Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I´am planing to go to Florida in February for vacation.
Can someone give me advice, what are the must see points?
I would like to drive by car from Miami to the South and up on the east coast up to new orleans. Time range is about 3 Weeks.
What do you guys think?

Greetings from Germany..

Siegi
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www.albinoboas.com

I think if you drive up the east coast, you'll never get to New Orleans. If your hug the Gulf Coast, on the west, you'll get to New Orleans. Should be an awesome trip.

OK, I meant the east coast of Florida,
should have written gulf coast
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www.albinoboas.com

It's two different coasts, so depends on what you're wanting to see on your drive. If you're heading for St. Augustine for example, you're going to run up the east coast. If you want to see (what most consider) the nicer beaches, and head more toward New Orleans, you'd stay along the west side or gulf coast of Florida. If you go to the southern tip via the everglades, there's not much at the end of that road. If you tell us more about what you want to see, I'm sure we can give you a decent agenda. You may want to travel up the east coast toward Daytona, then cut across and hit Orlando, Tampa, etc. REALLY depends what your priorities are. Once you get to the panhandle there's not much difference on your way to New Orleans. I think Sean at Exotics by Nature is around Slidell, LA. which is close to New Orleans. Might want to contact them as a reptile stop toward the end of your destination. I can save you some time around Gulf Breeze, if you're going to zoos for reptile displays..it's called The Zoo in Gulf Breeze, and there isn't much to see there as far as reptiles. When I worked there, I would've compared it to an everyday pet store selection. And a word of warning-Florida-go on vacation, leave on probation, come back on violation. LOL, nah it's not that bad.

I live in Orlando and honestly haven't been around the state too much so I can't tell you about a whole lot of things to do here, other than the area I'm familiar with. A few ideas...

I'm going to throw out these ideas as if you were traveling from the Keys, North up the East coast of the state, and then head West across the state, then North again. The only part of the state you'll miss will be the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area. You could always go up, then come back. It's about an 1-1.5 hours from Daytona.

So, if you're starting in the Keys, head North and you'll come to:

The Everglades National Park. There was a lot more to see before people came around! lol

In that area is:

Tom Crutchfield's facility. As far as I know, he's usually willing to welcome visitors.

There are also some of the larger importers down there in the Miami area and I'm sure Tom could give you an idea of the better places to visit as I'm pretty sure they likely have a storefront.

Miami is known all over the world for its beautiful women (many of whom paid a doctor for their beauty) and its nightclubs! I haven't been, but from what I understand they don't wear much at the beach. I also understand that you can get Cuban cigars there - if that interests you. Food should be VERY good and a change of pace from the rest of your trip which will just be typical American food and seafood (until you get to New Orleans).

Slightly North of Miami is Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, FL. I'm not overly familiar with this area, but if you enjoy gambling, then be sure to visit the Hard Rock Seminole Casino in Hollywood, FL. It's ENORMOUS and VERY cool.

Further up the east coast (about 2 hours), there are two "must-see's" in Melbourne. The first is the Brevard Zoo. It's been improved lately (was fun before) and is larger with more exhibits. If you have kids, they have a great area for kids. If we have unseasonably warm weather, they have a great new kid water park! The highlight of this zoo (in my opinion) is the observation deck for the giraffe's where you get to feed them at their eye-level. Also, the bird exhibit is fun. You can feed the lorakeet's as they fly around all over the place and land on you They've got a little petting farm area too with goats, etc..

The second stop is Incredible Pets in Melbourne. PHENOMENAL exotic pet store with great displays and some REALLY cool animals of all kinds.

You can take a gambling cruise out of the nearby port in Cocoa, FL. They'll go out for a few hours and swing back. It's free and so is the food. Don't know about alcohol being free or not as I don't drink. Heck, come to think of it, if you wanted to take a cruise, that's the perfect place to depart and head down to the Caribbean. Cruise lines are practically GIVING AWAY cruises to the Caribbean. I've heard of 3-5 days cruises for VERY MINIMAL money. Could be a fun diversion from your Florida based vacation for a few days.

North of Cocoa and Cocoa Beach is Daytona.

Daytona isn't one of my favorite places. Very run down. Also, depending on when you're going to be here, the Daytona 500 will be taking place. I just looked it up, it's February 20th, 2011. That could be a pretty cool experience actually. Avoid Daytona during March 4-11th this year, it's bike week and the traffic is horrible. Unless you like motorcycles - then, GO!!!! From Daytona, you can hop on Interstate 4 and be in Orlando in 1 hour.

If you don't want to go to Daytona, then at Cocoa, FL (gambling cruises I mentioned and just north of Melbourne where the zoo and exotic pet store is), you can head West towards Orlando on State Road 528. Depending on where you're going in Orlando, it's about a 45 minute drive to your destination.

In Orlando, there is a TON of stuff to do.

It's pretty short on reptiles other than the St. Cloud Serpentarium (small place and I haven't been in 10 years, but it's pretty cool and they have venomous). But, there is:

Disney World (4 parks plus 2 water parks which may be too cold to visit)
Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure (my 2 favorite parks)
Sea World (how can you pass up Sea World???? - another great park)

All three of these places are relatively close to each other - only about 20-25 minutes apart from the parking lot of Universal Studios/IOA to Disney - with Sea World in the middle of that 25 minute trip.

