Help with Florida itinerary & accomodation

Hello everyone!
We will be travelling to USA from Italy this coming July and were in the
midsts of trying to establish an itinerary for the Florida portion of the
trip so that we can finalize travel plans.
I was hoping the newsgroup could critique our itinerary and/or give
insight into the hotels we've chosen. We will be two couples and will have a
rental car.
Here is our tentative itinerary:
Day 1 (july 12th): arriving at Ft Lauderdale airport late in the evening.
Pick up the rental car and moving to Miami South Beach Holiday inn.
Day 2: Staying in Miami Beach and visiting around.
Day 3: Traveling to the Everglades NP in the early morning. Thinking of
doing the Anhinga Trail, get to Flamingo. Then proceed to Key West were we
plan to arrive at night. Will this be too much for a day? . In Key West we
plan to lodge at the Best Western Hibiscus motel.
Day 4: Key West
Day 5: Key West to Key Largo. Any suggestion on interesting places in this
leg are welcome. Booked at the hotel Ramada Limited Key Largo.
Day 6. Driving in the morning to Ft Lauderdale airport to fly back home.

We will welcome any suggestion about how we can improve this itinerary,
place not to be missed, nice spots and similar
Thanks to anyone willing to give us advices.
Elio

"Elio" wrote in message
...
Hello everyone!
Day 3: Traveling to the Everglades NP in the early morning. Thinking of
doing the Anhinga Trail, get to Flamingo. Then proceed to Key West were we
plan to arrive at night. Will this be too much for a day? .

Flamingo in July is only for sprinters and those with very large red cell
counts - it is a nationally protected mosquito blood donation site. g Much
as I love the glades, I would say that going to the Visitor Center, walking
the Anhinga Trail and perhaps going an additional 12 miles to Pahayokee
Trail, both out in the open and comparatively mosquito-free, would be enough
of a look at the summer everglades. A trip back to US 1, with a stop at
Robert is Here Fruitstand for some fresh fruit and a tropical milkshake,
and you are on your way to the Keys. From leaving the park to getting to
Key West is about 150 miles, minimum of 3-4 hours, and that is without doing
the touristy stuff.

Chris

On 04/02/2004 9:02 AM fishman wrote:

"Elio" wrote in message
...


Hello everyone!


Day 3: Traveling to the Everglades NP in the early morning. Thinking of


doing the Anhinga Trail, get to Flamingo. Then proceed to Key West were we
plan to arrive at night. Will this be too much for a day? .



Flamingo in July is only for sprinters and those with very large red cell
counts - it is a nationally protected mosquito blood donation site. g Much
as I love the glades, I would say that going to the Visitor Center, walking
the Anhinga Trail and perhaps going an additional 12 miles to Pahayokee
Trail, both out in the open and comparatively mosquito-free, would be enough
of a look at the summer everglades. A trip back to US 1, with a stop at
Robert is Here Fruitstand for some fresh fruit and a tropical milkshake,
and you are on your way to the Keys. From leaving the park to getting to
Key West is about 150 miles, minimum of 3-4 hours, and that is without doing
the touristy stuff.

Chris




I agree with Chris. Certain parts of the Glades are just one big
mosquito convention with tourists as a main course.

Fort Lauderdale may not have the international cache of South Beach, but
if you can stretch your travel plans a little you might want to spend a
day in Fort Lauderdale http://sunny.org Las Olas and Riverwalk are
very fashionable districts and rival South Beach for panache.
Cassablanca Cafe is just across A1A from the beach near Simon St
beach. It is my favorite in Ft. Lauderdale for lunch or dinner.

The Florida Keys offers much along the way to Key West. Key Largo has a
scuba / snorkle paradise in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. 90%
of the park consists of protected coral reefs. There are many Cuban
restaurants in the Florida Keys but D'Mares is unique in that during the
mornings the same space is used as a scuba dive school dry land training
area. It is open air and often fish is so fresh as it has been cought
by scuba instructors that morning.

Mrs. Mac's is an often hard to find place that is known for it's Chilli
Burgers and home made pies that really are home made. All the Key Largo
locals know about Mrs. Mac's and go there just for the pie.

Islamorada has Theater of The Sea which offers Dolphin experiences and
Sea World type entertainment.

Marathon is the home of the Dolphin Research Center which was
popularized by the tv show "Flipper". Dolphin encounters and swims can
be arranged here as well.

Check out additional information at these web pages:

John Pennekamp http://www.pennekamppark.com/

Keys Sights, Lodging, Dining, Shopping http://fla-keys.com/index.htm
Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden http://www.nfsgarden.org/



--
________
To email me, Edit "xt" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

On 04/04/2004 5:32 AM Evelio Mazzucchelli wrote:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian K"
Newsgroups: rec.travel.usa-canada
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 10:02 PM
Subject: Help with Florida itinerary & accomodation




On 04/02/2004 9:02 AM fishman wrote:



"Elio" wrote in message
...




Hello everyone!




[cut]





I agree with Chris. Certain parts of the Glades are just one big
mosquito convention with tourists as a main course.

Fort Lauderdale may not have the international cache of South Beach, but
if you can stretch your travel plans a little you might want to spend a
day in Fort Lauderdale http://sunny.org Las Olas and Riverwalk are

[cut]



Thanks Brian, I really appreciated Your advices about the Keys. My i ask You
one more question?.
Do You think that would be worth and reasonable to do the Anhinga trail in
the Everglades NP (which i understand is a good way to see the alligators)
in july without being eaten out by the mosquitos or we better forget about?
Thanks again
Elio




Elio,

All I can say is that it will be hot and humid in the Everglades in
July. It is a perfect breeding time for mosquitoes as July falls in
South Florida's rainy season. The rainy season is characterized by
frequent rainfall that is short in duration. At the beach folks refer
to the rain as Florida's other liquid sunshine. But inland in the
Everglades it makes for very hot and humid days.

I can't tell you what to do. Much depends on your personal comfort
zone, and those traveling with you. I have friends who live in inland
parts of South Florida and absolutely love the rainy season. They can't
get enough heat and humidity. Me, I prefer the beaches. At the beach
during rainy season you can almost always count on a cooling ocean breeze.

If you opt for an Everglades Tour in July my suggestion is that you
bring these things: 1) Sun location with a SPF of at least 25 or more.
It's the same Florida sun in the Everglades or Beach. You can get
sunburned at either place. 2) Bottled water, if you have a cooler so
much the better you're going to need to replenish fluids you loose
through perspiration. 3) Most importantly, Deep Woods off with DEET or
similar insect repellent and lots of it. I mean lots of it. No, I
really mean lots of it. 8-)

--
____
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
____
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951