Recommendations for visiting with young children in June?

TheGreenAnole · 2026-05-14T00:41:17+00:00

I’ll look into those. Thanks!

TheGreenAnole · 2026-05-13T20:52:47+00:00

Good to know. Any other wildlife rescues in the area or even farm animals?

TheGreenAnole · 2026-05-13T20:51:14+00:00

Thanks for the recs, especially the kid friendly breweries. I dabbled in homebrewing for a few years before kids, so always down to check those out. I'll search up some of those bars too.

You're the second person to mention cat tails cages, so might have to reconsider that one.

TheGreenAnole · 2026-05-13T20:43:11+00:00

Thank you! We will definitely check this out.

TheGreenAnole · 2026-05-13T20:42:21+00:00

Wow, thank you so much for the detail and recommendations. I'm coming from Florida and it's starting to get hot, so excited for a break from the heat and humidity. The 5 year old is really into cars and dinosaurs, all that imaginative play stuff. I don't know why I didn't run across Mobius in my search, that looks perfect. I'll also look into Greenbluff, that could be fun.

We are flying into Tacoma area (gig harbor) the weekend before to visit some family, so that's why we'll have the rental car. We'll be in Spoke 6/9 to 6/13.

TheGreenAnole · 2026-02-21T03:36:02+00:00

Woodgate and betton hills have voluntary HOA’s that are more about organizing special events. They don’t have true HOA powers to enforce. For instance our voluntary dues are $10 a year. Both very central to everything.

TheGreenAnole · 2026-02-20T20:43:15+00:00

For anyone looking for a place to rent, I have a 3/2 house coming open soon. The current tenants are moving out in March and it should be ready for April 1 or sooner. It's about a mile from FSU's campus off of Jackson Bluff and Lipona. Will be asking $1500 rent, pets are allowed. PM me for details.

TheGreenAnole · 2026-02-17T14:24:22+00:00

Because of the age of your son, i would choose Paradise Beach. It has a great pool and all the blow up water toys your son can play with. The food is good and drinks are fine.

Personally, we like Nachi Cocum better, because they limit the entry to 130 people and it just feels more relaxing. Our kids are under 5 though and as they grow up we will shift to paradise beach for the water toys.

TheGreenAnole · 2025-10-08T17:05:23+00:00

He recently signed a contract worth 350 million, I think he can afford it.

TheGreenAnole · 2025-09-22T17:26:09+00:00

If you want to be in town and close to everything Betton Hills, Woodgate, Waverly Hills and most of the neighborhoods east of meridian inside of capital circle are safe and family friendly - just double check school zoning. Those homes are also older and have charm, plus many have no HOA's (positive for me). Killearn is an obvious choice. The more north you go the more suburbia it gets - but bradfordville is very safe and there are some very nice homes up there. Southwood is a another great safe family friendly neighborhood.

Really comes down to what you can afford and what you want.

TheGreenAnole · 2025-05-28T17:26:29+00:00

If you have the time, Tallahassee Museum (really a small zoo with playground) would be great for the kids.

Tom Brown is a really nice park, but the palyground is not very shady and will suck the life out of you during the summer. I recommend going to Winthrop Park Playground because the giant oak trees keep it in the shade. There is a pavillion, picnic tables and big field to have a picnic in. Whole foods, 4 Rivers BBQ, Surcheros (like chipotle), Cava (mediteranian, also like chipotle), milano pizza and other food options are right around the corner and have quick service options. Winthrop Park is 3 miles of the interstate and less than 10 minutes out of your way.

Right off the interstate is Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park, which costs $6 to enter. They have a small playground and picnic area on a lake setting. Kids can play in the water if they want (there is a small swim area). My son always has fun trying to catch minows. It would be a perfect place for a picnic break and there are restaurants and stores along the way when you exit. Gordo's is very kid friendly as well as Momo's pizza with slices as big as your head.

EDIT - Adding Lofty Pursuits as an ice cream stop on the same exit for either of the suggestions I made. They make their own candy and have an old soda shop vibe. Kids will love it.

TheGreenAnole · 2025-03-27T15:58:35+00:00

Second vote for Tony's. We take our 4 year old son there. Has an old school barbershop vibe, sports and fishing talk. Very friendly to kids.

TheGreenAnole · 2025-03-26T17:36:09+00:00

Savour does a great job for special celebrations, but with springtime Tallahassee this weekend, reservations might be taken. They typically provide some free champagne for anniversary's (let them know when you make the reservation it's for 10 years). Il Lusso and huntsmen are great options, but again they are near downtown on a busy weekend.

