Road Trip Boston to Orlando - where to stop
- Bobb -
snows I'll just stay down south until March - really.
I could spend some time in Philadelphia doing historical stuff. Ben
Franklin, constitution writing timeframe etc. Although I've driven thru,
I never have palyed tourist . Then ... Wash Dc - same thing. Last year
we did coastal NC/SC so maybe Charlotte then ... Savanah ?
On the way back a few days at Disney then .... I'm open for ideas -
about 2-3 weeks . I don't mind driving and COULD go down and back
non-stop , but that's the reason FOR the trip - to get out of Boston in
February. We would like to explore the south a bit and have a few
tourist books but open for ideas.
Especially any smalltown info - such as ... exit xx off Rt 95 there's a
great restaurant ... if you like old cars stop .. here... that type of
thing. Something to break up the ride that I wouldn't find in a AAA
guidebook. We DO like a good breakfast over other meals so any input
there especially appreciated.
OK - 3 weeks round trip - Orlando to Boston - where to visit ?
squ...@peoriadesignweb.com
Orlando and Miami. Booked all the hotels from Hotwire.com and found
excellent deals in all these cities. Average hotel price was $55/ night
which was for Amerinn suites which have two rooms, kitchenettes, and a
good free breakfast. For that price it was basiclly free!
Shawn Hirn
What about spending a night or two at one of the turn of the century
inns in Cape May, New Jersey?
bar...@cix.compulink.co.uk
bo...@noemail.123 (- Bobb -) wrote:
> *From:* "- Bobb -" <bo...@noemail.123>
> *Date:* Wed, 3 Jan 2007 21:18:03 -0500
Savannah definitely; also look at Charleston and at St. Augustine in
northern FL.
ocon...@slr.orl.lmco.com
- Bobb - wrote:
> 1 week down and maybe 2 weeks back - in February . yeah I know ... if it
> snows I'll just stay down south until March - really.
>
> I could spend some time in Philadelphia doing historical stuff. Ben
> Franklin, constitution writing timeframe etc. Although I've driven thru,
> I never have palyed tourist . Then ... Wash Dc - same thing. Last year
> we did coastal NC/SC so maybe Charlotte then ... Savanah ?
I just did Philly last October. I was pretty disappointed in the
historical "stuff". I'd probably do DC. Gettysburg might be
interesting, although kinda a strange time of year. Savanah would
make a nice break from the drive. Don't think it would deserve
more than a day or so. Great place for dinner though. Ya
kinda blew past Yorktown, which has its own "historical
stuff" as well.
> On the way back a few days at Disney then .... I'm open for ideas -
> about 2-3 weeks . I don't mind driving and COULD go down and back
> non-stop , but that's the reason FOR the trip - to get out of Boston in
> February. We would like to explore the south a bit and have a few
> tourist books but open for ideas.
Well, if you're in Florida, ya gotta do a beach. Maybe Cocoa
and see the space center? Just north of there outside of
Titusville is the Canaveral National Seashore which has
some interesting areas including some good 'gator viewing.
You could take an airboat ride in East Orange County.
There is the Katie's Landing canoe trips down the Wakiwa
River in Seminole County. Do something weird and
take a tandem skydive in Deland. If it is a pleasant day
you could swing into Blue Springs state park, although
the waters cold in summer so I dunno if you'll like it in
February.
> Especially any smalltown info - such as ... exit xx off Rt 95 there's a
> great restaurant ... if you like old cars stop .. here... that type of
> thing. Something to break up the ride that I wouldn't find in a AAA
> guidebook. We DO like a good breakfast over other meals so any input
> there especially appreciated.
The path you're driving would lend itself to alot of Civil War
stops. I had a GREAT breakfast in Reading Station in Philly
at the Amish breakfast and lunch counter. Annapolis is a fun
town for me, and you can take some tours of the school. There
is a great, albeit high end, restaurant in Ormond Beach that is
probably the best in Florida (La Crepe en Haut). There's a topless
donut shop just off of I-95 south of Jacksonville.
- Bobb -
<ocon...@slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote in message
news:1167923641.5...@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> - Bobb - wrote:
>> 1 week down and maybe 2 weeks back - in February . yeah I know ... if
>> it
>> snows I'll just stay down south until March - really.
