Traveling through Florida. Florida by car (Miami Beach, Key West, Gulf of Mexico, Universal park). By car in sunny Florida

Photographs taken by the author are used in the design.

On December 21, 2000, from snowy and frosty Rockford into the night we are driving to the “sunshine state” of Florida (as it is written on all the license plates of local cars).

I don’t remember the road there - the fragments of the road that I saw in my sleep were quite monotonous. Snowdrifts up to 2 meters stretched monotonously along the roadsides, overturned cars in ditches, Vadim cursed monotonously when the car was turned around by a side gust of wind and skidded. The rhythmically snoring Fluff on my neck, turning from side to side, left no doubt that our path would be safe.

In Tennessee, about halfway to Florida, what we call a “roller coaster” began - we entered the spurs of the Appalachians and found ourselves in three-dimensional space, moving steeply up and down and simultaneously left and right, with 90-degree turns at narrow mountain road local reckless drivers, including huge refrigerators, passed at a speed of 130 km/h, rushing past us with a whistle and a roar.

Having entered the southern states, we found ourselves in a zone of annoying sun, and although it was below 0, it was blinding and seemed to ask: “Who are you working for?” The state of Georgia met us in places familiar from Gone with the Wind: Atlanta, Nashville. We whizzed through Atlanta from south to north through downtown with its skyscrapers and interchange bridges - for the first time I drove a car along a 7-lane highway, getting confused in the lanes, trying not to stray from the right direction, so I didn’t see any special beauty. The edges of the road were lined with pine trees - shaped like a fir tree with soft needles like larch and as long as cedar.

Less than 15 hours had passed since we entered Florida, where palm trees, crocodiles, dates, oranges, bananas, etc. are like dirt.

Florida is shaped like a goal without a left crossbar, with the corner facing northeast. Accordingly, on the right - east coast, Atlantic, left - Gulf of Mexico, west coast. If you drive all the way from north to south, you will come across a chain of islands arranged in an arc with a total length of 192 km. All the islands are connected by a road that connects the islands with bridges, the longest of which is 11.5 km.

Florida is an agricultural state that supplies America with citrus fruits, juices, jams and vegetables all year round, from 6 am until late at night. It is also a land of tourists and retirees; the season there lasts from September to April, since not everyone can withstand summer in the tropics.

The Cape Canaveral spaceport is also located in Florida, and anyone who is not too lazy to get up early in the morning can watch the launch of the spacecraft.

Having entered Florida, we immediately felt a change in thoughts - everything there was conducive to idleness - the outlines of palm trees on the iridescent horizon, cottages, frivolous people who prefer to drive around in snow-white cars in T-shirts and shorts, and the temperature was close to +20. True, the vegetation has not yet pleased with its diversity - all the same pine trees, with a sloppy undergrowth of palm trees, and citrus fruits with dates, and bananas.

Our first overnight stay was in a completely nasty motel. We really wanted to wander around small town with Spanish-style houses, so we stayed not far from it.

The town of St. Augustine turned out to be the oldest settlement on the coast, it was founded by a certain Don Pedro in 1608, to whom there is a monument on central square. Then the British recaptured it, then the Spaniards, then...

In short, what remains of it is a small mossy stone on which a sign hangs, and everything else - Spanish-style houses, narrow cobbled streets, a piece of the fortress - was made for tourists, of whom there are many, especially in the summer because it is more comfortable than in the south. climate. Now they board a tram decorated with lanterns and ride along the festive streets with music, imagining the history of the conquest of America.

What was especially interesting for me there was the ocean and land, cut by channels parallel to the shore; a picture immediately appeared - a Spanish caravel, brig or whatever, was tacking into the harbor, and the population of the port town froze in anticipation of a surprise.

Cape Canaveral

The next point on our program is Cape Canaveral. It was strange, to say the least, to look at the place from which the Shuttle was being launched.

Actually, I imagined the cosmodrome as a large, scorched desert, with rockets on the horizon, but here it turned out to be the opposite - big nature reserve, where alligators live, many waterfowl, cranes, herons, pelicans, deer, etc. And only here and there are structures related to space visible.

Well, we saw the Shuttle from afar, the rails along which the Shuttle is being transported to launch, too, and the launch site, very far away, and the International Space Station through the glass. In the museum you could touch the moonstone through a slot - such that your fist wouldn’t come back out.

The territory of the space center is simply huge, even moving by bus, from one object to another, we spent almost the whole day. On the walls of all space services there is a huge inscription: “The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but...” K. Tsiolkovsky. This inscription instilled pride in our fatherland.

