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Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:11 am
by Bandit72
Ok, so I'm staying in Davenport, Florida in July/August this Summer. I would like some 'go to' places from you natives please. Obviously we'll be getting a 5 day Disney pass as we'll have the children (who are 6 and 3). On my return I will also be stopping off at Nicko McBrain's Rock n Roll Ribs.

http://www.rocknrollribs.org

We were also going to go to the coast one day, where would be best? I was also thinking of stuff that wasn't Disney, but family orientated, or just stuff of great general interest that someone may know. Cheers.

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 6:11 am
by creep
since you are c;lose you have to go to the kennedy space center i would think.

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 7:44 am
by Artemis
My parents used to have a a small condo in Clearwater. The beach was nice there.

If you plan to rent a car you could go to St Petersburg to check out the Dali Museum.

http://thedali.org/


You probably already know this, but the weather is going to be really hot and humid in July and August. Frizz factor is going to be high. :lol:

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 11:37 am
by Pandemonium
I've been to Florida a few times, lots of pros and cons to the state.

Yeah, it gets uncomfortably hot and muggy in late Spring through Oct. There's a slim chance you could catch a hurricane if you're there late enough in August. Regardless, there's fast moving often intense thunder/lightning storms 2-3 times a week on average, usually in the late afternoon. Probably my biggest complaint is how tough it is to find a decent place to eat going north of Miami. I don't know what the deal is, but every seafood place we ate at North of Port St. Lucie on the East Coast sucked. You'll be blown away how warm the ocean is - it's about 85 degrees that time of the year, however the surf and rip currents are always churning, not to mention the high Bull Shark population along the coast. Florida wildlife is pretty cool - you'll regularly see large alligators basking in the sun by highway ponds and storm drains especially down south around the Everglades and it's easy to spot manatees in the canals.

The good points are, you can drive the length of the state in one day, going from Miami to Cape Kennedy can be done in about 3 - 4 hours (less than an hour from Disneyworld). Speaking of which, I would seriously consider blocking out an entire day for Cape Kennedy as well as the nearby Visitors Space Center. Touring the Cape and the launch facilities is going to be one of the coolest things you'll ever see, especially the Apollo Saturn V exhibit. I also highly recommend booking the launch complex and VAB building van/bus tour (if they still do that). There's also a neat alligator farm/zoo near Orlando that's good for a couple hours.

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 11:52 am
by Artemis
Very important if you are a tea drinker, Bandit.

If you order tea you will be served iced tea. If you want tea as we know it, you have to says "hot tea".

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 12:58 pm
by Bandit72
Artemis wrote:If you plan to rent a car you could go to St Petersburg to check out the Dali Museum.

http://thedali.org/
Cool, I'll bear that in mind. I've been to the one in Figueras.
Pandemonium wrote:I've been to Florida a few times, lots of pros and cons to the state.

Yeah, it gets uncomfortably hot and muggy in late Spring through Oct. There's a slim chance you could catch a hurricane if you're there late enough in August. Regardless, there's fast moving often intense thunder/lightning storms 2-3 times a week on average, usually in the late afternoon. Probably my biggest complaint is how tough it is to find a decent place to eat going north of Miami. I don't know what the deal is, but every seafood place we ate at North of Port St. Lucie on the East Coast sucked. You'll be blown away how warm the ocean is - it's about 85 degrees that time of the year, however the surf and rip currents are always churning, not to mention the high Bull Shark population along the coast. Florida wildlife is pretty cool - you'll regularly see large alligators basking in the sun by highway ponds and storm drains especially down south around the Everglades and it's easy to spot manatees in the canals.

The good points are, you can drive the length of the state in one day, going from Miami to Cape Kennedy can be done in about 3 - 4 hours (less than an hour from Disneyworld). Speaking of which, I would seriously consider blocking out an entire day for Cape Kennedy as well as the nearby Visitors Space Center. Touring the Cape and the launch facilities is going to be one of the coolest things you'll ever see, especially the Apollo Saturn V exhibit. I also highly recommend booking the launch complex and VAB building van/bus tour (if they still do that). There's also a neat alligator farm/zoo near Orlando that's good for a couple hours.
Excellent, thank you. Would love to see Cape Kennedy. The kids are very aware of space and planets too. Looking forward to the wildlife!

