra cost 🙌🏾). Reservations open 45 days before sailing & are available from 6pm-10pm. If you can’t get a reservation for the day/time you want, don’t worry there are walk-in spots available and we did this many days when we decided to eat at more than one restaurant a night.

3. Be sure to check out the ship activities prior to sailing to pack appropriately for themed nights. Every sailing has a Scarlet Night where you wear red but our sailing also had a pajama party and 80s party and people really dress up!

4. Virgin Voyages doesn’t offer drink packages but they do offer a Bar Tab. You can purchase $300 in advance and get a $50 bonus and this credit can be used for anyone else in your cabin or even friends/family in another cabin so every person doesn’t need one and you don’t have to use it all on yourself. The drinks are very reasonably priced so just be careful getting too much in advance as you can’t use the credit on anything else on board. Beer is as low as $5, a glass of wine $7 and mixed drinks $9 plus tip is included! Soda and non-pressed juices, tea and regular coffee is free on the ship so you won’t have to spend anything on that!

5. Spa services book quickly and can’t be made until you get on board so head straight to the spa to book any appointments you want and note there is a 24 hour cancellation window so if plans change be sure to cancel in advance or you’ll be charged for the full service.

6. Reservations for a time slot for embarkation are required so check in as soon as possible to snag an early time and enjoy the ship longer!

Listen, a time was had on this cruise! Swipe for a cabin tour, food from some of the restaurants on board, and live music. I have more tips coming in a part 2 so let me know if there is anything specific you want me to cover on my next post! Tap the link in my bio for $200 onboard credit if you book a sailing on any Virgin Voyage!

The Traveling Child

If kids live there, kids can visit!

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5 Days in Fort Myers & Sanibel Island

July 22, 2018      Destinations, Florida, North America

This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please see our disclosure policy for more information. All opinions are my own.

If you are considering a trip to Florida, Fort Myers & Sanibel Island should be at the top of your list! There are so many things to do in Fort Myers & Sanibel Island; whether you are traveling to the area with kids, to get married, or spend alone time with your significant other there is something to do for everyone. We recently spent 5 days exploring Fort Myers & Sanibel Island with kids and here is our itinerary.

dad and daughter watching dolphins from boat
You May Be Interested in Reading: Tips for Taking Vacation Photos

We visited Fort Myers & Sanibel Island on a sponsored press trip but all opinions are my own.

When We Visited Fort Myers & Sanibel Island

We visited Fort Myers & Sanibel Island the week of 4th of July. If you’ve never experienced the Florida heat please do prepare yourself with plenty of sunscreen, hats and sunglasses.

How to Get to Fort Myers & Sanibel Island

Since we live in South Florida we took a short 2.5 hour road trip to Fort Myers & Sanibel Island. If you are traveling here out of town there is an airport in Ft. Myers, the Southwest Florida International Airport, which is serviced by Air Canada, America, Eurowings, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Silver, Southwest, Spirit, United and Westjet. However, this airport could be more expensive to fly into and with its close proximity to both Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa International Airports it would make sense to check flights into all three to determine which would be cheaper as renting a car would be necessary regardless of the airport you fly into.

Stay at the Best Hotel in Fort Myers: Pink Shell Beach Resort

We stayed at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina and when they say the only thing they overlook is the beach they mean it. This was the best hotel we have ever stayed in. They have condominium style rooms which we love as they give our family much more space plus amenities like a full kitchen if we choose to stay in and cook. You can read my full review on the property here.

 

 

The Perfect 5 Day Fort Myers & Sanibel Island Itinerary

Day Zero: Check-In to Pink Shell Beach Resort & Movie Night

After driving to Ft. Myers Beach after work we checked into our hotel and had dinner on site at Bongos.

A few nights a week the hotel has movie nights by the pool. Tonight’s movie was catered to younger kids, it was Sherlock Gnomes. Since it was raining they moved the movie indoors but still had the free popcorn that’s made fresh from their popcorn machine. The night before Justice League was playing, so their movies catering to multiple age groups.