That day we had a kind of overnight stay - we went to the campground (a specially designated place where you can put up a tent) and in the dark, among the palm trees, we searched for it for a long time, relying on an unclear diagram. We searched for a long time, because at first an armadillo crossed our path (a bad omen). We found the campground, but without drinking water, which is very uncharacteristic for America.

For some reason, there were no fools to spend the night there, but there was a lot of exoticism and a feeling of vague anxiety from spending the night in a completely deserted, incomprehensible to us, swamp-tropical forest - at least the crocodiles were sleeping at that time.

Orlando and Disney Land

We decided to go to one of the Disney World parks with feeling, with purpose. We spent a long time choosing which one to go to and settled on the main one, with Mickey Mouse, princesses, Snow Whites, etc. There are 10-15 Disney parks in Orlando, different in terms of theme and intensity. Some have more spectacles, some have more attractions. What is common to all is a parade of Disney characters at noon and a huge fireworks display in the evening.

Usually people come to Orlando (the city where the parks are located) for 7-10 days, stay in a hotel right on the territory of one of them and have fun moving from one to another. One entry to one park costs about $50. A subscription for several days to several parks is somewhat cheaper per day. We decided to stay at a tent campground, about 40 minutes from Orlando.

In the first, nearest park, we were met with failure - they say we have places, but we won’t let you in because your cat doesn’t have documents (according to the law of the state of Florida, animals cannot be taken out into the wild without vaccination against encephalitis ticks) - why -they did not require a similar vaccination from people (with us it would be the other way around).

The Christmas (Christmas) weekend was ahead, it was impossible to get to the veterinarian, and in another park we deceived everyone by hiding the cat under a sleeping bag (Vadim suggested in the trunk), and took it to the park, where he quickly mixed with the vaccinated cats.

In the evening it turned out that in general there was nothing to see in Orlando itself, with the exception of one of the streets, Internetional Dr., which - sparkling and brilliant - we drove through in half an hour, but in one place we could not help but stop - at the will of a sick imagination ( What else could surprise the jaded people?). There the house was built in reverse perspective: it seems that it will buck and fall either on you or on your neighbor. This building houses a museum of all kinds of nonsense called "believe it or not."

Early in the morning we were on our way to the treasured World when we got stuck in a traffic jam of the same fools who decided to have fun on Christmas. Basically, these were dirty, expensive cars from Canada, Alaska and other northern regions.

From this day I expected a lot of entertainment, horror films, scare stories, pain in the spleen, but mostly I got queues, slightly diluted with simple attractions, noise, hubbub, vanity. (To be honest, I didn’t go to the difficult ones myself, I was scared for something). Anya and Vadim liked it much more, because by the end of the day they found an absolutely amazing attraction, long and interesting.

By this time, I could have been shown anything, even Martians, I couldn’t take it in, I was a concentrate of fatigue and was precipitated, trying to sit down or lie down on anything, so, feeling sorry for me, we didn’t wait for the festive fireworks minutes 15, but I truly believe he was great. One of the entertainments in the park is to ride a paddle steamer around the attractions.

But the biggest impression I got from Florida was in the park where we spent the night. The tents were located not far from a rather picturesque river. While walking, we saw a poster that said there was a spring somewhere nearby. Deciding to get water for tea, we went for a walk with a canister in our hands. Approaching a large forest lake, from which this river actually flowed, we realized that the canister was of no use here.

It turned out that this hot key, gushing from the depths (no one was able to dive deeper than 40 m), that this water is completely devoid of oxygen in the place where the springs flow, but that it is warm to swim there even in cold weather, and that there is a huge sea animal, the monati, which spends the winter , from October to March, swims into this river. He is very kind and lazy, similar in size and face to a walrus, and with a tail like a beaver.

When this spring was described by an English naturalist in the last century, he mainly drew attention to the crocodiles that lined all the banks.

Through the tropics to the swamps

And we moved on, anticipating the beaches of south Florida and the wonders of the tropics. After Orlando, endless citrus plantations stretched along the road, among them a mixture of lemon and orange, orange and tangerine, orange and grapefruit, and simply different varieties, different sizes, natives of the citrus paradise.

The prices for this gushing abundance of fruit are very steep. The main reason for this is the even greater abundance of tourists who really want to spend money on pleasure. We were an exception, so we carried fruits, vegetables and food with us in the trunk, and with them a gas stove, dishes for ourselves, dishes, canned food and a toilet for the cat, in general, you can’t list everything. With all this, the entire trip for three cost us $1,300.

At the latitude of Miami began south florida. A significant part of it is occupied by swamps. It is, rather, a huge depression submerged by the waters of the ocean, overgrown with grasses and trees.