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:00 pm
by Bandit72
Artemis wrote:Very important if you are a tea drinker, Bandit.

If you order tea you will be served iced tea. If you want tea as we know it, you have to says "hot tea".
I am very much a tea drinker yes.

As long as they don't put ICE IN MY RED WINE :lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 2:29 pm
by Romeo
Whoa, July/August? You might melt! lol It's VERY hot & humid in the summer. We did a August trip to Disney one year and thankfully because we were staying on Disney Property we could hop a bus back to the hotel, jump in the pool and go back to the park at night

When I was a kid we used to go for two weeks every summer and stay in Ormond Beach. And we always drove down :crazy:

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 4:22 pm
by Larry B.
If I'm not mistaken, in England the recent summers have been crazy hot, so I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make, probably apart from the humidity (which I personally enjoy.) When I went to London about 10 years ago there were 39 degrees Celsius.

Oh, and another tip: in Florida, french fries are served with ice cubes in them. Rented cars come with ice cubes too. And don't even get me started on Disney on Ice.

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 7:42 pm
by Hype
When I was ... I think 11 or 12... we went to Tampa. We skipped Disney entirely, but did Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center, Busch Gardens, and beaches on both coasts (Gulf is calm and warm, Atlantic has cooler big waves and is fun).

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 11:37 pm
by nausearockpig
Larry B. wrote:If I'm not mistaken, in England the recent summers have been crazy hot, so I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make, probably apart from the humidity (which I personally enjoy.) When I went to London about 10 years ago there were 39 degrees Celsius.

Oh, and another tip: in Florida, french fries are served with ice cubes in them. Rented cars come with ice cubes too. And don't even get me started on Disney on Ice.
Yet when you ask for ice, they give you some crystal or powder and a glass pipe? What...

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:00 am
by Hype
Adurentibus Spina wrote:When I was ... I think 11 or 12... we went to Tampa. We skipped Disney entirely, but did Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center, Busch Gardens, and beaches on both coasts (Gulf is calm and warm, Atlantic has cooler big waves and is fun).
I meant Orlando. :dunce: :confused:

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:15 pm
by sinep
I watched CNN in the Miami airport for about 30 mins once while waiting for a connecting flight, so I can probably help you out if you have any questions.

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:18 am
by Bandit72
sinep wrote:I watched CNN in the Miami airport for about 30 mins once while waiting for a connecting flight, so I can probably help you out if you have any questions.
Do I need a white suit and a Testarossa to look good in Miami? Can you get 2 adults, 2 kids and luggage into a white Testarossa?

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:25 am
by nausearockpig
Bandit72 wrote:
sinep wrote:I watched CNN in the Miami airport for about 30 mins once while waiting for a connecting flight, so I can probably help you out if you have any questions.
Do I need a white suit and a Testarossa to look good in Miami? Can you get 2 adults, 2 kids and luggage into a white Testarossa?
You can if you put the kids in the luggage.... but child services may suddenly take a keen interest in your activities at that point....

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:28 am
by nausearockpig
sinep wrote:I watched CNN in the Miami airport for about 30 mins once while waiting for a connecting flight, so I can probably help you out if you have any questions.
I have a question: what is better? A bookcase or deep fried fish, such as flake (which is actually shark)?

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:09 am
by Hokahey
Artemis wrote:My parents used to have a a small condo in Clearwater. The beach was nice there.

If you plan to rent a car you could go to St Petersburg to check out the Dali Museum.

http://thedali.org/


You probably already know this, but the weather is going to be really hot and humid in July and August. Frizz factor is going to be high. :lol:
I went to a couple years of high school in Clearwater. The Dali museum was a pretty regular visit for us back then. I had never heard of him the first time someone took me there. I was 15? I was blown away.

