Canoeing on the Santa Fe River in Florida

I just wanted to share a pleasant experience we had on Valentine's Day, where we went canoeing on the Santa Fe River with the 3 dogs (Yes.. it's official now.. we adopted Onyx.. which reminds me I should definitely write a post dedicated especially for him soon but I have to make sure I'm in the right frame of mind to be truly inspired to do it- preferably with him cuddling with me and looking at me with his warm brown eyes as I write it) This was our "family fun day" to celebrate Valentine's Day in a non-conventional way (because if you haven't been able to tell yet, we are very non-conventional), we love the outdoors, and we couldn't picture doing ANYTHING that doesn't include our furry babies.

Two of our best friends got us a groupon 2 years ago as a wedding gift to go canoeing/kayaking on the Santa Fe, and we have been so busy we literally just forgot/didn't get a chance to do it. We dug up the paper and decided we HAD to do it for Valentine's day (for the promotional value) and boy are we glad we did. This place is GREAT! We have been kayaking and canoeing in various places before, and I definitely think this day trip was my favorite. Not only was the river a beautiful view, but there were countless outlets of natural springs to pull into, it was very quiet on the water, and the weather was absolutely perfect (in the 60's). The flow of the water did most of the work for us.. since it was so quiet and there weren't many people on the water we were able to let the current pull us down the river and just relax, taking in the gorgeous spring-like day we have been waiting for for months. What only made it better was having our 3 well behaved angels share the adventure with us. We have Rum 138 to thank for that- They're the service that we rented our canoe from; who helped us pick out the boat that would be the best fit for us to prevent the dogs from tipping it, who also shuttled us to the river, picked us up when we called them to let them know we were done (after letting us take as much time as we wanted to get down the river), provided us with a soft mat for the dogs to lay on in the boat, and even gave our babies some healthy dog treats when we arrived back safe and sound. Their facility is also a gorgeous art gallery and a hair salon.

The best thing about Rum 138 is they will honor their groupon rate if you ask them. If you're interested, just ask them to give you a deal because they make more money off honoring the price than if you actually buy the groupon and use it with them. We definitely plan to go a few more times this spring to take advantage of this gorgeous weather and get the dogs out for the day. They really enjoyed watching the scuba divers cave diving around us in the springs, the turtles sun bathing on logs, the herons flying, the fish splashing, and enjoyed a little drink here and there of the fresh spring water. They spent a good duration of the trip napping in the warm sun after being sure they saw all that needed to be seen. They were excellent passengers and we will definitely be bringing them with us again.

Thanks Rum 138 for a wonderful experience!