The trees there are wonderful - the famous mangrove forests. They grow directly in water, equally well in both fresh and salt water.

If you imagine a squid with a branched head elongated in the form of a trunk, the ends of the tentacles are in the water, and the beginnings are in the sky, then you can get the concept of a mangrove tree. Their cheerful company with intertwined tentacles will be a mangrove forest.

You cannot walk through such a forest either on foot or by boat. The coasts of the seas of southern latitudes greeted travelers with mangroves - it was impossible to land on such a coast.

But in these thickets, birds (in particular, flamingos) and amphibians (alligators) feel at ease, and lobsters crawl along the bottom and sea turtles frolic.

In these swamps, one of the ten most famous national parks in America, the Everglades, was created, where you can at any time make friends with an alligator, as well as a cougar, deer and other little things.

Here you can also go on a 10-day hike along the water trails to enjoy richest world birds and be stunned by the close proximity to 28 species of mosquitoes that call these swamps their home. The basic rule of safety in swamps is not to feed alligators, so that they do not later confuse you and the food.

We had a dream - to live on an island where you go to the right - the Atlantic, to the left - the Gulf of Mexico, and all around are palm trees, coconuts, tangerines, friendly natives. At the same time, they believed that we were the smartest and most perceptive, having arrived New Year meet in Florida. It turned out that this is the American lifestyle, but they are even cooler - they spend the winter in the south, and in the summer they travel closer to Canada, where fishing, mushrooms, berries, in general, are migratory birds on wheels.

True, these wheels are more comfortable than ours - a house with a couple of rooms with a kitchen, shower and toilet sits on them. Basically, however, this is how pensioners live. But the rest are not fools either, so when we tried to get a living in one of the three island campgrounds, it turned out that there were no places, and in one of them, with the most wonderful beaches, places were booked right up until April.

But we were very lucky (as it seemed at first), and we found a small but cozy camp of these same mobile homes, where for 30 dollars a day we could pitch a tent on a patch of mushrooms, topped with thatched roofs, on the very shore ocean. True, someone had strewn the beach with decent-sized limestone blocks with the remains of ancient sea plants and shells (as it turned out, a huge coral reef is made of such limestone, but more on that later).

The first day, or rather the evening, was a complete idyll - warm, sunny. Someone swam with a snorkel and a mask, some of the pensioners went out into the ocean on a yacht to fish, and we, sitting at the entrance to the tent, surveyed the water surface of the ocean and made plans for the future.

In the darkness (and there day and night last about 12 hours), people, armed with strong flashlights, went to observe the inhabitants of the seabed. We saw only a few stingrays, which, lazily moving the coattails of their round tailed bodies, slowly moved in search of food. To the side of us, several people saw a small octopus, but we did not have time to get to it.

Not far from our patch there was a galvanized table with a hose from which fresh water flowed. After a successful catch, pensioners cut up fish near this table (they took several pieces of fillet from a huge fish). They gave everything else to the pelicans. The pelicans kept a watchful eye on this table, and as soon as someone approached it, they descended in a cloud, some directly onto the table, trying not to miss the tasty morsel. Once they attacked Anya, who decided to wash the pears there.

The weather in Florida is a capricious lady, especially in the summer, it likes to be blown by squally winds or swept by a hurricane. The last hurricane of 1988 left behind so much destruction that they even decided to immortalize it with a monument.

The words always seemed romantic to me: wind on the sea, inflated sails, foamy surf, wave - but when our tent began to resemble an inflated sail, folded in half under the pressure of the damp wind, and the wave began to flood the entrance, I, taking the cat under the armpit (according to his disheveled there was no way to understand that he was the cat Matroskin), she went to spend the night in the car, forgetting about romance.

Vadim and Anya decided in the middle of the night to pull the tent away from the oncoming wave, and then the Russians who came out of nowhere, a husband and wife who settled next door, came to their aid. Since the world is a very small place, they turned out to be programmers from Zelenograd, they studied at the same institute with Vadim, and the lady was even in the same stream, and it turned out that they had a lot of mutual friends and acquaintances. They also had a common dream: to celebrate the New Year in the ocean with a bottle of champagne.

The rising wind did not subside until our departure; By New Year we were left alone in our little patch with our new acquaintances - not a single American could withstand the onslaught of the weather.

Miami

Our life continued as planned.

After watching a movie about Miami Beach, we decided to check how good the beaches there were - they really weren’t bad. Miami Beach protrudes like an appendix from the flattened and stretched Miami City along the coast.

