vacation spots in Florida... ?

[MamaBee]

So... we are heading to Florida for a week in Feb... originally we picked Tampa because the flights were cheap... My folks are coming with us and all my mom wants is warmth! Juli (julifish) is totally awesome and gave me the lowdown on Tampa... and we have some ideas of things we want to see there... and now we were thinking of doing more exploring - it is my folks first time in FL (DH and I have been to Orlando a few times)... so we are jumping in the rental car and driving - which seems to be like most of our vacations, of late... (Hubby is boycotting and says the next trip will be a cruise so that he won't have to drive all vacation. )

We are still flying to Tampa... and now looking at driving to the space center one day - J was crazy about space stuff, last year - we'll see how much he remembers... and now we had a crazy idea of driving down to Miami, toward the Keys... where it's warmer...

So, given that whole area, aka southern Florida... what some cool landmarks, points of interests, along the coasts... what are the must see beaches (west and east side) - I know J will request beach time - love water!

Thank you in advance!

[catgoddess]

Miami is at least a 4 hour drive from Tampa, so that would be at least 1-2 days for you to actually do something. The Keys depend on where you go. Key West is 7 hours from Tampa. With only a week here, I'm not sure if the 3-5 degrees difference in heat would be worth it.

I'm sure Juli gave you the lowdown on Tampa. I'd also recommend Homosassa Springs/Crystal River/Weeki Wachee (about 1 hour North of Tampa). Lots of fun, kitchy things to do up there.

Anna Maria Island is one of my favorite beaches in this area. It's about an hour South of Tampa. Make sure to go there via 275/19 so you can cross the Skyway Bridge.

[mariewilcox]

My favorite place is Sanibel Island

We fly into Fort Myers (Southwest Florida International Airport) and it's about a 30 or 40 minute drive from the airport. The beaches are gorgeous and famous for shelling. awesome biking, food, everything. *sigh* We haven't been down for a few years because of basketball and I'm missing it!

[nesser1981]

Clearwater Beach is really nice, I agree with everything Jenn said.

I think the dolphin from a dolphin tale is in Clearwater too. http://www.seewinter.com/visit-us

The Florida Aquarium in in Tampa too and the Lowry Park Zoo is great! I highly recommend it if you like zoos! They have Manatees! http://www.lowryparkzoo.com/ And of course, Busch Gardens is really fun too.

Weeki Wachee Springs is pretty cool, at least it was when I was in 4th grade (we went there for a field trip). LOL! They have mermaids. http://www.weekiwachee.com/

Silver Springs too, but it's further north, In Ocala. http://silversprings.com/

It's a shame you aren't closer to St. Augustine! You'd have so much for your homeschooling!

I'm from boring North Florida, so all I really know in Tampa is the touristy stuff.

[MamaBee]

haha, Jenn... if you knew my mom, she will take as many degrees as she can get... anything is a heck a lot better from what we are escaping from... they are talking about temps in the teens, here in WI... brr.

eek - I'm getting even more excited about this trip - I'll have to look more into these suggestions! Hubby has moved some of nights to a different hotel, to help on driving... so we have a few days near Miami... so what is the must in that area?

[nesser1981]

I don't know much about Miami. I spent a lot of time on the gulf coast across from Miami in the Naples area & south of there. An Airboat ride is a must if you can get one. My grandparents lived 4 miles from the Everglades National Park entrance, that is also a must. There is an entrance on the Miami side too I believe. Try to find a gator wrestling show too


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[JuliaM]

I've spent a bit of time visiting my cousin in Sarasota. Some of the things we've done around there are:

Ringling Museums - http://www.ringling.org/
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens - http://selby.org/
Myakka River State Park - http://www.floridastateparks.org/myakkariver/

We've done the sightseeing cruise around Sarasota Bay - http://www.lebargetropicalcruises.com/

We haven't gone yet but Mote Acquarium is also in Sarasota - http://mote.org/aquarium

I'm not much of a beach person but Siesta Key in Sarasota is supposed to be a really nice beach.

[nesser1981]

Just posting a couple things on Everglades National Park.

http://www.evergladessafaripark.com/
http://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm

This is from Everglades City, the gulf side. If you want to see what the rural part of the Everglades looks like.
http://www.evergladesnationalparkboa...gulfcoast.com/


This one leaves from Chokoloskee Island, which is where my grandparents lived. Super cool, I use to play in the store (it use to be a post office I believe) when they were getting it opened to the public again. My grandparents knew the Smallwoods.
http://www.smallwoodstoreboattour.com/
http://www.florida-everglades.com/evercty/home.htm

If you like seafood, get some stone crab claws and grouper while you're in Florida!

[Tracyfish]

Sounds like everyone has named the things I would suggest. Hopefully the weather will be really nice for you.

[YepBrook]

Blah, MIAMI!!!??? It's so crowded... so much traffic. Get ready for a big city vibe. Why not come to Boca Raton... we are about 1 hour north. I will show you around! It's paradise here. Nearby Delray Beach is one of the hottest new tourist towns.