>>
>> I could spend some time in Philadelphia doing historical stuff. Ben
>> Franklin, constitution writing timeframe etc. Although I've driven
>> thru,
>> I never have palyed tourist . Then ... Wash Dc - same thing. Last
>> year
>> OK - 3 weeks round trip - Orlando to Boston - where to visit ?
>
> historical "stuff". I'd probably do DC. Gettysburg might be
> interesting, although kinda a strange time of year. Savanah would
> make a nice break from the drive. Don't think it would deserve
> more than a day or so. Great place for dinner though. Ya
> kinda blew past Yorktown, which has its own "historical
> stuff" as well.
>
A friend sent me an email saying that philly was boring too
I'm pretty surprised as I thought they'd be a lot of historical stuff to
do.
I DID stop at Gettysburg on the way back last year and liked it.
I've done the coast as far as Charleston but then turned around so would
like to visit Savannah.
>> On the way back a few days at Disney then .... I'm open for ideas -
>> about 2-3 weeks . I don't mind driving and COULD go down and back
>> non-stop , but that's the reason FOR the trip - to get out of Boston
>> in
>> February. We would like to explore the south a bit and have a few
>> tourist books but open for ideas.
>
> Well, if you're in Florida, ya gotta do a beach. Maybe Cocoa
> and see the space center? Just north of there outside of
> Titusville is the Canaveral National Seashore which has
> some interesting areas including some good 'gator viewing.
Did that last year and it was a good take.
> You could take an airboat ride in East Orange County.
> There is the Katie's Landing canoe trips down the Wakiwa
> River in Seminole County. Do something weird and
> take a tandem skydive in Deland. If it is a pleasant day
> you could swing into Blue Springs state park, although
> the waters cold in summer so I dunno if you'll like it in
> February.
>
These are interesting.
Skydiving ... not sure about that but will check it out.
>> Especially any smalltown info - such as ... exit xx off Rt 95
>> there's a
>> great restaurant ... if you like old cars stop .. here... that type
>> of
>> thing. Something to break up the ride that I wouldn't find in a AAA
>> guidebook. We DO like a good breakfast over other meals so any input
>> there especially appreciated.
>
> The path you're driving would lend itself to alot of Civil War
> stops.
I was thinking that too - any place in particular ?
> I had a GREAT breakfast in Reading Station in Philly
> at the Amish breakfast and lunch counter. Annapolis is a fun
> town for me, and you can take some tours of the school. There
> is a great, albeit high end, restaurant in Ormond Beach that is
> probably the best in Florida (La Crepe en Haut). There's a topless
> donut shop just off of I-95 south of Jacksonville.
>
A topless donut shop - now THAT's something to liven up your morning !
Keep 'em coming.
Thanks
Shawn Hirn
"- Bobb -" <bo...@noemail.123> wrote:
> <ocon...@slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote in message
> news:1167923641.5...@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > - Bobb - wrote:
> >> 1 week down and maybe 2 weeks back - in February . yeah I know ... if
> >> it
> >> snows I'll just stay down south until March - really.
> >>
> >> I could spend some time in Philadelphia doing historical stuff. Ben
> >> Franklin, constitution writing timeframe etc. Although I've driven
> >> thru,
> >> I never have palyed tourist . Then ... Wash Dc - same thing. Last
> >> year
> >> we did coastal NC/SC so maybe Charlotte then ... Savannah ?
> >> OK - 3 weeks round trip - Orlando to Boston - where to visit ?
> >
> > I just did Philly last October. I was pretty disappointed in the
> > historical "stuff". I'd probably do DC. Gettysburg might be
> > interesting, although kinda a strange time of year. Savanah would
> > make a nice break from the drive. Don't think it would deserve
> > more than a day or so. Great place for dinner though. Ya
> > kinda blew past Yorktown, which has its own "historical
> > stuff" as well.
> >
>
> A friend sent me an email saying that philly was boring too
> I'm pretty surprised as I thought they'd be a lot of historical stuff to
> do.
These kinds of comments are pretty useless without knowing what the
bored visitor actually did. I live near Philly and I spent two years
living in the historic area and I can tell you, one can easily spend a
week or two there and no do the same thing twice. If all one does is
visit the popular historical sites such as the Liberty Bell and
Independence Hall, I can see why one would consider their visit boring.