This is a specifically American resort with hotels, cafes and restaurants, and an endless strip coastal sand, in which they are stuck watchtowers rescuers. After low tide, all sorts of things remain on the beaches - sponges, tubular algae, red algae that looks like coral, hard algae like wire, algae that looks like lace fans. You should look for beautiful huge shells and starfish on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

In the south of Florida there are many "Latinos", in particular Cubans, so Cuban shops and cafes are everywhere. We went to one of these cafes to drink coffee. I was a little shocked when I saw Espresso coffee poured into a thimble - it was quite difficult to see it on the counter. It was a sublimate of coffee, bitter and strong as a sip of alcohol, and just as scalding.

A large amount of the southern temperament of people leaves an imprint on the style of driving on the roads. Whereas here in Illinois, a klutz like me would be gallantly let out of line at an intersection, waiting patiently for me to figure out where I needed to go, here I had to keep my eyes peeled, dodging suddenly jumping cars and letting impatiently honking reckless drivers pass ahead.

In local reserves, life moves slowly. One of them, which includes not only land, but also most of the ocean, is called Coral Reef Park. People come there to see what is there in the depths. You can do this by scuba diving (rent one) or go on an excursion on a glass-bottom boat.

The reef is located some distance from the coast, and since everything there is a protected area, ships move in one fairway, marked by buoys with a flag. Due to the cool weather, we went on a boat.

The coral reef in Florida is a huge shoal of limestone smoothed over centuries - we didn’t see a single coral there. But there were sharks, huge sea turtles, stingrays and, of course, exotic fish swimming there. There are quite a lot of people who want to see the reef - while we were waiting for our turn, we took a canoe for 2 hours and swam among islands overgrown with mangroves and rugged shores, also made of limestone.

Key West

The quintessence of Florida - Kay West. This is the most remote island from the mainland, located at mile 120 of the only road connecting the islands with the rest of the world. All of them here have the common name Keys, and each, in addition to its own name, adds to itself this short word “key”, which means a reef, a sandbank, and also a key.

I think all these meanings fit into their meaning, since the islands are made of limestone, the same as the reefs around the sandbank, and these are also the keys with the help of which, in particular, the Cubans penetrate America, sailing on homemade boats , boats, etc. The shortest distance to Cuba from Key West is 90 miles or 140 km.

The tropical climate is known to be relaxing. Relaxed people have always lived in Key West, whose main occupation was the appropriation and division of the property of stranded ships. This was legalized by a special permit, according to which they, however, had to save the unfortunate victims.

The only one making honest money on the island was the lighthouse keeper, who, I think, was paid extra by someone to send signals in the right direction.

After hard work - transporting the spoiled goods to their homes on special boats that had a huge hold, a mast and nothing else, people went to the taverns, which, due to demand, were like jellyfish in the sea.

It was on this island that Ernest Hemingway lived and worked. Now his house has become a museum, where everything remains as in life, even the descendants of his cat have been preserved, which have multiplied to 50 pieces and filled the house, yard, and garden. To support their active life, there are several bowls of food in the yard. The cats, it must be said, are mostly shabby and completely mismatched, not matching the color of their ancestor.

They say that it was Hemingway who started the tradition of taking a daily bar cruise on Key West. Now he has a lot of fans from all over the world. This eternal Fiesta attracts so many people that it is almost impossible to find a parking space. Drug addicts, gays, hippies and people who perceive life easily and freely find shelter here.

Every day there is a holiday here - seeing off the sun at sunset on the western shore of the ocean. After which everyone continues to have fun in the surrounding taverns. They are creating a monument to him, not made by hands. True, this holiday is not for boring people like me - neither to drink properly nor to punch someone in the face.

That's probably all, except way back, which brought us a few surprises - we were delayed 12 hours because of a cat who got tired of sitting in the car and slipped out near Atlanta at 6 o'clock in the morning. While he was hiding in the bushes, we waited patiently, appealing to his conscience from time to time, but he only came out in the evening. When you're completely hungry.

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Hello my dear readers!

I haven’t shared my travel experience with you for a long time. In fact, I don't even know how interested you are. But my trip, from which I returned the other day, is so remarkable that I cannot remain silent.

Once again I will be very “original” and say that thoughts are material. The Universe helps. And so she decided to help make my sixth wish come true out of a hundred written for this year (yes, 6 wishes have already been fulfilled! :). She also decided to combine all this and fulfilled the wish of my friend Ira, who not only wanted to fly to Florida, but to do it with me.