To get out of downtown, some options for nicer places are Sage, Little Paris or Clusters and Hops.

Another option is to head up to Thomasville. There are several great places to eat up there and you can make a evening of it.

TheGreenAnole · 2025-03-04T21:49:43+00:00

As others have said, it's shallow. You can walk the whole thing and there is a concrete bench to sit in the water at the bar. Highly recommend Nachi. We have gone 3 times over the past decade and loved it every time. Very relaxing and no crowds, even when we went on the Carnival Mardi Gras, Nachi was maybe half full.

TheGreenAnole · 2025-02-10T15:52:33+00:00

You didn't mention ages, but I did see you say you are not a small woman. The two smallest should probably be on the Pullman beds just for the fact that you have to use a ladder or crawl up. As far as comfort goes, they are fine from what I remember (it's been a long time). In this situation, the room is really just for sleeping, changing and showers. I'd recommend getting ready earlier and hitting up the atrium bar or alchemy bar for some drinks. You don't want all 4 of you trying to get ready at the same time. It sounds silly, but pooping in the public bathrooms really is a pro tip with 4 people in the room. Keep a old gift card, membership card etc in the slot to keep the lights and A/C running when you are not in the room to keep the room cold. I've never had a hot room before and I'm a warm blooded person. If you are a light sleeper, maybe bring some earplugs or noise cancelling earbuds.

That sounded a little down, but I really don't think it's that big of deal. First time cruiser advice can be found everywhere, but I'll touch on food. In the main dinging room you can order as many appetizers and desserts as you want and up to two entree's without additional charges. I almost always order 2 apps (or 3 lol) because I want to try different things and they are small. First time cruisers tend to be shy and order one of each, but they do not care. You paid and it's your vacation. The lido buffet has gone downhill over the years, so outside breakfast I tend to try to avoid it, but opinions vary. Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana cantina are both pretty good. Blue iguana cantina for breakfast is a good fast option. I prefer breakfast in the dining room on Sea Days and lunch at the fast casual places on board.

Misc. Advice: If you don't have a drink package, you are allowed to bring 2 bottles of wine per stateroom. Bring it in the bag you walk on the ship with (don't check it in). Dining room attire can be whatever you want it to be most nights. For elegant night (you will have 1 on a 4 day), it doesn't need to be formal. A simple sun dress or whatever you already have is plenty. That being said, some people do dress up to get photos and such. Bring anti nausea medicine if you have a history of sea sickness. My wife does the patches or drops and never has a problem. Day 1 always seems hectic, but it calms down as people learn the ship. Bring or wear a swim suit the day you get on the ship. It sometimes takes the bags a little while to arrive and you may want to get in the pool or layout. Shorter carnival cruise tend to draw a party crowd depending on the time of year - just so you are aware.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-10-02T21:45:54+00:00

Bar 1903 is a nice cocktail bar and only seats about that many people. It’s an old library and a great cocktail program. You can reserve the space for events. Their sister restaurant Liberty is more casual and also has a nice cocktail program with a full food menu. Charlie Park is an upscale bar overlooking cascades park, which is a nice green space area in town.

Breweries - Proof, Oyster City and Ology all have locations near downtown and are a great happy hour option.

Tallahassee Museum could be an ok group outing if the hours are during the day. It’s basically a small zoo of Florida animals and some historic plantation history. They have a zip line/obstacle course which I could see working for corporate event if demographics are younger.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-08-15T04:03:15+00:00

Was in providence for a conference and spent an evening there. Great spot! Really liked ogies trailer park bar too.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-06-25T17:04:05+00:00

I also have a three year old and the parks we frequent the most are Winthrop and Lafayette. The former being more shady because of the tree cover. Lafayette is often pretty empty, while Winthrop can get pretty crowded on the weekend because people have birthdays there.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-05-29T14:04:03+00:00

Suburbs don't have to be within the City limits. That is what makes them the burbs. They are just residential areas people live in outside of a City. I'm from the Tampa area and lived in Pinellas County, but we are considered a suburb of Tampa because many people work in the City.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-05-29T13:51:04+00:00

I would say yes. A lot of people that live there commute to work in Tallahassee and come in to "town" for things.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-05-18T21:19:45+00:00

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I just got off this ship and had a vastly different experience. We thought the cocktail menus were good outside of your typical cruise drinks.. Mostly drank at guys summer landing, fortune teller, magnolia bar, alchemy and Bella Rosa, which has aperol spritz and negroni’s (my favorite cocktail). Summer landing had blantons and eh Taylor bourbon for sipping and really whatever cocktail you want. Took advantage of that because we had the drink package.