Day One: Dolphin + Shelling Tour and The Bubble Room in Captiva

Our first full day started bright and early with Captain Randy who took us on a Dolphin and Shell Tour. His boat ramp is located on Captiva Island which is at the end of Sanibel about a 45-min drive from the hotel with a $6 cash only toll to cross the bridge. The drive was so worth it, it is was by far the best wild animal encounter we have ever had. We saw dozens of Dolphins throughout our day, many who followed the waves of the boat for 20+ minutes, constantly jumping in and out of the water.

 

After being wowed by the Dolphins Captain Randy took us to a secluded island where we could collect shells. There was literally only one other family of four there and it was so nice basically having the entire beach to ourselves. The whole beach was filled with shells of all shapes, sizes and colors.

toddler girl holding shells in her hand on the beach  beautiful shells

When our trip with Captain Randy was over we were hungry so we headed to The Bubble Room. If you make it to Capitva Island you must eat here, it is truly an experience like no other. After we ordered we walked around the 3-story, 5 dinning room restaurant to look around. I don’t even know how to explain all that is in the restaurant but it more than kept the girls entertained while waiting for our food. Be sure to save room for dessert, it’s definitely the 2nd best thing they offer after the décor.

​Day Two: Bike Ride to Sanibel Light House & Zoomers Fort Myers

We love renting bikes and seeing cities through riding around so when we found out there was a bike path to Sanibel Lighthouse and Beach we knew that would be the way for us to get there. We drove over to Sanibel Island and rented bikes from Billy’s Rental. Billy’s rents a wide range of bikes including those with baby seats, single-speed, trailer attachments for kids and even the weehoo that we rented and used to have Jordyn ride with me. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. She was able to pedal too but not be cooped up in a trailer and feel like she was contributing.

mom and daughter riding backs with little girl being pulled on her small bike by mom

We did a 2-hour rental, which was enough time for us to ride to the Lighthouse, hang out for an hour and ride back. For the two bikes with children’s seat, the rental cost was $27 and they do provide helmets if you need them.

After all of our hard work biking through Sanibel Island it was time for lunch! We decided on The Island Cow, a cute little restaurant just two minutes from the bike rental shop. There are literally cows all over the restaurant, both inside and out and the girls were fascinated by the décor.

We headed back to the hotel and the girls took a nap while us adults relaxed for a bit. When they woke up we headed to Zoomers Amusement Park and had such a fun night. Zoomers has go-karts for adults and kids, kiddie rides, mini golf, water boats and an arcade.

mom and daughter go-karting

You can purchase tickets individually or you can buy a wristband for unlimited rides. Since a lot of the rides are geared towards kids you can buy a companion pass, which is much cheaper and allows you to go on rides as long as you are accompanying a child. There is only 1 ride for kids under 36” so if you are bringing a younger child know they can only go on the train and play arcade games.

​Day Three: Hotel Activities- Parasailing, Jet Skis, Beach, Pool and Escape Room

The Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina has so many activities on-site that we knew we wanted to spend at least one day enjoying everything they had to offer. We started the day Parasailing with Estero Island Parasail which we were able to book directly on the beach at our hotel.  Up to 3 people can fly together but only Jordyn and my husband went, Kennedy and I watched. Adults are $80 while children under 10 are $55 and if you want to go along for the ride but not fly it’s $20 and there was no discount provided for children. They also offer a photo package for $30, which includes one video, and while you can’t see the photos before you buy (they just give you the SD card from the camera) I’d recommend it. Even though I didn’t go and was able to take videos of them, each video had the crew member assisting them in it so he would have been in all the photos too. The photographer is also able to take photos from places on the boat you as a passenger aren’t allowed to be. Here is a photo from our package:

father and daughter parasailing

Since parasailing apparently wasn’t thrilling enough for Jordyn she asked to go jet skiing afterwards. Kids 3 and up are allowed to be passengers so her and my husband rented one for 30 minutes.

