So, I went to Florida, which, with the exception of Disney World, was my first time there.
I took the Auto Train for the benefit of the private compartment, as well as to have my own car and bike with me. That was a mixed experience, but worked pretty well, and was certainly different. My only other experience like it was taking the train (“The City Of San Francisco” :-) out to California to attend Berkeley way back in 1962! See below for full report on the train.
The new places I visited in Florida were Miami Beach, Key West, and Fort Lauderdale. That involved driving from Orlando to Miami, Miami to Key West, Key West to Fort Lauderdale, and Fort Lauderdale back to Orlando. (Plus the train station is actually in Sanford, about an hour north of Orlando.)
That was a lot more driving than I anticipated, about 4 hours for each leg (so 18 hours total incl. to and from Sanford)! Some of that was OK, for example I was lucky coming back up the Keys. But the roads, traffic, and tolls in the greater Miami area are insane!! As was the amount and scale of development in that entire area. GPS is critical for negotiating the major roads, and it’s still very difficult! Very fortunately, the toll roads accept Maryland EZPass!
In Miami Beach, I stayed in South Beach, and that was largely nice. I took pictures of the famous Art Deco hotels there, one of my main objectives - see the Poster I made. I also visited four high end commercial Art Galleries - I love doing that, and they were great.
I went to Key West mainly for a look see, and literally biked around the entire island. I saw the southernmost point in the continental US, which was so crowded in the afternoon that I didn’t even bother trying to go back at sunset. And I saw the end (or beginning depending on how you look at it) of US Route 1, that was cool. I saw the famous wild roosters, but not any of the famous polydactyl cats. I was close to the Hemingway house, but didn’t realize it at the time and missed that :-(
Fort Lauderdale was more obviously in Spring Break mode than South Beach, and there were a lot of girls in bikinis :-)
In addition to biking around Key West, I biked in Sanford, South Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, about 70 miles all together.
The weather was mostly very nice with no significant rain. The hotels were quite nice in general, but very expensive! And as is so often the case on my trips, the food was mostly not as good as I would have liked. This is typically a combination of bad luck and the fact that I’m so picky!
I know some of you like Southern Florida a lot, but apparently it’s not really my cup of tea - I’d much rather be in New Orleans! (And I know where the good restaurants are! :-)
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Auto Train Report
My reasoning for using it:
Change of pace/neat/“fun” Private compartment = less Covid exposure Certainly didn’t want to drive all the way down Two ‘free’ nights accommodation, free meals Can take own car and bike there/no need to rent Can take more stuff
Goods:
The above.
(However the reduction of Covid exposure was substantially weakened by occupying a small compartment occupied up until just a few hours earlier by someone else, the crowded dining car, the shared toilet, long waits in the station at both ends both before and after the ride.)
Bads:
The Covid issues just described It’s expensive (would approach $2,000 for two people with car) Takes a lot of time/great patience required Unless you’re just going to Orlando, there’s still a lot of driving, and the roads, tolls, and traffic are insane! Had to use a shared toilet (unless you take an even more expensive private compartment than I did).
(Time summary: at least 1 to 2 hours waiting each way and each day [so 4 to 8 hours total], 17 hours each way on the train, 2 hours each way just getting to and from the station.)
Conclusion:
I won’t do it again. Didn’t get as much Covid protection as anticipated (probably not that much better than a plane), takes too much time, expensive.
So, I went to Florida, which, with the exception of Disney World, was my first time there.
I took the Auto Train for the benefit of the private compartment, as well as to have my own car and bike with me. That was a mixed experience, but worked pretty well, and was certainly different. My only other experience like it was taking the train (“The City Of San Francisco” :-) out to California to attend Berkeley way back in 1962! See below for full report on the train.
The new places I visited in Florida were Miami Beach, Key West, and Fort Lauderdale. That involved driving from Orlando to Miami, Miami to Key West, Key West to Fort Lauderdale, and Fort Lauderdale back to Orlando. (Plus the train station is actually in Sanford, about an hour north of Orlando.)
That was a lot more driving than I anticipated, about 4 hours for each leg (so 18 hours total incl. to and from Sanford)! Some of that was OK, for example I was lucky coming back up the Keys. But the roads, traffic, and tolls in the greater Miami area are insane!! As was the amount and scale of development in that entire area. GPS is critical for negotiating the major roads, and it’s still very difficult! Very fortunately, the toll roads accept Maryland EZPass!
In Miami Beach, I stayed in South Beach, and that was largely nice. I took pictures of the famous Art Deco hotels there, one of my main objectives - see the Poster I made. I also visited four high end commercial Art Galleries - I love doing that, and they were great.
I went to Key West mainly for a look see, and literally biked around the entire island. I saw the southernmost point in the continental US, which was so crowded in the afternoon that I didn’t even bother trying to go back at sunset. And I saw the end (or beginning depending on how you look at it) of US Route 1, that was cool. I saw the famous wild roosters, but not any of the famous polydactyl cats. I was close to the Hemingway house, but didn’t realize it at the time and missed that :-(
Fort Lauderdale was more obviously in Spring Break mode than South Beach, and there were a lot of girls in bikinis :-)
In addition to biking around Key West, I biked in Sanford, South Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, about 70 miles all together.
The weather was mostly very nice with no significant rain. The hotels were quite nice in general, but very expensive! And as is so often the case on my trips, the food was mostly not as good as I would have liked. This is typically a combination of bad luck and the fact that I’m so picky!
I know some of you like Southern Florida a lot, but apparently it’s not really my cup of tea - I’d much rather be in New Orleans! (And I know where the good restaurants are! :-)
===
Auto Train Report
My reasoning for using it:
Change of pace/neat/“fun”
Private compartment = less Covid exposure
Certainly didn’t want to drive all the way down
Two ‘free’ nights accommodation, free meals
Can take own car and bike there/no need to rent
Can take more stuff
Goods:
The above.
(However the reduction of Covid exposure was substantially weakened by occupying a small compartment occupied up until just a few hours earlier by someone else, the crowded dining car, the shared toilet, long waits in the station at both ends both before and after the ride.)
Bads:
The Covid issues just described
It’s expensive (would approach $2,000 for two people with car)
Takes a lot of time/great patience required
Unless you’re just going to Orlando, there’s still a lot of driving, and the roads, tolls, and traffic are insane!
Had to use a shared toilet (unless you take an even more expensive private compartment than I did).
(Time summary: at least 1 to 2 hours waiting each way and each day [so 4 to 8 hours total], 17 hours each way on the train, 2 hours each way just getting to and from the station.)
Conclusion:
I won’t do it again. Didn’t get as much Covid protection as anticipated (probably not that much better than a plane), takes too much time, expensive.
***