And by a happy coincidence, we have the opportunity to fly together on vacation. We essentially chose the weekend - from Thursday to Monday. And... we flew to Tampa. You may, like many others, ask why Tampa and not Miami. And I immediately want to get ahead of this question. If you have traveled to Florida, seen these endless beaches, palm trees, ocean and the beauty of the rainforest, then Miami may seem just something miserable to you. Is there too beautiful places, but in general - expensive, sometimes dirty and dull for a lover of nature and relaxation. Miami is mostly for party people. And I love Florida for its nature, cleanliness, ocean, tranquility and tranquility. Tampa was also chosen for several other reasons. There is the Busch Gardens amusement park (which we never got to for reasons of saving money), and in the city of St. Petersburg, which is very close, there is the Salvador Dali Museum. I was lucky enough to visit it during my first trip to the States.

Since I am a supporter of independent travel and as much as possible budget holiday(if you need to save your budget), then Ira and I decided to try the couchsurfing website. I've heard a lot about it, quite a few of my friends use it. I had no experience. I usually traveled with my ex-husband. This was not entirely convenient for us. In this case, we booked inexpensive but good motels through booking, as well as rooms or apartments through airbnb. Somehow it never occurred to me to try it myself. And renting an apartment or room seemed safer. Why not take a risk together? I have been registered on the site for a long time. I selected several people, submitted requests, and also posted an announcement of the trip. The first to respond was a young guy who lives in Clearwater, Saint Petersburg. He saw my announcement. Mauricio, 26 years old, lives alone, offers a separate room (I want to make it clear right away that I was deliberately looking for housing with a separate room). I looked at his photo and read his profile. And even though he had no reviews, she accepted the invitation. I don't know if it was right or not. But this is Florida, not New York, and everything looked very nice.

Maurizio, our host, was kind enough to use his lunch break to meet us. When we entered the apartment, we were speechless. These were luxurious apartments overlooking the lake, from which a fountain gushes. The apartment is new, bright, spacious. Instead of a thousand words, just look at the photo.

Mauricio left for work, we stayed at home. Since we didn’t yet have a car, which we couldn’t live without in Florida, we decided to enjoy the moment. Because the weather (+27 degrees Celsius) and the place itself were conducive to relaxation. Mauricio was kind enough to buy us another air mattress for a private room on the second floor of the apartment, as well as fruits, vegetables, drinks and everything else. As a sign of gratitude, we decided to cook him dinner, which we ate together in the evening. Then he took us to Downtown St. Petersburg to a nice rooftop. The holiday started off great. I think it's clear how happy we were.

The next day we decided to rent a car. We got up at 7 am (we continued this tradition on all subsequent days) and had breakfast. And before work, Mauricio took us to a small local airport, where we rented a car. From Friday to Monday the rental cost was $170. Satisfied and mobile, we went for a walk.

I won’t describe our every day in detail. I will say that this trip not only exceeded my expectations, which in fact did not exist, it simply became unforgettable. First of all, a travel companion is very important. Ira and I essentially never communicated too closely. Just a little. And it’s one thing to drink coffee and chat, and another thing to live together, solve problems that arise, put up with stressful situations, without which life is impossible independent travel. It is also important to be able to share joys. And here we coincided 100%, complementing each other. We have similar interests: we love food in all its forms (from an inordinate appetite and love for food to walking around the supermarket, studying labels and smelling everything), we also have the same tastes in food and almost the same hedonistic approach to life :); we don’t wander around parties, alcoholic get-togethers and companies; we both love silence, the ocean and nature; felt quite comfortable surrounded by retirees in Florida; not picky and not whimsical. The list can, of course, continue, but the essence is clear. Nobody bothered anyone. There was never a dispute about where to go and what to enjoy. There was a quarrel. But how else can we better understand each other? The main thing is to be able to put up. I’m also a crowd pleaser by nature. Therefore, I was glad that my ideas were met with enthusiasm. And this is because Ira likes the same thing. It's very simple.
I don't know if you believe in the zodiac horoscope. I mostly believe it. On our first evening in Florida, we sat on the balcony with our host and talked about various topics. Then Ira asked Mauricio about his zodiac sign. He asked the same question. Having heard that Ira is Virgo, I remembered that every sign has an ascendant (ascendant) and that it affects the first sign. My ascendant is Virgo. I would never have believed in these things if it weren’t for my Sagittarius nature, mixed with the sign of Virgo. I'm a typical Sagittarius. But the desire for systematization, planning, career building, practicality, and even some attempts to save are not at all characteristic of Sagittarius. Well, and this “sharp” language... Ira and I could spend hours making fun of ourselves, of photographs on the Internet or passers-by. Kindly and to the point. But it was impossible to stop us :) Ira said that she is an atypical Virgo. And this was easy to notice from the same scattered things as mine, as well as other points. I had some suspicion, but I didn’t express it. And the next day we somehow returned to this issue again, and I suggested calculating what Ira’s ascendant is (links can easily be found on the Internet). And who do you think it is? :) Yes, it's Sagittarius! For many, this may seem naive. But in this sense I'm such a girl :)

