Day Five: Staycation - Home Sweet Home

Englewood, Florida: Today we concluded our week long Staycation in uneventful style.  I still am not feeling 100% and the weather isn't looking too great.  We were planning on going to the beach for a little but today, but on the way home from breakfast, there were strong storms building and we decided it wasn't worth going.  It would suck to get everything packed for the beach, get out there only to have to pack it all up and head back home due to bad weather.

We started the morning by having breakfast some place new.  We decided to go to Cafe Serenity.  They have been rated as having one the best omelets in Englewood, so we figured we would give it a try.  The cafe in a small French Bistro and is very cozy.  I ordered a bagel, side of bacon and orange juice while my wife and son each had an omelet.  I was shocked when I got my orange juice as it was very small portion, almost shot glass small.  But the food was very good.  I am not a big fan of eggs, which was much of the menu, but it looked like the omelets were good.

The storm cell building to the east of us had a funnel cloud dropping out of it, so I jumped into storm chaser mode and we went to photography the funnel cloud.  Although I didn't have my camera, my wife managed to snap a photo of the funnel cloud with her Iphone that appeared on the local news today at noon.

But with the bad weather going to be in the area for most of the day and the weekend, we decided to call an end to the Staycation.

I've got mixed emotions on the Staycation.  I loved getting to experience attractions within a days drive, but the drive did get tiring.  Over the four days of commuting, we racked up almost 700 miles spread among several hours of time spent in the vehicle.

But the trip was very cost effective.  We were able to cut costs by eating breakfast at home, packing a lunch and either eating when we got back home or stopping at a fast food restaraunt.  Our trip to Indianapolis was going to cost almost $3000 for the week and we were able to complete our Staycation for around about 10% of the original cost of the Indy trip.  A big savings in this economy.

While I am bummed that we didn't make it to Indianapolis, I had a lot of fun exploring our own state.  There is a lot to do in Florida, we haven't even scratched the surface. I hope you enjoyed reading about our travels and I hope they inspire you to get out there and see what Florida has to offer.  If you have any questions, please e-mail me.  Also keep checking back or follow the site on social media (Facebook and Twitter) as I will be adding more photos from the trip in the coming days.

Special thanks goes to Mark Schaub (Orlando Science Center), Lisa Newman (Orange County Regional History Center), Mark/Michelle Thorpe (Shan-T Native Kayaks) and Martha Robinson/Carrie Grary (Florida State Parks) for their help in making this trip possible.

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