There's a lot more than those sites to see such as the Ben Franklin
Museum, the Franklin Institute, the Art Museum, the Mutter Museum (if
one has a strong stomach), and tons of other sites, not to mention
visiting Valley Forge National Park.
- Bobb -
"Shawn Hirn" <sr...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:srhi-3AF975.0...@newsgroups.comcast.net...
Good - how's the Franklin related stuff ?
In a limited visit (1/2/3 days )- what to definitely see in town ?
I've gone to Philly visitor websites and overwhelemed but the qty of
stuff but I have no idea about the quality of them - that's why I asked
here - thanks.
ocon...@slr.orl.lmco.com
Shawn Hirn wrote:
> In article <_pydnVLsQP4lLALY...@comcast.com>,
> "- Bobb -" <bo...@noemail.123> wrote:
>
> > <ocon...@slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote in message
> > news:1167923641.5...@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > > I just did Philly last October. I was pretty disappointed in the
> > > historical "stuff".
> >
> > A friend sent me an email saying that philly was boring too
> > I'm pretty surprised as I thought they'd be a lot of historical stuff to
> > do.
>
> These kinds of comments are pretty useless without knowing what the
> bored visitor actually did. I live near Philly and I spent two years
> living in the historic area and I can tell you, one can easily spend a
> week or two there and no do the same thing twice. If all one does is
> visit the popular historical sites such as the Liberty Bell and
> Independence Hall, I can see why one would consider their visit boring.
Yes, this is the basic problem. You need to get past all the
popular
or predictable places before you'll get to much of the more interesting
places.
My comments were definitely related to what has been done with the more
common places. And the Constitution museum was a huge disappointment
for me.
> There's a lot more than those sites to see such as the Ben Franklin
> Museum, the Franklin Institute, the Art Museum, the Mutter Museum (if
> one has a strong stomach), and tons of other sites, not to mention
> visiting Valley Forge National Park.
Valley Forge, on a previous visit, was one of the better sites.
ocon...@slr.orl.lmco.com
- Bobb - wrote:
> <ocon...@slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote in message
> news:1167923641.5...@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > The path you're driving would lend itself to alot of Civil War
> > stops.
>
> I was thinking that too - any place in particular ?
[snip]
Alt.civilwar.somthing-er-another would probably be a better place
to ask. But Gettysburg, Mannassas and Richmond, not to mention
Savannah would probably top a list or two.
off...@hotels4travelers.com
hotel reservation sites.
www.hotels4travelers.com
Shawn Hirn
The Ben Franklin Museum is free and well worth a visit. Its on Market
Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets.
- Bobb -
Thank you.
I'll be starting this trek in a few days. Heading to AAA for maps today.
- Bobb -
!!! SO I think I'll head right down (2-3 days) and spend more time
coming back.
Any input on Savannah or Philadelphia , or other towns near I-95 ??
"- Bobb -" <bo...@noemail.123> wrote in message
news:s8-dnY5xw9JK_gHY...@comcast.com...
Sarah Banick
"- Bobb -" <bo...@noemail.123> wrote in message
> Leaving this weekend and forecast shows 0-15F as far south as Virginia !!!
> SO I think I'll head right down (2-3 days) and spend more time coming
> back.
>
> Any input on Savannah or Philadelphia , or other towns near I-95 ??
>
>
>
>
Downtown Savannah is nice -- an old Southern city with lots of squares, good
for walking. River Street is nice. But it's supposed to be in the 20s in
Georgia this weekend, so I doubt there will be much going on. January and
February are pretty boring almost everywhere!
carol...@gmail.com
On Jan 26, 10:04 am, "Sarah Banick" <sban...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> "- Bobb -" <b...@noemail.123> wrote in messagenews:rqmdncsEJdd5qiTY...@comcast.com...
>
> > Leaving this weekend and forecast shows 0-15F as far south as Virginia !!!
> > SO I think I'll head right down (2-3 days) and spend more time coming
> > back.