Secondly, miracles happened to us in the literal sense of the word. We were lucky at every point on our trip. Usually, when traveling, no matter how you look at it, there are some difficulties or rough spots. But not this time. And the greatest luck, which cannot be called anything else, was a snowstorm in New York. I'll tell you about this in a little more detail.
On Monday we had to leave Florida and fly to New York. Even on the first day we realized that we had chosen a very short period for this heavenly place. Naturally, we enjoyed every moment, but we didn’t want to leave at all. Well, absolutely, absolutely! On the way to the airport we were sad. There was complete rejection of this situation. The day before, friends from New York began sending information about an approaching snow storm. We didn’t take it seriously, but we didn’t want to return from the sun to the snow. We discussed how stupid it would be to fly to New York just when the weather was going to be really bad. If we had known, we would have chosen more days. I thought chaotically that I could change the ticket. But we couldn’t lose money on this. So we cherished secret hopes. When it became known that we might not make it to New York, we reassured ourselves that perhaps these would be new adventures. We were flying through Cleveland so we could explore. But what is Cleveland if you can stay here? Arriving at the airport, we decided to act persistently. It immediately became clear that flights to New York were cancelled. Of course, they cunningly tried to direct us to automatic check-in, but I insisted that we wanted to talk to an airline employee. Having waited our turn, we bombarded the woman with questions. She tried to find us other tickets. She offered to fly to Newark. This is in New Jersey. Getting from there is expensive, and due to the situation there would also be a risk of staying there overnight. And of course, we really wanted to spend this time in Florida. After a long time of trying to find out something, the girl timidly asked us if we could stay here until Wednesday. Hiding our delight, we replied, “We think so.” And now we have tickets for Wednesday and two more days in paradise!!! You won't believe it, but it seemed like real magic. Especially later, when we found out that there was no storm. Right there at the airport, I submitted requests to the new hosts, we rented another car, which cost us $70 for two days. While waiting for answers from our new benefactors, we went to our favorite cafe to drink coffee and enjoy the beauty of this world.

By the way, here is our car. Very playful. We fell in love with it within a few days.

We decided to find a second host in Sarasota, because this place was not only my favorite, but also won Irina’s heart. And imagine my surprise when the host turned out to be from the region where I lived for 5 weeks on my first visit to the USA! We went to a luxurious house where the guy who sheltered us lived with his parents.

I couldn’t believe that out of all the people who were couchsurfing, I came across this particular area. I don’t know about you, but I believe in signs. I couldn’t even think that I would ever find myself in this small Florida village again. And so Ira and I walk through the places of my, so to speak, military glory. I showed the beach and pier where I spent so many wonderful times. And we even visited the lake where I was vacationing. This is how amazing our life is!

As a result, we left finally rested and completely satisfied. In just 5 days we managed to:

And many other small events.

I hope my story was interesting and perhaps useful for you. Now I am full of strength and energy for work and new achievements. I have some fresh ideas that require enormous energy. And I'm already planning my next trip :)

You can see it here the whole story, which Google creates together with my phone completely independently. It turned out very clearly :)

Sun, warmth, positivity to everyone!

We invite you on an exciting journey through sunny Florida! Our managers will help you choose a comfortable and suitable car. During this tour you will be able to independently visit many cities and attractions, as well as incredibly picturesque and interesting places: the famous chain coral islands, Everglades National Park, "Manatee Capital", "Hollywood of the East", numerous beaches and much more.

By car in sunny Florida

Duration of the tour: 12 days/11 nights.

Tour route: Miami - Key West - Everglades National Park - Naples - Sarasota - Crystal River - Silver Springs - St. Augustine - Orlando - Miami.

Hotels according to the program:

Tour cost per person double occupancy in a Deluxe room:

Florida, USA

The price includes:

• accommodation in a hotel of the selected category;
• detailed instructions according to the self-driving program.

Additional charges:

• international flight;
• hotel resort fees (payable locally);
• entrance tickets;
• food and drinks;
• porter services;
• accommodation in hotel parking lots;
• tolls on toll roads;
• ferry tickets;
• car rental ($45-50 per day, including taxes and compulsory insurance depending on the category of the car, unlimited mileage);
• additional fee at the car rental location;
• fee for dropping off a car in another city (if necessary);
• personal and other expenses not included in the price.

