The Johnson Crew!

We finally made our trip to the Jacksonville Zoo! Jacksonville, Florida, isn’t too far from us, but it’s just far enough that we turned our homeschool field trip into a mini family vacation with an overnight stay. Here’s what our family of six did, what worked, and what we’d do next time.

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Where we stayed: Embassy Suites

We wanted a hotel with an indoor pool and a suite that could fit all six of us, and we found that at the Embassy Suites. I was also excited for the kids to see the atrium, which all their hotels have. It’s so pretty and grand, and the kids thought it was awesome.

A windy beach picnic

We planned to spend our first afternoon at Jacksonville Beach on the drive in. That got thrown off by crazy weather up and down the East Coast, with tons of wind and tornado watches. We picked up Happy Meals on the way and had a little picnic on the beach anyway. The wind was so strong it was whipping up the sand, and we could see a storm coming, so we packed up after a bit.

Our kids don’t care if the water is freezing, though, so of course they still got in. The shops along the beach looked so cute. If it hadn’t started raining, I’d have loved to walk around and explore. Next time!

A night in at the hotel

We wasted no time and went straight to the pool. Jumps, flips, lots of swimming. We wore them out pretty good. Then we ordered Chinese food to eat in the room, and Bud grabbed ice cream sandwiches at the gas station. Our kids love hotels, so we just hung out in the room all night and soaked up our one night there.

I love when hotels offer complimentary breakfast, and the Embassy Suites had an awesome breakfast buffet. The kids were so excited about it. It’s the little things!

A day at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens

After breakfast we packed up and met our friends at the zoo. Seriously, it’s amazing, and this little recap doesn’t do it justice. It has a fun theme-park vibe. A few highlights:

• Feeding the animals. We got to feed the giraffes and the stingrays.
• The tigers. One of my favorite things we saw.
• The train. You can ride a train around the whole zoo, and it drops you at different spots, which makes it a lot easier to see everything.
• Play areas. There’s a playground and a maze, and I think that was the highlight of the kids’ day.
• A splash pad if you go in the summer. It’s pretty epic.

There’s so much to see and do. We definitely could have spent more than one day, and we all want to go back.

Make it a group field trip

If you homeschool, you could turn this into a group field trip.

One local viewer also suggested visiting MOSH (the Museum of Science and History) next time, with a picnic at Friendship Fountain right behind it.

Key takeaways

• A suite hotel with an indoor pool makes a one-night trip easy with kids.
• Have a backup plan if the beach weather turns.
• Keep the hotel night simple: pool, takeout and treats in the room.
• At the Jacksonville Zoo, ride the train, feed the giraffes and plan time for the playground and maze.
• Plan for more than one day if you can.

What viewers say

We hope to take a family vacation to Florida sometime, and this zoo looks amazing! Love the splash pad, maze, and added playground for kiddos’ enjoyment! 💜

@TheMumfordMob on YouTube

Loved your travel log. Next time you come to Jax, be sure to see MOSH (the Museum of Science & History) and take along a picnic lunch to eat at Friendship Fountain, which is right behind the museum on the South bank of the St John’s River. After that, ride the people mover or take a water taxi to the North Bank. From there, you can walk North a few blocks and visit our AMAZING ‘main’ library!.. or MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art). For dinner, take a five minute drive into the Riverside neighborhood; you’ll pass by some of the most popular restaurants in town… There is also Huguenot Park, Little and Big Talbot island and of course, St Augustine is right down A1A – our beautiful scenic drive along the coast. Did I mention we have public parks everywhere and a beautiful arboretum? Hope you come again soon!

@jjjoy7887 on YouTube

Things we mentioned

• Our Johnson Crew travels playlist

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FAQ

Is the Jacksonville Zoo good for kids?

Yes. Beyond the animals, there’s a train around the zoo, a playground, a maze and a summer splash pad. You can also feed the giraffes and stingrays.

How much time do you need at the Jacksonville Zoo?

We spent one day and felt like we could have spent longer. There’s a lot to see.

Where should a big family stay in Jacksonville?

We stayed at the Embassy Suites because they had an indoor pool and a suite that fit all six of us, plus a breakfast buffet.

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Full transcript

We finally decided to make a trip to the jacksonville zoo last week jacksonville florida is not too far from us but just far enough that we decided to make a mini trip out of it and stay overnight out there so we found a hotel with an indoor pool and a suite that could fit all six of us in which was at the embassy suites and headed down last thursday we figured we would spend the afternoon at the beach that first day which ended up getting a little thrown off because there was crazy weather up

And down the east coast like tons of wind tornado watches and such so we did end up picking up some happy meals on the way out there and had a little picnic on the beach in the wind uh but the wind was so strong that it was whipping up the sand of dust and we could see that a storm was on its way so went ahead and packed up after a little bit and went on to the hotel now our kids don't care if the water is freezing

So they still got in crazy the shops along the beach area looked so cute if it hadn't started to rain I would have loved to walk around a bit and explore so next time so we chose the embassy suites hotel because of the indoor pool and hot tub but I was also really excited for them to see the atrium which is something they do in all of their hotels it's so pretty and grand and the kids thought it was awesome so we wasted no time went straight to the pool when we got there all right you want to show me your sweet jumps best jump all right go ahead my don't run can you do a flip nice you're doing such a good job

Swimming good job we wore them out pretty good in the pool and then ordered some chinese food for dinner to eat in the room and my husband grabbed some ice cream sandwiches at the gas station so we could just hang out in the room all night because our kids love hotels so we wanted to fully be able to enjoy our one night there okay I love when hotels offer complimentary breakfast and the embassy suites had an awesome breakfast buffet and the kids were so excited about it too it's the little things

Okay who's ready for breakfast you ready for breakfast theo yes all right leah raise your hand if you're ready for the pool hey are you ready let me see your shoes are you ready for going to get breakfast I'm a monster leo I'm gonna get you I'm a monster so loud then we packed up and headed to meet our friends at the jacksonville zoo where we going to the zoo are you excited yeah yeah do you see the paw prints yeah where are they what is that the jacksonville zoo is amazing seriously today's vlog is not really going to do it justice I'm going to do a whole video on it for next week

So definitely come back and check that out but for now I want to share some of our highlights from our day at the zoo the zoo has a fun theme park vibe to it it's such a cool experience we got to feed the giraffes stingrays one of my favorite things we got to see there were the tigers they even have a train you can ride around the whole zoo and it'll drop you off at different spots around the zoo which makes it a lot easier to see everything I think this was the highlight of the kids day there they really make the zoo

So much fun for kids even beyond all the animals they have a playground and a maze and the kids loved playing in that and if you're going in the summer they have a splash pad it's pretty epic thanks for joining us on our trip to jacksonville florida stay tuned for next week's video for the rest of our fun at the zoo and you can see lots more animals coming out next wednesday be sure to subscribe and I'll see you next week