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First time on this site and was curiously looking over your trip. As a native Floridian, I just wanted to throw my advice in, after others have noticed your itinerary may be rushed. An option in Florida would be to cut out Everglades National Forest/Miami and replace it with St. Augustine.
Miami isn't as tourist friendly as St. Augustine would be for one. Miami beaches are beautiful with gorgeous blue/green water... which you'll be experiencing later on your cruise in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica. The Everglades is literally just swamp land in South Florida. Expect alligators, mosquitos and pythons. An airboat ride/tour would make it more worthwhile if this is really a destination that you would like to experience.
St. Augustine will already be on your route heading north out of the Cape Canaveral/Daytona Beach Area and its south of Jacksonville. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in North America. Ponce De Leon, The Fountain of Youth, Castillo de San Marcos (The Fort) there's like 450 years of history there. And, its beautiful.
Locals around here never go to Miami/Everglades as a weekend trip. When they head that far south in the State its usually to the Keys (Key West in particular). Key West will, once again, be much like the islands on your cruise. I'd recommend saving all that driving time after Orlando and just head east to Cape Canaveral/Daytona then on to St. Augustine.
One more thing. Orlando. It would take a week (maybe more) to see everything in all the theme parks. Look over the Universal Studios website and pinpoint the places you'd really like to see. Possibly purchase the tickets in advance online, you can save a few dollars and it will save time waiting in line. Plan everything (parking for RVs, attractions to ride, etc). The time of year you'll be visiting Florida is notorious for severe thunderstorms in the afternoon... and if its not raining, it is incredibly hot and humid. Basically, your day could be cut short due to weather, get in as much as you can in the morning!
With the time saved from bypassing South Florida, you could look into staying around Savannah (beautiful), Georgia and cut down your long driving day Jacksonville(not so beautiful)-Richmond.
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Thank You.
Hi Cappy, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Froum.
It is most generous of you to jump in with your first post to help another roadtripper. Local knowledge is always valuable when planning a trip.
Although I have to say, I love the Everglades and the Keys.
If you should ever require suggestions for a roadtrip, feel free to start your own thread.
Lifey
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A big thank you
Just wanted to pass on a huge thanks to all those who have not only commented on my planned trip, but to those who comment on all the others as well.
With only 169 days till we leave,(but who is counting) all my plans are falling into place. I may not have posted on here in a while, but I come on read all the reports and threads to get as much advice as I can.
The biggest thanks has to go to all those who said to book into the National Parks as soon as the window opens. My husband and I studied the parks, worked out where to stay, got on line and found out the earliest we could book. I then got onto a time difference web site, checked out what that would be in Perth and wrote it down. Needless to say a few nights I was up till 11pm to book!! I cant believe that Arches, which I could only book on the 2nd Jan, 3 days later only has 15 sites left!
Just have to wait till 15th March to get into Yosemite!
Can't wait to start my field report for you all (won't be as great as yours, but will give it my best!)
Moderator Note: We appreciate the thanks, but keep all posts about planning your trip in the same thread. (you can start a new one for your field report, which we look forward to reading!)
