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Road trip NY to Florida
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Dec 04 2021, 11:41 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
The reason for Miami is relatives. It is not vital that we see these relatives during this vacation, but we want to travel to somewhere warm and beachy so may as well visit the relatives while we're at it. And we'd spend Shabbos with family, so we wouldn't need to make separate Shabbos arrangements.

I'm confused because some posts are saying it would just be tons of time in the car, while others are saying about 6 hours a day which really doesn't seem like that much when broken into chunks. I'm leaning toward flying anyway but only if I can figure out how to enjoy 4 days in Miami when we're not THAT into beaches.


Six hours of actual driving time is realistically three days on the road and you don’t really have time to do anything but drive and eat.

It is nit a way most people would want to spend a vacation. Most people would fly both ways for only a week in Florida.
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amother
Petunia


 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 12:16 am
I drive a few times a year, we do some drives straight and some with stops. We do it with and without kids.
We personally love it, we go very prepared and plan it.
We make sure we have enough good food at correct temps, good entertainment and then hours of talking and singing.
For stops, over the years, we've done:
Philadelphia
Baltimore
DC ( many times-so much to see)
Mount Vernon, VA
Williamsburg, VA
Exploring plantations off the beaten path in VA
We haven't done stops in North Carolina really
South of the border- silly fun tourist trap
Savannah, Georgia
Atlanta- out of the way
Jacksonville, FL
St Augustine, FL
Kennedy Space Center, FL space coast

Quite a few tolls between and NY and DC, after that nothing unless you take Florida turnpike, which you don't need to.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 12:55 am
Now I'm thinking - assuming we'd have to rent a car to see our way around Florida anyway, what if we fly to somewhere else in the South and do just the end part of the road trip the rest of the way to Miami?

Or, still looking for more ideas in Florida. Space center sounds cool. No interest in theme parks. Keep going please? I don't know how people plan trips, I've never been farther than the Catskills.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 1:01 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
The reason for Miami is relatives. It is not vital that we see these relatives during this vacation, but we want to travel to somewhere warm and beachy so may as well visit the relatives while we're at it. And we'd spend Shabbos with family, so we wouldn't need to make separate Shabbos arrangements.

I'm confused because some posts are saying it would just be tons of time in the car, while others are saying about 6 hours a day which really doesn't seem like that much when broken into chunks. I'm leaning toward flying anyway but only if I can figure out how to enjoy 4 days in Miami when we're not THAT into beaches.

The drive is ~20 hours, so if you split it among 3 days, you're talking about 6-7 hours/day. You can decide if that's a lot of time in the car or not for you.

Personally, I'd rather fly for such a short vacation and use my time in Florida to explore. You'll arrive sometime on Tuesday (not sure what time of day), so Tuesday is basically 1/2 day. Then you have Wed,Thurs, half of Fri, Shabbat, and then you fly home. How hard can it be to find something to do for 3 days in a place you've never been to before?

You mentioned the Everglades. That can be fun. That's one day.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens?

Art Deco district architecture tour?

What about Cape Canaveral? That's about 2 hours from Miami. If you rent a car that could make a nice daytrip.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 1:13 am
You say "how hard can it be to find 3 (3 1/2) days of stuff to do in a new place" and yet I keep asking and googling and finding few suggestions. I'm pretty sure we can do it but grasping for ideas.

- half day Tuesday: That'll be our beach chill. Then supper with the family member that we haven't seen in ages. Nice relaxing day coming down from air travel which I don't love.

- Friday is a bit short though we'll be hosted for Shabbos so not that short. We can do something little and local like a museum and maybe another short visit to the beach before packing out.

- Leaving Wednesday and Thursday. Everglades sounds nice but the websites say the tours are around 40 minutes. So figure an hour and a half at the park, plus travel (how far is it? An hour each way? So that's a half day. Need something else to do that day. Any interesting experiences or things to DO rather than to see?

- Then the other of Wednesday or Thursday - what's in Cape Canaveral? Anything other than space center? Is there enough to do at the space center to be worth that much of a trip for people who are not especially into space but interested enough to have a look if it were local?
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amother
Floralwhite


 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 1:30 am
Be prepared for a lot of traffic and everything to take longer to get to than is shown on the maps....
The other day it took me 25 minutes to drive 1 mile in the Miami area, not because of an accident or construction, simply because of how many cars on the road. This is the most crowded time of year.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 1:35 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
You say "how hard can it be to find 3 (3 1/2) days of stuff to do in a new place" and yet I keep asking and googling and finding few suggestions. I'm pretty sure we can do it but grasping for ideas.

- half day Tuesday: That'll be our beach chill. Then supper with the family member that we haven't seen in ages. Nice relaxing day coming down from air travel which I don't love.

- Friday is a bit short though we'll be hosted for Shabbos so not that short. We can do something little and local like a museum and maybe another short visit to the beach before packing out.

- Leaving Wednesday and Thursday. Everglades sounds nice but the websites say the tours are around 40 minutes. So figure an hour and a half at the park, plus travel (how far is it? An hour each way? So that's a half day. Need something else to do that day. Any interesting experiences or things to DO rather than to see?

- Then the other of Wednesday or Thursday - what's in Cape Canaveral? Anything other than space center? Is there enough to do at the space center to be worth that much of a trip for people who are not especially into space but interested enough to have a look if it were local?

Well if you aren't at all interested in space, don't go to Cape Canaveral (obviously). But you don't need to be an astrophysicist to go there and enjoy. Use the opportunity to learn about something new.