If you like Roller Coasters and you're just choosing one destination, go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure (two parks right next to each other). If you want an animal experience, Sea World is a good choice, or Animal Kingdom at Disney - the choice is dependent upon whether you want aquatic animals or not. If you choose Sea World, you can buy a 2-park pass and go to:

Busch Gardens in Tampa. This is a great place for animals AND roller coasters. Because you're going this way anyway. It's about an hour West of Orlando on Interstate 4.

All of the theme parks should be relatively slow in February until Spring Break starts. Even then, they shouldn't be PACKED.

Feel free to bring a nice camera to any of these parks if you don't mind carrying it around all day. If you decide to ride a roller coaster, etc., they'll have lockers you can rent (sometimes free) to store anything you're carrying with you.

From Tampa/Busch Gardens, you could drive North up the Gulf Coast of Florida.

South of Tampa (the opposite direction you're driving) there's not much to see. The only thing you'll miss out on is Alligator Alley which is pretty boring anyway unless you run over an alligator or feral pig, which will ruin you day. There are some nice beaches (Sanibel Island, Marco Island, etc.) but if you're going to be in the Keys, they wouldn't be much different. So don't worry about missing them.

After that, I don't know what there is to do here in FL. Sad... I know. I'm not a very good ambassador for the state

Depending on your time frame and what you want to do, you could always head up to Atlanta, Georgia on your way to New Orleans. Atlanta is a HUGE city (5.5 million people in the greater metro area) and I'm sure there's no shortage of things to do there. A few hours north of Atlanta is the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Probably not much for a German tourist to see in the mountains and you'd likely rather stay away from the cold weather! lol But it's an option.

If you enjoy good food, New Orleans will be a NICE treat for you. I've only been once, but I haven't had food that good before, or since.

Pack warm and cold weather clothing. You'll encounter both on your trip! Good luck!

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

Another small zoo with a great herp collection is the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford, Fl which is about 1/2 an hour north of Orlando right off of I-4
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"We don't inherate the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children"

Very true! Can't believe I forgot to mention that. I take my niece there frequently. Great medium sized cat collection too

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

Siegi,

My must see place every time I am in Florida is St. Augustine Alligator Farm.
St. Augustine

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Cindy Steinle
PHFaust
Visit kingsnake on Facebook!
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Thanks, thats a must see of course.
Just visited their website, great species list they have there.
But what do they in Winter (Feb.) isn´t it to cold there for Crocs and Aligators ?

Siegi
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www.albinoboas.com

Are you looking for things to see with reptiles? Or just in general?

Florida is known all over the world for its theme parks. Interested in those?

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

I can give you alot of must see spots in New Orleans.... I lived there for 6 years
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Marc Duhon
Lafayette, Louisiana
SURINAMBOAS.COM
kaiyudsai@SURINAMBOAS.COM

Thank you guys... that helps me much to find me route through Florida.With all that good advices. My main interest is the Everglades, maybe the Keys, nice beaches, nice vegetation und of course the aligators. Some nice beach bars where I can drink some beer and coffee..
I will rent a cabrio and drive along with my girl friend.

Thanks again... thats very kind of you...

See ya soon..
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www.albinoboas.com

A word of caution on the everglades. Talk to some locals or people that have been there a few times. That way you'll know where to go for the most enjoyment. I lived in the panhandle, my sister in law lives near Vero Beach. So, last time I was down, my brother in law and I went to the glades. To be honest, in general it was a long worthless trip the way we went about it. It seems the airboat tours are all outside of the national park. The only place we saw alligators was along a long walkway crowded with tourists. We traveled every road inside the park that we could, and essentially we saw grass. He wouldn't venture out with me "into" the glades, so it was pretty boring. We saw 1 live snake, 1 dead snake, 1 turtle, a million anoles, and 10 gazillion mosquitos. I gave a lot of blood that day! There was a decent fruit stand before going into the glades, they had some really good honey for sale. That was probably the highlight of the trip. So, definitely talk with some people before having a dream trip turn into a nightmare of disappointment. You're coming a lot further than I did to see it, I'd hate for you to have the same experience.

Thank you thats a good advice.
I have been to many swamps most in Asia.. so hopefully the glades will be as nice as those. I am very excited about the trip to Florida, the last time I have been to the USA is arround 30 years ago.

Siegi
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www.albinoboas.com

I forgot to wright, if its possible I want to stay away from cold weather... its cold enough here in Germany..
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www.albinoboas.com

What if I fly to Miami than go south on the east coast to the glades and than up the gulf coast to new orleans ? That is very long trip I know maybe I should shorten the route a bit.

I will consider the tipps you gave me there are many must see points. Thanks to everyone..

Siegi
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www.albinoboas.com

Unless you have in interest in driving, consider flying to New Orleans. It will probably save you a day or two.

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

I go strait from Germany to Phoenix, where I visit my related for a few days. Than I fly to Florida. Like I wrote in a post before I want to stay away from cold weather.

Siegi
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www.albinoboas.com