In April 1998 Liz and Bill visited
Florida and returned in November 1999 with the family. This was our first visit to
Florida and the first time we had taken a serious holiday without the assistance of a
travel agent and without pre-booking any accommodation. Although Liz was a little
apprehensive, this approach worked well and we've used it subsequently.
In '98 we flew to Orlando's Sanford
airport, picked up our hire car and drove the 30 miles or so to Orlando.
International Drive is home to a big choice of hotels and many highly satisfactory
restaurants. And so it was that late in the afternoon, we had no trouble locating a
suitable hotel.
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The
architecture is impressive and not without some humour! This upside down building
was immediately opposite our Comfort Inn. Hopefully the hurricanes will not be too
severe whilst we're here.
The planners have
cleverly arranged that most buildings are accessed via service roads and utilities (water,
electric etc) are buried in the wide grass verge. No need here to dig up the road
every time a repair or modification is needed.
When work on roads is
necessary, as far as possible, it's done at night. Finished or not, the road is
fully re-instated before the morning rush hour. The team will return night after
night until the job is done. Wow! |
A day to draw breath and then east to
the Atlantic coast and a 200 mile (or so) wander down to Miami. Florida is one of
those states that use the 'filter right on a red traffic light' system. Once we
found out why people were hooting us it worked very well. Mile after mile we drove
down the coast road, keeping well clear of major highways. Pretty little seaside
towns and villages and mile after mile of opulent building. With an inter-coastal
water, there are three beaches to choose from. We lunched at Vero Beach and gazed at
Real Estate Agents' windows. Some of these places are in the mega-buck range, but
many are more than affordable.
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We
checked in at a sea-front hotel at North Miami Beach. Our room opened onto the
private pool and thence onto the beach. The sign reminded us that the weather can
sometimes be hostile!
A first class meal at
a nearby restaurant and an early night. We will take a guided tour of Miami in the
morning. |
These
apartments in Miami are built on an island. We were told that when first built they
were not expensive. Perhaps because of the difficult access? Today these are
owned by the great and the good; many of the world's top tennis players have accommodation
here. Access is by helicopter or boat and security guards deter unwanted visitors. |
Our guided tour was on a small bus
operated by a young man of Austrian descent who like to show off his command of European
languages. We had plenty of time to shop and have lunch in Miami and then off to the
Everglades.
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Airboats
are the only practical way of seeing this extraordinary fresh-water National Park.
The hummocks in this sub-tropical area are populated by everything from snakes to big cats
and wild boar to colourful birds. Definitely not a place for the unprepared tourist! |
Our
airboat pilot/ranger explained that 'gators are not naturally aggressive and demonstrated
the point by slipping into the water and lifting up this 7-year old male. Even
though not fully grown, this chap could do serious damage if aggravated. Curiously,
it seems 'gators are quite partial to marshmallow. |
We drove on down to Homestead for an
overnight stay. We commented how clean and tidy the whole place looked. A
resident rather ruefully told us that not long before, the area had been devastated by a
storm so the whole town had only recently been rebuilt.
And so on down the Florida Keys.
Bridges link the islands; the longest bridge we drove over was 7 miles long.
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The
only problem with the Keys is that by the time you've driven all the way down, seen
Hemmingway's house, had lunch and taken a few compulsory photographs, there are very few
options other than to drive all the way back. We wanted to see the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico. It's a long haul and the route less than direct. We arrived very
late in Naples but we were fortunate to get a room and a good meal. |
We stopped for lunch in Venice and
had a chance meeting with an Englishman who now lives for 6 months a year in Florida and
the other 6 in the Channel Islands, but who had originally come from the West Midlands -
not far from us. He asked us "what are you doing here - looking at property I
suppose?". Guess how he'd made his pile!
And so back to Orlando to a
family-sized suite. Two or three days visiting the theme parks, a day at the Kennedy
Space Centre a couple of days relaxing and then home. When we returned in November
the following year with the family, we repeated much of this, but the ladies wanted to
spend more time at the Florida Mall!
For the November visit, we stayed at
a 5-star timeshare (sleeps 8 easily) apartment at Kissimmee. Our bedroom was
equipped with a Roman-style columned spar bath, a shower one could have invited friends to
share and 'his & hers' everything else. A kitchen and utility area with
everything one could want and finally a good size lounge/diner opening on to a netted
balcony. Sadly it's easy to see why so few European timeshare apartments get a
5-star rating.
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At
Universal Studios we learnt a little of the movie-maker's art. In these two
pictures, everything up to about roof-top level is real; everything above that is in
the form of a small picture hung close in front of the camera. By very careful
positioning of the camera (a 3-axis screw-adjusted camera mount is provided) everything
lines up, the perspective is right and we appear to be somewhere completely different. |
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However,
this is the real thing. Even the non-technical will find this inspiring. Two
launch platforms can just be seen three and a half miles away from this observation tower
at the Kennedy Space Centre. This site is now used mainly for astronaut training,
shuttle and pay-load preparation and launch. The Americans are very proud, and
rightly so, of their space achievements and one can view some of the actual work through
glass windows. All the family were able to touch a piece of moon rock, and once
again, we were amongst the last to leave. |
Our last four pictures were taken at
one or other (certainly the Magic Kingdom and the Epcot Centre) of the ever growing number
of Disney theme parks. There is something here for everyone:- young, old, American
or foreigner and every night finishes with a huge firework display.
Without exception we found the locals
friendly and helpful and anxious to render personal service of the highest order. In
a land where petrol is cheaper than bottled water and the cost of living low, it's no
surprise to find many Europeans living here.
The last major update
to this site was in May 2002 when Liz's Inner Wheel page was added.
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