Travels south of Daytona

After the Rolex 24 my wife and I want to travel south from Daytona along the coast for about a week until we fly back north from Orlando.

Gina has had a rough year so the days need to be short say 200 miles per day, no long days behind the wheel.

What areas, events and fun places do you locals recommend for us.

Seafood and Nature are both priorities

Steve

I could easily kill a week in the keys.

Thats about 450-500 miles south of daytona (to Key West). But yes it's amazing down here. Bahia Honda state park is amazing and you can use your camping gear to stay there or cross the 7 mile bridge to get to Marathon and some hotels. Key west is the touristy place with lots of great food and stuff.

Oh yea and plenty of seafood.....but if you make it to Key West. Hogfish bar and grill and Roostica are two excellent choices. One for seafood sammich and the other for excellent italian food.

Any other hints for West Palm Beach, Key West and then Cape Coral.

This will be our agenda

Any thing left in Cape Canaveral? (If space museum is your thing)

There is a donut shop in key west called Glazed Donuts (really creative right?) excellent donuts. Made on the spot. On Eaton St. between Duval and Whitehead. Very cool theater right next to it too.

• Marker 88 in Islamorada has pretty good seafood on the way to Key West.

• Wahoo's in Islamorada isn't bad either.

• Bahia Honda state park is right around Mile Marker 37. But there are so many places to stop and see on the way - this is just my personal favorite.

• In West Palm if you can get a tour of the breakers - it's a pretty snazzy resort and it's beautiful. Kind of like the Biltmore of the beach.

• Bathtub beach in Jensen/Stuart, FL is a very cool place as well.

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TRoglodyte wrote: Any thing left in Cape Canaveral? (If space museum is your thing)

Kennedy Space Center's visitor's center has the new Atlantis exhibit that I hear is pretty cool.

In my experience, tough to go wrong with any little dive restaurant on A1A for seafood...I think I've eaten at all of them

Nature: Go visit the Everglades. We went there and visited a wildlife viewing area called Royal Palm just as the sun was rising. Absolutely stunning. As the guy at the entrance station said, it was "just stupid with wildlife". I wish we spent longer there and could have gone canoeing (and even camping) off the beaten track. We also did a neat tour of a historical nuclear rocket facility that was located in the park.

You also can't go wrong with a visit to the Kennedy Space Centre. While there, make sure you do the bus tour and stop at the Apollo exhibit. Very cool.

Man, it's a LOOOOOOOONG, miserable berkeleying ride to the Keys. YMMV. There's plenty of cool spots to park your ass on A1A without driving all the berkeleying way down there. Personally, I'd head north and hit Fenandina, St. Augustine (so you can say you did) and Anastasia island...maybe head to Savannah and Edisto island...at least you'd be heading in the right direction!!! :) Glad mama's doing well enough to travel!!!

DirtyBird222 wrote: There is a donut shop in key west called Glazed Donuts (really creative right?) excellent donuts. Made on the spot. On Eaton St. between Duval and Whitehead. Very cool theater right next to it too. - Marker 88 in Islamorada has pretty good seafood on the way to Key West. - Wahoo's in Islamorada isn't bad either. - Bahia Honda state park is right around Mile Marker 37. But there are so many places to stop and see on the way - this is just my personal favorite. - In West Palm if you can get a tour of the breakers - it's a pretty snazzy resort and it's beautiful. Kind of like the Biltmore of the beach. - Bathtub beach in Jensen/Stuart, FL is a very cool place as well. - -

Is Bathtub Beach still around??? I heard it was berkeleyed up by hurricanes and/or dredging a few years ago. I spent many a summer there as a young pup.

if you make it to the Conch Republic, you can catch a boat out to fort Jefferson on Garden Key in the Tortugas

Key West is cool and all, but it is a looooooooong way down there. Honestly my favorite part of the keys is also the easiest to get to, that being the Key Largo to Marathon area. In Key Largo you can actually take a cruise on the original African Queen: http://www.africanqueenflkeys.com. Pretty cool if you;re an old movie buff.

jg

And then on that Friday on your way back up to Orlando, you could stop in Ft Myers and watch my girls bball team win another district title. Or just go to the Edison and Ford Estate.

On your way south, you could stop and see the Gator Boys at Everglades Holiday park, maybe take an airboat ride. Far west Broward county, west of Ft. Lauderdale.

i like saint augustine. the lightner museum is really cool, i would definitely do that. i'm a sucker for the ripley museums, and the one there is in a great old mansion

On your way to Key West, take a left at Card Sound Road at the very bottom of Florida City. Stop at Alabama Jack's, a dive restaurant in the truest sense. Great conch fritters, cold beer, and lots of fish right under you. They really appreciate a thrown bit of bread. Used to be a hang out for REAL smugglers and pirates, but not so much now. When you leave and head south, you will cross a stunning bridge, then go by Ocean Reef Club, a very exclusive residential area. Then south towards Key Largo. You will also pass an abandoned Nike Misle base and a cold war radar station.

On the way south from Daytona, I'd recommend Dixie Crossroads for a seafood stop. I think it's in Titusville, but if not, a Floridian should be along to correct me. Also, the fritters they give you while waiting for your meal are awesome!

cwh wrote: On your way to Key West, take a left at Card Sound Road at the very bottom of Florida City. Stop at Alabama Jack's, a dive restaurant in the truest sense. Great conch fritters, cold beer, and lots of fish right under you. They really appreciate a thrown bit of bread. Used to be a hang out for REAL smugglers and pirates, but not so much now. When you leave and head south, you will cross a stunning bridge, then go by Ocean Reef Club, a very exclusive residential area. Then south towards Key Largo. You will also pass an abandoned Nike Misle base and a cold war radar station.

Card sound road is awesome just be careful of the dinguses in their jacked up trucks flying across the road while mudding lol.

Dixie crossroads is in Titusville - you are correct!

The radar station/antenna is interesting. And it's crazy how many nike missle sites are scattered around there.

Just south of Miami is also one of those little known bits of American history... Stiltsville

Stiltsville is EAST of Miami, in the middle of Biscayne Bay. Lot's of history there, but it won't be around much longer. No repairs or maintenance is permitted, state wants it to just go away.

Come across the state to the West coast. We have better beaches.