>
> > Any input on Savannah or Philadelphia , or other towns near I-95 ??Downtown Savannah is nice -- an old Southern city with lots of squares, good
> for walking. River Street is nice. But it's supposed to be in the 20s in
> Georgia this weekend, so I doubt there will be much going on. January and
> February are pretty boring almost everywhere!
I agree - it will be cold all the way down. So get as far as you can,
the first day. On the way back, buy lots of oranges, grapefruits and
strawberries to consume up north: remembrances.
Safe journey -
CC
Got Any Gum?
st.go past the Wachovia Center and Citizens Bank park and then hop
onto i-76 westbound
take that to 202 southbound and follow that to 422 westbound and
follow that to route 23.............Now you are in valley forge pa
where part of the revolutionary war was fought and where our country
began.
Later,make your way back to 202 south and it will take you to
Wilmington Delaware where you can resume i-95 southbound
check it out on a map first
Baltimore has a nice Inner Harbour and its only a mile off i-95
Stop and eat at a barbeque while driving through North Carolina
Play a round a golf while driving through South carolina
- Bobb -
weather) and spend more time on the way back. I know it might be lousy then
too but I'll chance it.
So, heading north, I'm thinking - a day or 2 at WDW, then Savannah,GA...
richmond, VA.. wash dc ... philadelphia .. then home (Boston). I stopped
at AAA a few weeks ago thinking they'd help me with "things to do in each".
They mailed me a triptik and regional books - that's it - so I'll look thru
them this week for "what to do " in each city, and then start heading north.
Thanks,
Bobb
"Got Any Gum?" <gota...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1170443509.3...@s48g2000cws.googlegroups.com...
- Bobb -
from MA to FL in late January and then headed to Orlando, Daytona,
Jacksonville etc working my way back to Boston. ( I know that I have a
better transcript somewhere - until I find it, here's bits and pieces
from emails - )
At Disney:
I stayed at Coronado Springs one night and Port Orleans - Riverside last
night. Coronado was VERY nice . Port Orleans was not - same price for
each. I spent a full day at WDW - did everything except the Expedition
Everest roller coaster at Animal Kingdom. My day at WDW itinerary:
I got a Fast pass for the coaster - did everything else and still had a
3 hr wait for it , so I went to MGM - did it all and returned for the
Everest ride. It had broken down so would be 45 minute wait in the fast
lane so I skipped it. (I wasted an hour getting there and back) Went to
Epcot - got a Fast Pass for Soarin' - 3 hours too - I did the Rockin'
Roller Coaster, and waited for a front seat. It didn't matter because I
could not see a thiing in the dark. Awesome - scary fast - ride. I then
had lunch (fish and
chips) at the bar in England, It was the only thing open for food at
3:30 pm so not much of a choice.But since I prefer there for lunch, I'm
not complaining. Went to Fantasmic at MGM at 7pm, then to Epcot for 9pm
fireworks show. Epcot show was not as good as it used to be. No Lasers.
Half the show is the "Earth Globe" moving across the water with the
continents "revolving" on it. Epcot was open until midnight, so I ( and
everyone else in the park) headed for Soarin' after the fireworks. It
was about a 30 minute wait. Dangerous walking around in the dark. ( Even
though that park stayed open late, they still turn the lights down - as
IF it was closing).
Today I drove from Orlando to Daytona, then along A1A until I got to
Sawgrass Country Club - what a beautiful drive along the water. I took
a walk along the beach at Marineland. I THOUGHT I'd visit, but it was
closed. I drove up A1A to Sawgrass, then 210 West to I-95. Staying at a
LaQuinta. There are lots of hotels right near me -
near the beaches. Heading to Georgia in the AM.
Currently I'm in Jekyll Island, GA ... Staying at Days Inn on the water.
Some bad weather up north, so will hang out here another day, THEN
heading to Savannah,GA then Charleston, up the carolina coast, outer
banks, over to VA, Wash DC and Philadelphia ( weather permitting).
Forecast looking pretty lousy up north so might drag my feet down here a
bit. Just stopped back at the hotel from touring the historic part of
the island.
http://www.jekyllclub.com/
These houses are not as fancy as Newport, but 5,000-9,000 sq ft
"cottages" for the Rockefellers, JP Morgan, etc. In the 40's ( once FLA
got developed and they all moved on), they gave this land to Georgia and
now it's a state historical site. Pretty interesting to see how the
other half lived.