Notes:

• Managers will select a convenient car rental option for you, depending on the place and time of receipt, as well as the category of the car.
• Car rental usually does not include the cost of gasoline, additional insurance, taxes and fees, and a child seat.
• Additional fees may apply if driver is between 21 and 24 years old.
• All tourists planning to drive must have a valid international driver's license.
• The cost of any paid but unused services is non-refundable (nights in hotels, rental of a vehicle).
• Children under 10 years old when sharing a room with two adults participate in the program for free (on the number of beds available in the room).
• You can find out all the conditions and cost of renting a car for specific dates from the manager!

Florida, USA

Tour program

Arrival at Miami airport - the main and most fashionable resort not only in the state of Florida, but in the entire United States of America as a whole. It is endlessly loved by thousands of travelers for its mild climate, luxurious sun-drenched beaches and an incredible variety of entertainment. Show business stars, famous businessmen and financial magnates live here.

IN international airport You will be able to pick up a car prepared for rental and go to the hotel.

On this day, an unusual adventure awaits you - by car you will be able to get to the southernmost point of the USA - Key West. You'll speed along the Overseas Highway (US1), pass 32 islands and cross 42 bridges, ending up just 90 kilometers from Cuba.

You will see the famous chain of coral islands, often called the Keys. The first one is, of course, Key Largo. It is home to the only underwater park in America, the John Pennekamp Coral Reef, named after the famous writer.

Arriving in the city of Key West, you will, of course, be able to visit its most famous resident - visit the Ernest Hemingway House Museum. It is also highly recommended to take a train ride through the local streets and follow the path of the pelicans.

Day 3. Key West - Everglades National Park

You'll again drive past the Key Islands, heading north on US1. We recommend that you plan to stop and kayak on the picturesque Florida Bay. By the way, it is better to book such a walk in advance.

After that, another 10 miles to the north, and you will find yourself in an amazing eco-corner of the planet - the natural tropical Everglades complex, which occupies the southern quarter of the Florida peninsula. Nature untouched by man reigns here and you can meet animals whose species have long been considered extinct from the globe. You will go for a walk through the vast park area on an airboat and, perhaps, during the trip you will be able to see the rarest representatives of the fauna, and from afar even predatory ones - including alligators.

Key West - Florida, USA

Day 4. National Park Everglades - Naples

You will go further on your way to the quiet beach resort near the Gulf of Mexico - Naples. You will find yourself with a gentle warm sea, among those living leisurely and measured life people. They do everything for their own pleasure - in the morning they run at the edge of the surf or do exercises in the fresh air, play tennis and golf, walk along the the most beautiful embankment, watching the level water surface(even the sea here is almost always calm!).

Don't miss the opportunity to sit in local cozy restaurants and stroll around shopping complexes, recharged by the wonderfully relaxing atmosphere of this resort.

Day 5. Naples - Sarasota

On this day, you will continue your road trip even further north - to the city of Sarasota, which is famous for its magnificent Venice and Fort Myers beaches. You can stop and relax a little by the sea.

Afterwards, we recommend visiting the winter residence of legendary inventors and entrepreneurs - Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. If you want to see the tropical barrier islands of Captiva and Sanibel, it would be better to hop on a bike or even kayak through the mangroves. We will tell you where you can get these vehicles for rent.

Day 6. Sarasota - Crystal River - Silver Springs

On this day you will go to Crystal River - a city that is considered the recognized “manatee capital”. Here in large quantities live large herbivorous mammals, quite rare in the world and even endangered, who love to swim in local waters. Many manatees also live in the Homosassa area, which you will pass along the road. Continuation of the journey by car to the town of Silver Springs.

Day 7. Silver Springs - St. Augustine

You will arrive in Silver Springs where you can visit local park. The first action adventure film about the life of the adopted son of the apes, Tarzan, was filmed on its territory. In addition, you will have time to ride a glass-bottom boat on the Crystal Springs River. It was here in 1513 that the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the “source of eternal youth" Don't miss the opportunity to explore this fountain, steeped in myths and legends!

Silver Springs - Florida, USA

Arrival in the oldest currently existing city in the USA - St. Augustine. You will have a whole day for leisurely walks along the atmospheric streets that have preserved Spanish architecture and a touch of antiquity, as well as relaxing on the magnificent local beach. You will have enough time to take a boat ride to Anastasia Island and see the famous striped lighthouse. It was built in late XIX century and now there is a museum on its territory.