Hotel guests are able to rent stand up paddle boards (SUPs) and Kayaks for free and we took full advantage. The beach was perfect for the SUPs, the water was extremely calm and shallow. We even came across a few dolphins and a stingray on our paddle!

toddler jet skiing with dad

Mom standing up on paddle board with two young daughters sitting down in the ocean

After hanging out at beach for the first half of the day we moved to the pool. The pool at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina is so nice, even when there are a lot of people you don’t feel like it’s super crowded. A waterfall splits the pool with one side being much deeper than the other. There is also a kid’s splash pad, shallow enough for even the littlest babies.

lagre resort pool with waterfall in the middle

kids playing in the pool

After so much time in the sun we all needed a nap so we went back up to our room to relax and take a snooze. When we were well rested we headed to Escape Room Ft. Myers where we tried to escape the Play Room. We have been dying to do an Escape Room and were so happy to finally find one that allowed kids and bonus kids under 5 are free! In this escape room there are kids costumes such as superman, princesses, etc. and the kids def tried them all on and played dress up. It was so much fun and was the perfect activity for the raining evening we were experiencing in Ft. Myers. We even broke the record for escaping the room in the shortest amount of time for our group size!!

Viator

​Day Four: Lovers Key State Park, Love Boat Ice Cream, Pool, and Fine Folk Pizza

There are so many outdoor and water activities in Ft. Myers so on this day we tried our hand at canoeing at Lovers Key State Park. We were able to rent a canoe for half the day for $48 (they only charged us the 1-2 person rate due to the kids ages). Where you pay and get the paddles is not where you get the canoe into the water and while the employee told us it was a 2 minute walk I really wish we would have driven since carrying the two paddles, 6 bench pads, and everything else wasn’t the easiest and the kids don’t walk the fastest.

Be prepared to get the canoe into the water on your own, they are just laying on the gravel with no employees on that side. They ask you not to drag the canoe on the gravel but if you are canoeing on your own I don’t see how it would be possible to pick it up by yourself. There is no shade on the 2.5 mile trial so be sure to wear plenty of sunscreen and bring water, sunglasses, and a hat (we failed on the hat part). We even saw a few pros with chair umbrellas that clipped to the seats on their kayak/canoes, I wish we had those! It’s Florida and the outdoors so insect repellent is also a must.  There are manatees, dolphins, and even alligators in the mangrove trial but we only saw a manatee. You can also see plenty of jumping fish and birds diving into the water to eat them!

little girls smiling in a canoe

After canoeing we planned to go on one of the hiking trials in the park but it was so hot we decided on ice cream instead. Everyone said Love Boat Ice Cream had the best homemade ice cream so we went there and it did not disappoint. We have never been to an ice cream store with so many flavors, there is something for everyone. Avoid coming late in the evening unless you want to wait on a long line, we drove by the night before on the way to the Escape Room and the line was outside wrapped around the corner.

two little girls eating ice cream

Of course the girls wanted to go in the pool when we returned to the hotel so we hung out there until it was time to get ready for dinner. For dinner we ate at Fine Folk Pizza and they really get eating out with kids. Forget coloring books and crayons, they give kids a dough tossing lesson while you wait for your food. It was so funny watching Jordyn try to catch the dough and having the tossing experts put a show on for the rest of us. When the lesson is over they allow the kids to keep their dough so while Kennedy was asleep during the show when she woke up she was able to make whatever she wanted with her dough.

 

Day Five: Fishing in Captiva + Drive Home

We would be driving home today but not before one last adventure. After checking out we headed back to Captiva Island for a fishing trip with Captain Randy. He provides everything, rods, bait, etc., so we just had to show up.

During the trip we moved to different spots but unfortunately we didn’t catch anything. Still we had a great time and came across more pods of dolphins as well as spotting some manatees! If you needed to freshen up after fishing there is a really nice bathroom with a shower by the boat dock you can use before flying/driving home.

daughters on a boat with their mom

little girl watching dolphins do tricks

Fort Myers and Sanibel Island was such an amazing trip and just goes to show you don’t have to go far from home to have a great time! Looking for additional resources for planning your trip? Check out the official website of Fort Myers and Sanibel Island! Did you find this post helpful? Please share it!

The Traveling Child is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

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Hi! We’re The Hambricks

Hi! We’re The Hambricks

If kids live there, kids can visit! That's our motto and you'll often find us exploring destinations most don't find "kid friendly". We've traveled to 35 countries on 6 continents with our children since they were 10 weeks old and share tips to make it easier and affordable. But mom and dad are people too so we also write about solo travel, baecations and girlfriend getaways.

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