On to Hilton Head.... Comfort Inn next to the beach
I spent about 90 minutes walking and couldn't see the end of the beach.
They're doing a reclamation of the beach here too ... <snipped>
beautiful beach - no seaweed, no litter - nothing but sand: only a few
dead jellyfish and a few sand dollars. I did get about 8 of them but
most that I saw were alive so I put them back - only to see on my way
back that someone else had taken all but a few of them. I'm taking a
tour of the island at 3pm today. While just walking RIGHT behind my
hotel - next to the pool - I saw these signs :
"$1000 fine for Littering " , " Warning - alligators "
Wouldn't you think if gators nearby, they'd be a fence ? In Mass, we
can't keep murderers in jail - down here they put you in PRISON for
LITTERING !
Maybe THAT 's why the beach is so clean ! Staying here again tonight,
then tomorrow afternoon heading to Charleston .
================================
Charleston:
Stayed at Marriot downtown and had planned on leaving today. A big
wildlife show (SEWE) is in town - all hotels pretty full so rooms so
far have been $150+ per night, but it's ending today so rooms tonite are
$55 - I'll stay another day. Great walking city but tough on the
feet/back with the cobblestones. Beautiful old houses ... downtown NOT
crowded on the weekend as I expected - I parked downtown yesterday and
spent the day there. The 'good homecooking' restaurants were crowded
though so I ended up at local bars - with other tourists mostly. The
bartenders said a lot of local folks having house parties for the
Daytona 500 - good for us.
I took a lot of video and have them on avi files, but here's a few of
the pictures...
1003 = Old headstone = bones here , the rest flew away ( hopefully
heaven)
1004 = I took a Ghost Tour ( walking tour at night) - lots of ghost
stories in the history of the city ... Blackbeard the pirate seized some
ships here etc. ... next day walking by a church I saw this street sign
on an alley " Pirates Courtyard".
1013 = script of a sermon by a priest... I thought it strange that he
said slavery was OK and they are "untarnished". A guide said that a lot
of folks still think of the Civil War as a war started by the aggression
of the northerners for the southern territory. A few of the folks in a
tour told me they were taught that in school - it was not called the
civil war - but the " northern aggression" ???
1019 = bolts holding old houses together. I've seen it elsewhere but not
as asthetic as here - it looks like part of the design of the house
rather than a patch.
================
Here's where I spent the day: http://www.middletonplace.org/
Not a lot of different flowers blooming in February, but better than
Boston.
LOTS of wildlife roaming - as in this picture:
http://www.middletonplace.org/default.asp?catID=4509
There were plenty of sheep, horses, BIG peacocks roaming around, lots of
other farm animals behind fences as you walk the grounds.
The building here is the remains of a farm - the guest house: the main
house was ruined at the end of the Civil War by " the northerners ".
(the guide's words) In some literature I read that it was also used in
the movie " The Patriot". I was thinking maybe .... when his son has
gone to fight and is in the house watching a battle ... Mel Gibson
walks in on him ... they're watching the battle in front of the house...
a cannonball hits one of the combatants. The house was not open for me
to see the view from the window, but I think that was it, as it has a
BIG grassy area in front of it and is set way back from the road.
Mr Middleton was already wealthy, but got this land (100 acres) and a
lot of money as part of his wife's dowry. He used 40 acres to farm and
spent the other 60 on this garden
http://www.middletonplace.org/default.asp?catID=4541
To give an idea of the immensity of the place, to create the two 'ponds'
at the bottom of
http://www.middletonplace.org/
according to the guide, it took 900 slaves 9 years to dig the holes for
the ponds - to look pretty - and symettrical.
As I was leaving I saw this sign (MP Charleston Summerville.jpg) - made
me think that I was in Boston - specifically Sullivan Sq in Charlestown
and the signmaker couldn't spell the names properly.
======================= On to the Outer Banks, NC =====
Spent a good part of the day at Wright Brothers Museum. Only a few of us
there . I had seen some of the plane info at the Smithsonian years ago,
but here they had markers on the field where they flew -- first flight,
second, third, fourth - but longer lengths each time. They have full
size model on display. Pretty interesting how they made just about all
of the parts needed ( they owned a bike shop and used mostly bike
parts -- chains, gears, tires etc.) VERY cold and windy outside. Stayed
at Comfort Inn RIGHT on the water. Waves crashing on the beach were loud
but I loved it.