If you insist on Miami, try the Gold Coast Train Museum. Jake would love it. The Miami Zoo is amazing, too!!! There is a children's museum there, too, but we prefer the one in Ft. Lauderdale (north of Miami).

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by YepBrook

Blah, MIAMI!!!??? It's so crowded... so much traffic. Get ready for a big city vibe. Why not come to Boca Raton... we are about 1 hour north. I will show you around! It's paradise here. Nearby Delray Beach is one of the hottest new tourist towns.

If you insist on Miami, try the Gold Coast Train Museum. Jake would love it. The Miami Zoo is amazing, too!!! There is a children's museum there, too, but we prefer the one in Ft. Lauderdale (north of Miami).

You better be careful or you will have 5 people show up on your doorstep, looking for that tour...

We are totally not big city people... so probably be avoiding downtown Miami... I think the a hotel we are staying is out by the airport. Dave just wanted a spot to land so he wasn't driving back and forth from Tampa... haha.

[MamaBee]

And I hope that while there I will be able to meet up with some of my SSD friends! Of course, now moving around more, be harder to connect...

[organizedmom]

Me and my hubby are going to siesta key in a couple of weeks. Can't wait! We're planning on eating out (we love seafood) and hanging out on the beach. We might go kayaking or on a charter fishing boat, not sure yet. We are flying into Tampa too, it was a bit cheaper than the other one. Ft. Meyers I think?

Cheers!
Mary in MN (organizedmom)

[jessica31876]

Ive never been that far south. I can tell you just about everything in central Florida. personally I think Playlinda is the best beach in this area and its really close to the space center. But my favorite places are central/north Florida so I cant really help with south Florida much. I have always wanted to go to the Miami zoo though. Maybe that is something to check into?

[pam4gators]

Don't waist your time at Silver Springs, it closed down and was reopened by the state of Florida, its cheap to get in but there is no animals and the glass bottom boat is $10 per person to ride, sooo not worth it. so basically you walk around the springs and thats it.

[nesser1981]

Originally Posted by pam4gators

Don't waist your time at Silver Springs, it closed down and was reopened by the state of Florida, its cheap to get in but there is no animals and the glass bottom boat is $10 per person to ride, sooo not worth it. so basically you walk around the springs and thats it.

Oh, that makes me sad! I loved going as a kid. We haven't been in probably 8 years. That stinks.

[organizedmom]

Does anyone know if there is any other glass bottom boat ride between Tampa and Sarasota?

Cheers!
Mary in MN (organizedmom)

[lightwriter]

We just got home from spending 16 days in Florida. My thoughts: flying in and out of Tampa is so much easier and better than Orlando. We rented a car and something we wouldn't have known about before hand is not all freeways are free. Go to a grocery store like Publix and get a Sunpass load it on line other wise, you will get a bill mailed to you after your vacation. We drove back and forth between Tampa and Orlando a lot, drove up to St. Augustine (which I very highly recommend) and ended up using $30 on the Sunpass and $5 to purchase the pass. Clearwater beach was wonderful and we went to the Velano Beach by St. Augustine. The skyway Bridge was cool to drive over and there is a rest stop on one side that we stopped to take pictures with the bridge in the back ground plus we found horseshoe crabs there. The kids loved it and we only stopped there for about 20 minutes. We were there from Dec 25 to Jan 9 and most days were about 80 degrees we wore shorts every day except for two when storms blew through. Have fun, it is an awesome vacation destination. At the Kennedy Space Center, if you are there in the late afternoon/evening, have bug spray. The bugs swarmed us and we ended up having to buy a n expensive can there.

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by lightwriter

We just got home from spending 16 days in Florida. My thoughts: flying in and out of Tampa is so much easier and better than Orlando. We rented a car and something we wouldn't have known about before hand is not all freeways are free. Go to a grocery store like Publix and get a Sunpass load it on line other wise, you will get a bill mailed to you after your vacation. We drove back and forth between Tampa and Orlando a lot, drove up to St. Augustine (which I very highly recommend) and ended up using $30 on the Sunpass and $5 to purchase the pass. Clearwater beach was wonderful and we went to the Velano Beach by St. Augustine. The skyway Bridge was cool to drive over and there is a rest stop on one side that we stopped to take pictures with the bridge in the back ground plus we found horseshoe crabs there. The kids loved it and we only stopped there for about 20 minutes. We were there from Dec 25 to Jan 9 and most days were about 80 degrees we wore shorts every day except for two when storms blew through. Have fun, it is an awesome vacation destination. At the Kennedy Space Center, if you are there in the late afternoon/evening, have bug spray. The bugs swarmed us and we ended up having to buy a n expensive can there.

Thanks so much for the tips!! I will tell my hubby about the sunpass and being able to get it at a Publix... I know when we were in Seattle, the car rental wanted to charge us daily for even having a pass, then add the tolls on top of that... and I see the Ipass (what we use for Illinois) isn't compatible.

I'm getting so excited... and the more I learn about the trip - the more I wish we had more days to spend there!