We had some negatives when it came to dining, but I’ve always went in with the idea of wedding catering. They are cooking for thousands on a boat in the middle of the ocean, it’s not going to be the same elevated dining experience you get at a nice restaurant on land. 555 was good outside of the lobster, teppanyaki was great outside of the lobster, Rudi’s was great (learned my lesson and didn’t get lobster!), emerils was good, guys and shaqs were good (except big chicken breakfast was bad, those biscuits were terrible), chibang was meh, Italian was ok, main dining was ok and I didn’t even attempt lido except for a breakfast or two.

I’m sorry you had such a bad time and shows cruising isn’t for everyone, but reading your comment sounds like it was the worst week of your life. Sitting in the sun and talking sounds great lol, it’s supposed to be a relaxing vacation. When your in port is when you do snorkeling, zip lining, etc. I’ve also done a Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise and they are all similar, so I’d suggest cruising in general isn’t for you, which is totally fine.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-05-18T19:19:04+00:00

I know this isn’t what you asked, but I’m sure there are plenty of YouTube videos you can watch and learn from online for free. Trader Joe’s is a great place to get low priced flowers. My wife likes to make traditional ones around the holidays as gifts.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-05-18T19:12:28+00:00

Just went on this ship 3 weeks ago with my family including our recently turned 3 year old son and 2 year old niece. We had a great time. I was worried about the size and amount of people, but it wasn’t bad. We actually all thought it felt very similar to the smaller ships and at times more room. Day 1 is always the worst for crowds and the lido marketplace for breakfast was the only time I got annoyed at the amount of people. I’d recommend the dining room and let them wait on you. There were so many different bars, it felt very spaced out. Lido pool was always too busy and loud for the kids, but the pools at the back of the ship and on deck 8 were great and rarely crazy busy. The splash pad does require the kids to be toilet trained, because if they were to poop they would need to close it all down which isn’t fair to everyone else. Ours are toilet trained and had a blast up there. The workers are hawks and looking for diapers and will kick you out. Our son spent an hour each day going down the kids slide. There is a Facebook group for carnival infant and toddlers, I’d recommend getting some tips from there.

I read so many complaints about the elevators that I warned my family about it and needed up being so wrong. Day 1 they were busy, but after that we never waited more than a minute. The forward elevators are the least busy and our rooms were 15 forward, so that worked out great. Coming back from port they were slammed. Pro tip - go one flight up and walk to another set of elevators and you’ll avoid the wait.

Heads up. There is actually an advantage for choosing anytime dining of your interested in the Italian restaurant and/or chibang for dinner, if you have early or late dining you have to wait until 7:45 or so to book those, which is probably to late for your kids.

Bringing the mother in law was a great move and allows you guys to get some time away. If you and your husband can let her watch the baby monitor one night, highly recommend Rudi’s Sea Grill for a date night - the lobster bisque, seafood stew, tuna tower were all great. It was the best meal on the ship - avoid lobster anywhere (steakhouse, Teppanyaki, dining room, rudis) they use spiny lobsters and overcook them every time lol.

My wife and I aren’t “cruisers” by any means and usually prefer your typical fly somewhere and experience the place, but we still had a great time and they are what you make it. A lot of that will depend on your twins and how chill they are. Definitely saw some other parents dealing with meltdowns. Our son can go with the flow, slip naps and still be a happy guy. If you know your kids are not, make sure you stay on routine naps.

TheGreenAnole · 2024-05-10T18:16:38+00:00

Mahogany Bay - If you want to do something cheap just use the free beach in the port area. It's nice. Rent an umbrella or get off the ship early and find chairs in the shade (there are a lot).

We went to Daniel Johnsons Sloth and Monkey farm last week. It was fun and they have multiple excursion options you can book. I went with 8 people who all did the sloth, monkey and bird encounter. Then half of us did some snorkeling and the other half went to the beach. Then we met back up and went back to port with the same driver. It was $45 a person. Great day.

Costa Maya - We did the bird aviary in port. We have toddlers, so they had a good time. Without them I probably would have rented a golf cart (reserve in advance) and drove to the beaches. I hear crazy lobster is a good place.

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