I did stop at Jockey's Ridge - not a lot in bloom - but there was a LOT
of sand. I was the ONLY one there.
(Didn't make it to Corolla. From Kitty Hawk, I followed 158 to 168 to 64
to Norfolk )
Last night I got a room ON the ocean: 5th floor. ( the balcony door was
rusty but otherwise the room was excellent)
Dolphins were always feeding about 150 feet offshore - just kept
circling last night and this morning,
I got up early anyways and wanted to see sunrise - it was cloudly - so
no sun until 7:20AM.
=============================================
Just unpacked in Norfolk, VA. While driving here, I was looking at AAA
book for hotels and saw a Comfort Inn - followed the directions a bit
but then traffic was getting really heavy (rush hour) so I wanted to
pullover to get the details. I know I got off at the correct exit, but
couldn't read the rest while driving. So, first opportunity I wanted to
pull over. A mile or so later - a driveway on the right - I pull in
and... it's the Entrance to NATO Supreme Command Center HQ - with a BIG
fence, and I made a quick U-turn and found another parking lot to read
my directions before I got arrested ! I just checked and it's not on a
google map. .... oh-oh, a knock on the
doorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.............
It was just too cold once I got to Virginia. I got a room in Norfolk and
the next day headed to the water. I took a walk but it was in the 30's
with the wind chills were ~20 degrees - not fun. I had planned on a
harbor cruise ( like the "Spirit Of Boston" there is a " Spirit Of
Norfolk " , but due to the cold they had no day cruises ( a narrated
harbor tour) and just a dinner/dancing cruise at 7:30 on Friday night.
I walked thru the waterfront plaza - lots of clubs not open yet either.
I then drove to VA beach, VA - found a big tourist center and asked what
was around. All of it was really based around the water so I headed
north and got a room in Salisbury for Friday night and headed home on
Saturday. It did bother me on the NJ turnpike when I saw " Philadelphia
49 miles" , but I had checked the weather earlier and knew it wasn't any
better there so didn't take the exit and drove on. I DID get off the
pike - drove thru the Lincoln Tunnel to NYC - drove around a bit , then
back over to NJ and up Rt 1 to Rt 9W thru lots of little towns whose
names I recognized ... from songs : Cherry Hill Park, Palisades Park
( which is now looks like 'Chinatown' - all the signs in asian
languages - I was definitely the only Irish male in town.) Then up to
Nyack, NY and beautiful views from the big old houses on the hills
overlooking the Hudson River. It was sunset and the views were great
Then I crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge and was driving thru Armonk,NY - I
recognized the name as IBM HQ's so I pulled off to take a look. It's up
on a hill , but at the top of the driveway was a guard shack so I didn't
even get to see the bdlgs. Drove to Conn - got some dinner at MA line ,
then home.
============
"- Bobb -" <bo...@noemail.123> wrote in message
news:ONadnSDVU6-dMF7Y...@comcast.com...
Unknown
- Bobb - <bo...@noemail.123> wrote:
>
>At Disney:
>I stayed at Coronado Springs one night and Port Orleans - Riverside last
>night. Coronado was VERY nice . Port Orleans was not
Oh, sorry you didn't like POR. I've stayed there three times and
liked it very much. Last time I had a lovely view of the river:
http://www.wintertime.com/OH/Disney/WDW/WDW2007/WDW2007-2.html
I keep saying that I'm going to try other hotels at WDW, but I like
Animal Kingdom Lodge and Port Orleans Riverside so much that I keep
going back to those. :-)
> I spent a full day at WDW - did everything except the Expedition
>Everest roller coaster at Animal Kingdom.
Ah, that's too bad. It's a very fun ride! I love the theming around
it, too:
http://www.wintertime.com/OH/Disney/WDW/WDW2006/Serka.html
> Epcot show was not as good as it used to be. No Lasers.
Hmmm, that doesn't sound right. Have they really discontinued
the lasers in "Illuminations," or were they just not working
that night?
Patty