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 2:05 pm
by Bandit72
What's the best way to drive from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando? Toll roads or non toll? How much are the tolls? :dunce:

What kind of times am I looking at bearing in mind I will setting off from Lauderdale around 11pm. Three hours?

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 2:15 pm
by mockbee
Bandit72 wrote:What's the best way to drive from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando? Toll roads or non toll? How much are the tolls? :dunce:

What kind of times am I looking at bearing in mind I will setting off from Lauderdale around 11pm. Three hours?
I'd say take 95 till you hit Miami. Keep going, then take the 1 south. stay on the 1 and keep going...then keep going some more until it ends. Then find a place to ditch your vehicle and call it good. You might be a little late, but it will be worth it.

love that place.

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 2:41 pm
by Bandit72
mockbee wrote:
Bandit72 wrote:What's the best way to drive from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando? Toll roads or non toll? How much are the tolls? :dunce:

What kind of times am I looking at bearing in mind I will setting off from Lauderdale around 11pm. Three hours?
I'd say take 95 till you hit Miami. Keep going, then take the 1 south. stay on the 1 and keep going...then keep going some more until it ends. Then find a place to ditch your vehicle and call it good. You might be a little late, but it will be worth it.

love that place.
Yeh. I'd love that. However, I'm not with an expensive bird, I don't have $1m and gave up class A's a long time ago.

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 3:18 pm
by mockbee
Bandit72 wrote:
mockbee wrote:
Bandit72 wrote:What's the best way to drive from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando? Toll roads or non toll? How much are the tolls? :dunce:

What kind of times am I looking at bearing in mind I will setting off from Lauderdale around 11pm. Three hours?
I'd say take 95 till you hit Miami. Keep going, then take the 1 south. stay on the 1 and keep going...then keep going some more until it ends. Then find a place to ditch your vehicle and call it good. You might be a little late, but it will be worth it.

love that place.
Yeh. I'd love that. However, I'm not with an expensive bird, I don't have $1m and gave up class A's a long time ago.
wow.

that was a whole lot of british slang.

what I hear you saying is that you don't have any toucans, you don't have a million bucks and you were never a very good baseball player, but you gave that up.........

okay, don't know what that all has to do with key west. :hs:



Along with learning about Australian trucks, I'm hella deep and learnid' now!
:lol:

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 6:04 am
by Artemis
This site may be helpful to get toll info. I don't think the tolls will be more than $20.

There's a toll rate calculator in the link

http://www.floridasturnpike.com/

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 6:09 am
by creep
Artemis wrote:This site may be helpful to get toll info. I don't think the tolls will be more than $20.

There's a toll rate calculator in the link

http://www.floridasturnpike.com/
i guess one thing california can brag about is that we don't have toll roads but it will cost you to go over a bridge. usually $5. one way only though.

we do have a few pay express lanes to avoid traffic which i always use because i'm the most impatient person ever and hate traffic.

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 6:09 am
by mockbee
toll roads are stupid.

We already paid for that, and if it's not enough, I think we can do with 5 less people standing around a hole while one person fixes it. And if it's still not enough, raise our taxes. :noclue:

Re: Who's been to/lives in Florida?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 6:16 am
by mockbee
creep wrote:
Artemis wrote:This site may be helpful to get toll info. I don't think the tolls will be more than $20.

There's a toll rate calculator in the link

http://www.floridasturnpike.com/
i guess one thing california can brag about is that we don't have toll roads but it will cost you to go over a bridge. usually $5. one way only though.

we do have a few pay express lanes to avoid traffic which i always use because i'm the most impatient person ever and hate traffic.
I understand bridge tolls. Those things are expensive.....

However **** $7 ***** for Golden Gate Bridge :yikes: ...........that includes motorcycles....... :hs:

sucks when there are jobs in marin. I could get reimbursed but don't bother. They have a cool system though now, where they take a photo of your license plate and send you a bill. Like FastTrak, but I don't have to carry that dumb widget thing around. I always wonder what would happen if my plate just all of a sudden got really "dirty" before going over....