How about watersports? Jetskiing, boating, snorkeling, kayaking, sailing, parasailing, etc. Use the internet.

Also, you don't have to fill every second with action, do you? Do an activity in the morning and then go out for lunch, stroll around, explore the different neighborhoods (they have tours of the Art Deco District, Little Havana, etc.), stroll on the beach in the evening, go on a Segway tour, etc.
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WhatFor




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 3:37 am
I haven't been to Miami in a while, but if you want to do a full day trip that includes driving from Miami, I'd recommend driving down to Key West. It's a four hour drive each way, iirc, but it's less about distance than the speed limit. There's a tiny narrow two-lane highway running through the keys with ocean on each side, and if there were an accident it would block everyone, so the speed limit is strictly enforced. It's a beautiful drive though, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Look up whether there's still a kosher restaurant there, pack snacks for the way (although there are plenty of groceries with kosher snacks too). You can go snorkeling there, do a catamaran cruise (which you can also do in Miami), visit Ernest Hemingway's house, if you're so inclined, or visit the most southeastern tip of the continental United States. There are lots of cute little artsy shops. I enjoyed walking around over there.

In terms of timing, I recommend driving down early and making sure to drive back through the keys while there's still sunlight or a sunset. Driving back at night is fine too but you miss out on the view.
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busy mommy




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 6:38 am
amother [ Floralwhite ] wrote:
Be prepared for a lot of traffic and everything to take longer to get to than is shown on the maps....
The other day it took me 25 minutes to drive 1 mile in the Miami area, not because of an accident or construction, simply because of how many cars on the road. This is the most crowded time of year.


Fyi the reason you had so much traffic is not so much to do with holiday season but rather the art basal taking place.
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busy mommy




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 6:53 am
I have done both and enjoy doing both. That said even with stopping for day trips on a road trip, you still need to really enjoy and consider the driving as a crucial part of the trip since there is so much of it. If the drive is all about getting to your attraction or motel then you are better off flying.
Some attraction ideas in Miami: segwaying, biking, jet skiing, fishing, canoeing, Duck tours (bus tour that turns into a boat), glass bottom boat, snorkeling. If you like to sightsee without actually doing anything I would drive all three causeways to Miami Beach. Each one has its own beauty!
Key largo is beautiful as well, Miami Seaquarium, zoo Miami, monkey jungle, butterfly world, Patricia Frost science museum, ft Lauderdale science museum, Boat tours around the bay (you see all the million dollar mansions of celebrities), ocean drive in south Beach, Lincoln mall, Aventura mall, bal harbour shops
Then there are things you can do anywhere like axe throwing, escape rooms, bowling, top golf etc.
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amother
Obsidian


 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 9:04 am
We loved kayaking at Oleta park. Gorgeous and we stopped to take a break pulling the canoe up on the ground and waded around in the water finding lots of cool things. You can also hike or bike around the park. It’s beautiful.

I don’t know if this is your thing but eating out is a big part of going to Miami. I’m not sure if it’s that it’s one of the few vacation spots where you can eat out in a large variety of nice kosher restaurants? Eating out brunch and dinner takes time out of the day too.
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amother
Tanzanite


 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 9:29 am
We spent a whole day at Everglades. Maybe u get out early but we don’t rush take our time in mornings. After davening breakfast and packing up lunch we don’t leave till 11. Why rush? Takes at least an hour. We bring picnic lunch eat at picnic tables. Then wait in line for next boat tour. After they had alligator show. Didn’t leave till 3 or 4. Get back to Miami at 5 and relax in hotel and change to go out to eat

One day beach and we got ice cream to eat on peach and then jungle island. I enjoy walking around seeing the colorful parrots. People think it’s a waste of money I like it. Do what u like.

One day bike riding on Hollywood boardwalk. We rented interesting bikes and bike ride. It was next to beach but still my husband said wasn’t so bad on boardwalk tznius wise. By the time we finish and get back to Miami and go out to eat the day is over. Restaurants crowded. Needed to wait for a table and we relax and shmooze for 2 hours at restaurant

We also went to Miami seaquarium one day. I like the dolphin show. I think we went kayaking at oleta park that day too. If we go out for lunch or even just picking up bagels or pizza takes time.

We went to relax so didn’t rush. We didn’t need to see all the touristy things. If u need to fill up your day then it’s more rushed. Our hotel was on Collins ave. We walked on boardwalk and sat on beach everyday. I think there was a pool also we went swimming. After beach takes time to take a shower wash off sand before go somewhere
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amother
Vanilla


 

Post Sun, Dec 05 2021, 10:10 am
I did this 2 summers ago. stopped in Richmond, VA, North Carolina, and Savannah, GA. We really wanted to stop in D.C. but it was volatile with protests, so we left it out. There is a lot of driving, so you have to be up to it. it was a lovely experience, but we went on vacay for a longer time (over 2 weeks) so it was worth it. As far as driving for a short amt of time, I did drive to Tennessee this past summer for only a few days, but there wasnt that much time for stops. Also, keep in mind, it is much nicer to drive in the summer, when the days are longer. It is not so pleasant when most of the time you will be driving, it will be in the dark.
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amother
Molasses


 

Post Mon, Dec 06 2021, 10:20 am
In Miami, I enjoyed eating out brunch and supper, jetskiing, biking, walking on the boardwalk, getting a massage, mani/pedi, swimming at the hotel pool, lounging at the beach.
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