It seems like just recently I was in California, looking at the shore Pacific Ocean. Just recently I swapped Louise Malibu for the still unnamed Sonic. It turns out that two weeks have already passed, and during this time I have traveled six and a half thousand kilometers.

The other day I got there east coast America and entered the state of Florida. Oh, there's a lot of interesting things here! But I’ll start with what every tourist sees at the entrance to almost any American state.

1. Almost always, especially if you are driving along the main highway, when entering a new state you will come across a tourist center or simply a “Welcome!” center.

2. This looks like a rest area, which are constantly found on highways, at least once every 100 kilometers. Here you can at least go to the toilet and sit on a bench and take a break from driving.

3. The Welcome Center differs only in size. The state border entry sign is duplicated here so that people do not stop on the highway, but can take photos in front of it without endangering the safety of themselves and other drivers.

4. Another difference is in tourist center there are specially trained people who will tell you about the state and interesting places, will answer your questions. Here you can find out about everyone interesting events which will take place this month.

5. There is free information at the stands. Hundreds of booklets about parks, entertainment centers, museums. There are special books with coupons in which you can find discounts on all these entertainments, hotels, restaurants. You can take as many booklets as you like - they are free.

6. You can also buy soda and snacks here, and sometimes they sell ice cream. All machines accept bank cards, and a special machine gives change if you have a large bill.

7. And of course, in such a center you can always find a clean toilet, drinking fountains and garbage dumps where you can throw away the garbage that has accumulated along the way.

8. The first city in Florida I visited was Panama City Beach. This is a kind of local Gelendzhik, a city built specifically for beach tourists and living only through tourism.

9. The town consists of one main road running parallel to the sea. Everything a vacationer might need is located here.

10. There are a lot of overpasses so that people can cross the road safely.

11. There are huge multi-storey hotels, and there are small houses. The average hotel price (houses are cheaper) is $400 for two people for a week. You can even book for tomorrow.

12. You can come without anything at all; you can buy any clothes or swimsuit right here.

13. And here is the beach with white sand!

14. Formally, each hotel has its own beach, but coastline It is not fenced in any way, there are no fences. You can swim wherever you want!

15. Every beach has a shower to wash off. salt water, but for some reason there are no locker rooms. Apparently they are not needed - everyone changes at the hotel. Well, I changed clothes in the car the old fashioned way :)

16. No one walks along the beach and shouts “Baklava, hot pies, cold beer!!!” It's kind of boring :)

17. The beach is regularly patrolled by special beach police. The guys keep order and are ready to help if someone is drowning. There is a special rescue surf in the trunk.

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19. And there are also strange guys walking along the beach with metal detectors.

20. The beach is divided into two parts by a large pier going into the sea. Here you can watch aunties in swimsuits, and officially, for 25 cents.

21. You can sit and admire the sea (and the bathers from afar).

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23. Here, on the pier, fishermen gather.

24. There are a lot of fishermen, each of them has a special refrigerator cart on wheels and a folding chair.

25. Some fish for themselves, and others to live.

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29. And the fish you catch here are like this!

30. You can feed your family for a whole week. I wonder, do Americans know what fish soup is?

31. From Panama I went to the very south of the state, and at the same time to the southernmost point of the USA - the city of Key West. About him - next time!

I remind you that you can follow my movements in real time!

A large area in the south of the state is occupied by the Everglades, an area of ​​vast swamps. This area was formed thousands of years ago when, after long, heavy rains, Lake Okeechobee overflowed its banks and its waters reached the Florida and Gulf of Mexico.

The famous Everglades region is a unique natural ecosystem and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United States. The Everglades is a vast area where you can see steppes, coniferous, mangrove and cypress forests, wetlands and sea coasts.

National Park: Everglades National Park covers approximately 25% of the actual wetland area, which is approximately 6,110 square kilometers. It is the largest area of ​​subtropical wilderness in the United States and is visited by approximately 1 million people annually. It is also the third largest national park in the United States, after Death Valley and Yellowstone National Park.

The park has several entrances, the nearest one from Miami is 30-40 minutes away by car. In the park you can ride on a special tourist bus, on bicycles or on foot, or you can take a tour on a special airboat, which is driven not by an underwater propeller, but by a large propeller at the back of the boat (20-30 min). Before your trip, carefully study the possibilities of each entrance (where you can ride a boat, and where you can walk or ride a bicycle) so as not to be disappointed in the choice later (the distance from entrance to entrance is about 100 km)

The park is home to more than 350 species of birds, 300 species of freshwater and marine fish, 40 species of mammals and 50 species of reptiles. But what turns tourists on the most is the Mississippi alligator. You can watch it, watch a show, or you can enjoy it (flocks and burgers).