electrac

My husband and I are planning a trip to visit friends in New Orleans and Pensacola. Then we are going to drive across Florida and end up visiting Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC.and then fly back home to Boston.
Any suggestions about places to visit in Florida? Any recommendations about places to stay in Charleston? Thanks.

Orlando_Vic

How much time do you want to spend (sightseeing not driving) in Florida?

Do you want to venture very far from I-10?

electrac

We have about 10 days to get from Pensacola to Charleston. We'd be willing to travel on major highways if there is nothing much to see - but are happy to stay on the scenic roads,

egret

In Charleston, we love to stay at the Courtyard Riverview Downtown.
It's not your typical Courtyard by Marriott and has lovely views of the water and the marina. Make sure to ask for a waterview room.

Orlando_Vic

That's a long, lonely stretch of I-10 from Pensacola to Tallahassee and then on to Jacksonville. A very short detour (30-45 minutes of driving time)south from Jacksonville will take you to St. Augustine. Two days minimum will be sufficient to explore St. Augustine.

321go

Isn't Florida Fran from the Tallahassee, or is that Sunshinesue? I'm sure one or both will have some great suggestions, but until they chime in, I'll just say that I love the Apalachicola/St. George island area (southwest of Tallahassee).

FlaAnn

About 4-1/2 hours drive from Pensacola and just a few miles off I-10 is a wonderful bed and breakfast on the banks of the Suwannee River, at White Springs. A stop there would give you a chance to get acquainted with (1) an area most tourists miss and (2) a way of life, in small-town rural north Florida.

The innkeeper himself is worth the trip... his name is Watkins Saunders and he's an old-school Southern gentleman who has brought his great-grandma's house to glory as a B&B. It's the Sophia Jane Adams House (http://www.genuineflorida.com/Bed-Br...ams-House.html) and I'd stay there a couple days, just to relax and get lulled by the river... besides, you may get attached to the mayhaw jelly offered at breakfast. Take a book, there's a gazebo on the bluff. Or if you'd like some exercise or excitement, a portion of the Fla Trail runs through the area and the state's only Class 3 whitewater rapids at Big Shoals are a 2-mile round trip hike.

Other than that, if you want to get off at Tallahassee, drive one of the famous canopy roads, esp. if it's during azalea bloom; the OLD capitol building is actually an interesting tour, too. Thank goodness it was saved. In Jacksonville, you could get off I-10/I-95 and drive through the Riverside/Avondale neighborhood and have lunch at The Landing on the St Johns River, where sailboats- yachts-ferries come and go all day and most of the night for the action on land.

The Georgia experts can tell you more, but I'd recommend a side trip to Savannah, too!

Barbara_in_FL

I would avoid I-10, since you are not pressed for time, and drive along the coast from Pensacola to Apalachicola, spending a night in Apalachicola (or two if you want to go out to St. George Island for a day). Then you could go from Apalachicola to Tallahassee, stopping at Wakulla Springs along the way, and spend a night in Tallahassee. In Tallahassee there is the old Capitol, as already mentioned; other possible stops would be Goodwood Museum (http://www.goodwoodmuseum.org/museum&garden.html), the Tallahassee Museum(http://www.tallahasseemuseum.org/historic.php) or Maclay Gardens (http://www.floridastateparks.org/maclaygardens/). From there it would be easy to take FlaAnn's suggestion, as well, before heading over to St. Augustine. You would get several nice glimpses of a Florida that does not (YET!) include wall-to-wall high-rises.

electrac

Thanks for the advice. I'm glad to hear that there is more to Florida than high rises. I'm looking forward to visiting.

Anyone with advice on Charleston?

GoTravel

Stay downtown Charleston.

What is your budget?

My favorite moderate hotels downtown are:

The Andrew Pinckney
The Indigo Inn
Days Inn
King Charles Best Western
Doubletree
The Vendue Inn

Splurge:

Wentworth Mansion
Market Pavillion
Harborview Inn
Planters Inn

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34567869

The above is a link to my trip report that I've updated from time to time.

electrac

Thanks for all the great tips. We'll definitely plan to stop at White Springs and St. Augustine.
Enjoyed GoTravel's trip report. Lots of good info there.

Orlando_Vic

If you go through Apalachicola. a very good restaurant for dinner would be the Owl Cafe <http://owlcafeflorida.com/>. Check out some of the reviews <http://tinyurl.com/2pbs7q>.

Brahmama

Hello, I'm piggy-backing on this thread because it has some of the information that I was going to ask for

I was so hoping that electrac had made the road trip and posted a tip report, as she first posted in January. electrac, if you are out there, please try to post a TR!

I'll try to ask my questions on here, but if not successful, I'll start another thread.

My DH and I are having our 40th WEdding anniversary in October! We have debated back and forth about what to do, but I think he is leaning toward a southern trip. We live in Texas and just got back from New Orleans (loved it...) and would like to make a stop there when it's cooler.


So we're looking at New Orleans and then St Augustine? but for sure Charelston and Savannah and maybe Birmingham on the way back as we have friends there.

We have visited friends in Orlando before but never got up to St Augustine or any where but Destin and then on to Orlando.

Any help? We'd appreciate your ideas.

Orlando_Vic

Brahmama-
I posted some information about St. Augustine here <http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...d=35136876>.

Consider a new thread if you don't get enough answers to your specific questions.