Florida.............

[oldknotty]

Come vist Ohio guys more to do cheaper and off the beaten track we also have hot weather but no hurricanes :-)

[oldknotty]

Florida is, and will almost certainly remain, the only state of the US I have visited. I didn't dislike America, but that long cooped up in a plane (BA 777) is unthinkable twice in a lifetime. I was also embarrassed at landing somewhere called Orlando (I'm a lifelong nameist) which was worsened by the fear that we might be thought to be having anything to do with Disney. As it was, we had hired a car and drove to Sebring for the 12 hours race. The stay was somewhat marred by a Cat 6 tornado, which upended & destroyed our borrowed tent, drowned Deb's Nikon, and robbed us of our food source for several days. Florida - not uniquely on this planet - is famed for rapid changes of weather. You have been warned.

You should have come up North to the tri state ( Ohio , Indiana and Kentucky ) loads to do , no agro and cheaper , no hurricanes either

[BlackRat]

Thanks all, got a good few ideas now and Mike, Yes we WILL visit Hooters!

[trisonic]

I'm getting deja vu all over again...didn't you go last year to Florida?????????

 

I went to Hooters in Atlanta, thankfully without my Wife but with a guy from Capitol Records. Why? He had told them that he was bringing Peter Gabriel (who I bear a passing resemblance to). He had not told me this. If my Wife had been with us she would have killed him (and he was also my Godparent).

 

It was like being mobbed by marshmallows.

 

I thought the food sucked, big time though - I hate things like "Buffalo Wings" etc.

 

Best, Pete.

[melmerby]

 

It's a while since I last went to Florida. I did the Disney thing, and found it all right though extortionately expensive. Epcot Centre struck me as a waste of time

 

I went with SWMBO some time ago when the country we were supposed to be going to (middle east) suddenly became out of bounds due to war. Some trepidation as we hadn't been to US before and it was very much the only place we could find to go to at short notice.

 

We had a week in NY and two in Florida, enjoyed every minute, thought Epcot was good and didn't think it expensive at all considering how much there is to see for the ticket price.

As well as yhe usual places mentioned we also went to Silver Springs, which few seem to visit which is quite some drive North from International Drive/Kissimee area.

 

Keith

[big jim]

we have just booked for florida again, not doing disney this year but will get the flexipass for universal, busch gardens, seaworld etc this time. also legoland opens the week we arrive so im prebooing tickets for that too.

 

we were looking at flights from manchester to orlando international for a 16 day holiday but they all involved having to change planes at either paris or atlanta so we have ended up knocking 2 days off the trip and going direct from manchester to sanford for only £100 more.

 

looking forward to it again, cici's here we come

[Chubber]

We went to Discovery Cove to swim with dolphins for SWMBOs 60th. As I hate flying and detest 'theme' parks I was not too keen but as it was her special trip I wasn't going to be miserable.

 

Discovery Cove was wonderful! Our dolphin encounter was late in the day, so I had no choice but to 'stick it out' all day BUT it was great. Snorkelling around a reef with 10ft rays and huge coloured fish, feeding shrimps to smaller rays whilst wading in a shallow lake, tropical birds that feed from your hands, 'free' food and beer all day and as we were the last group of six meeting the dolphins, all those who hadn't done a turn came out to play and we petted and rode beside three of them. No rides, no music, absolutely no aggro and admission limited so it wasn't crowded.

 

Though not cheap, the tickets included parking all day and 'return as often as you like' for a week, and similar entry to Busch Gardens and Sea World. We did do Sea World, there it is a theme park, and you paid for parking and all food and drinks. We saw the Sea Lion Show, and performers being thrown high in the air by dolphins, manatees, sea-lions etc. I'm rather proud of the picture below....

 

 

Doug

 

PS The Avondale? Next to the Dockyard gate? A chippy next door selling 'Oggie Specials'?

 

D

[Tony Davis]

If it isn't too far from where you will be staying I would recommend a visit to the Florida Railroad Museum, http://www.frrm.org/index1.php. We spent a day there and really enjoyed it, except the part where my wife stepped on a red ant's nest, she didn't enjoy that bit much. The station & train staff are all volunteers and are enthusiastic and friendly. Nice length of track wandering through the trees, reminded a bit of the Chalfont to Chesham branch, although that doesn't have alligators.

[big jim]

thats a shame the museum is 98 miles from my mums place, a bit too far to travel for a day out...

 

got our tickets for the parks (no disney this time) and a kids eat free card which thankfully is valid in cici's pizza, looks like we will be living there again

Edited September 28, 2011 by big jim

[Tony Davis]

Too far? Don't let my wife know, I had us drive 196 miles from Lido Key to Melbourne when we were there in order to visit a Swap meet there. We did spend some time in the premium outlets en route though...

 

I wanted to see how a US swapmeet compared to an English one, pretty much the same.. I ended up buying a book about called The Railwaymen by R S Joby for $2.00 from a chap from Yorkshire! I did get some Kadee couplings as well and a couple of mags about Lionel Railroads as well.

 

Never been to Cici's Pizza, I used to like P F Changs and Cheesecake Factory, but this time we went to more independent restaurants instead, although Cracker Barrel is well worth a visit.

[trisonic]

98 miles in Florida is probably way under two hours. There will probably be some interesting roadside attractions and Diners to see enroute too.

 

Best, Pete.

[big jim]

agreed its not far, the same as crewe to banbury but i dont think my wife fancies going all that way to see trains.

 

anyway the whole point of the holiday is 2 weeks away from railways!

[Tony Davis]

Bradenton outlet mall?

[big jim]

been here a week now, done busch gardens, seaworld, legoland, universal studios, islands of adventure, its been pretty quiet and we havent had to queue very much for the rides at all of the parks we have visited, didnt bother with the harry potter rides though, never seen the film so its all lost on us but the replica "hogwarts castle" is fantastic!!

 

[iL Dottore]

I guess that's not Emma Watson or Maggie Smith in the photo.....

 

Florida is not my favourite US state, although certain parts are enjoyable. The Universal Studios is a great theme park to visit, I had the luck to go there one evening after park closure for a medical society social event. They had opened up the entire park for a few hours and everything - rides and food - was "free" (i.e. included in the fee we paid for attending the social event) and it was utterly amazing, no queues or crowding either (imagine about 3000 happy scientists and medics wandering around in a place designed to hold 30,000 or more[?]).

 

Apart from Universal Studios, I heartily recommend visiting the Kennedy Space Center and it's worth paying the extra to go on the "behind the scenes" tour - although it's not really as "behind the scenes" as it could be (although I did get within 1/2 mile of a space shuttle being prepped for a mission - which is as close as they'll let most people get to)

 

As for food, having eaten in most of the US states, food can vary considerably in quality, taste and cost - but you can never go wrong with a steakhouse. Even the inexpensive chains have pretty good steaks (if you are feeling particularly carnivorous, head over to Shula's Steakhouse [various Forida locations, including Orlando] and see if you can finish their 48oz steak [i think that the steak is free if you can eat it all in one sitting])

 

F

Edited October 29, 2011 by iL Dottore