Jacksonville on a Tankful

Our local news station in Orlando always does neat specials on daycations you can take in the state of Florida. They call the segment “Florida on a Tankful,” since you can enjoy the entire daycation on one take of gas.

Today we did our own little daycation on one tank of gas and drove allllll over Jacksonville!

Before loading into the car, we headed downstairs for the hotel’s complimentary breakfast.

Like yesterday, I enjoyed a bowl of oatmeal and the top of a yummy cheese muffin.

I also split a Belgian waffle with my sister.

With full bellies, we headed over to the Mayo Clinic hospital so I could tour the place where my mom had her surgery.

I was so impressed with the design of the hospital and how the hospital felt very non-hospitaly (that’s a technical term 😉 ). As someone who is terrible with all things medical, the lack of a hospital smell really stuck out to me.

Jacksonville Tour

After our brief tour, we piled into the car to drive around Jacksonville. My family actually lived in Jacksonville from 1986 – 1991 and my sister was born here in 1989.

We drove around our old neighborhood and stopped by our old house!

The house is actually for sale at the moment, so we were able to peek in all the windows without looking like total creep-os. 😀 We even checked out the back yard and the pool!

Our next stop was the St. John’s River, where I apparently caught an eel while fishing when I was a toddler.

The weather today is beyond gorgeous! There’s practically no humidity and the breeze feels fantastic against your skin. We definitely took advantage of such a nice day and headed out to the beach to walk around for a bit as well.

Lunch

Eventually our hunger got the best of us and we headed to The Homestead Restaurant for Mother’s Day Brunch.

We all opted for the buffet and filled our plates to the brim.

The food definitely had that home-cooked flava!

For dessert I enjoyed a small slice of carrot cake, the icing off of a piece of chocolate cake and a small slice of key lime pie.

I think I overdid it a bit at brunch because my tummy felt a little sick after brunch. I was really hungry when we arrived at the restaurant and I don’t think I paced myself very well. Don’t you worry, I feel much better now!

Animal Crackers De-Coded

Thanks to all of you who weighed in on the Animal Cracker debate!

You guys seemed as confused as my family did! Answers for the mysterious cracker ranged from a rhino to a sheep to a llama to a wild goat! You all had me laughing. 😀  

Special thanks to Tess for providing this link. It seems as though the cracker in question was actually a hippo!

Heading Back

I’m about to hit the road for Orlando.

I’m sad to be leaving my family but I am super excited because Ryan’s hiking trip concluded a bit early and I’ll be seeing him, Sadie and his dad this evening!

I hope you’re all enjoying a wonderful Sunday.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there. 😀