Cynthia

My husband and I, both in our 40s, are flying into Orlando in 2 weeks. We plan to rent a car. Neither of us have been to Florida but had free air tickets so are giving ourselves this trip. We don't have much money to spend though. We are not interested in doing the Disney/Univ Studio thing.

We have 3 nights and 4 days to 'see' Florida. We both like to site see but would like to have time to have some romantic time away from the kids. Here is what we have on our list of things we want to do:
See alligators in the wild, snorkle or go in glass bottom boat to see coral reef fish, see Miami night life, a shuttle on the launch pad, swamps/marsh, the Everglades, a beautiful beach, St. Augustine (oldest city stuff), Palm Beach (I don't know why, I've just heard of it a lot), Key Largo-Key West (just to say we've been as S. as you can go in U.S.), Sanibal-Captiva(to see shells), Cypress Gardens(is it pretty in Jan?), St Petersberg, Tampa, Pennekamp S.P, Biscanyne Nat. Park, Lake Okeechenobee, Dayton Beach.

I have a feeling we aren't going to have time for all this:-0 What should we make sure and see? What should we not bother seeing?

Diane

Florida is a BIG state. You will probably have more fun if you limit yourself to South Florida (for example Miami and the Keys)-- but you say you're flying in to Orlando. (It's a good 4-5 hour drive from Orlando to Miami, for example.) The Kennedy Space Center is a neat place and you may be there around the next launch (we just were there last week and the shuttle was being readied). You'd have to check to see if it would fit your "day 1" schedule. There's a $24 tour of the Space Center, and the bus you take drives through a lot of parkland. We saw armadillos, alligators, various birds and an eagle's nest while there. If there's no shuttle launch scheduled, you may prefer to drive down towards Palm Beach. You could continue down the coast and spend the night in a cool South Beach art-deco hotel, enjoy the night life and continue to drive down to Key West for your second night -- but you may find there's more you want to in Miami. My last trip there, I enjoyed a boat tour around Star and Fisher islands, and a visit to Viscaya -- an awsome mansion that was a true showplace. You can also take a daytrip out into the everglades. Figure that most of your last day would be driving back to Orlando (depending on NASA's schedule, maybe via the space center. That's an easy drive from Orlando, maybe an hour and a half.

susan

To be blunt, you don't have enough time to cover Florida. Add to the 4 or 5 hour trip from Orlando to Miami another 4 hour trip from Miami to Key West. In other words, of your 4 days and 3 nights, at least two full days would be spent simply driving to and from Key West. If I were you, I'd stick to central Florida.

David

I'd highly recommend an airboat ride. You can see aligators, bald eagles, etc in the wild (not to mention some kickass fun on a boat that goes 50 miles an hour). Go to the internet and/or look for ones that cover the St. John River (45 minutes from Orlando).

Diana

Get in the car and drive to the Gulf Coast. Start at Tarpon Springs. Wonderful Greek community founded on sponge diving. Then hop in the car and stay on the road closest to the Gulf Think it's 1. Go down to Clearwater Beach area. Watch for a wonderful restaaurant called the Coloumbia - (the house salad is to die for) keep going as far as you can and look for St. Pete's Beach and the Hurrican Rest. (Stone Crap Claws.) Come back north about 10 min and take the road that gets you to Fort DeSoto (there's a hirtoric fort for you) Find a place there to spend the night.

Head down to Sarasota/Bradenton area. I don't remember the name of it but just to the East is a large park with some wonderful opportunities to get close to nature (in a canoe if you like - I'm not that brave however) Go in to Sarasota to St. Armand Circle for some wonderful shopping find a hotel around the corner. In the morning get up and skip up to the Mote Marine Laboratory and learn about Sharkes - Head down to Siesta Key for some of the most delightful white sand beaches to squish your toes in. (Get a good map - it's not that easy) Stay there or head back toward Orlando.

That should get you beach, history, wildlife, shopping and food, what else is there! Have fun.