There's a lot in this one so I will write these in parts per topic. My apologies in advance of using the adjective "warm" a ridiculous amount of times. It is an obsession.
I hate being cold. My body is equipped with just enough bloodpressure to keep me alive. And yet some fool put all of the best science schools in the country in the ice cube capital of mainland USA so I have to live here while my husband gets his PHD. It is my lot in life to go through the winter months being swaddled in enough clothes to give me the figure of a corn dog. I may have aged ten years since we turned the heat on again and the freeze drying has begun but it is hard to tell under all of these layers. I would sell the dryer, the stove and the refrigerator...all of which we rent....to get the hell out of here for just a couple of days. To wear shorts and flip flops. To see the skin on my legs.
Think you can't go on vacation where its warm because you don't have a thousand dollars? Think again. I have devised a plan that does not involve thievery and potential eviction because you sold your landlord's appliances. It can be done if you are willing to invest some time and research into it, spreading out the expenses over a period of time. And you must own a tent. You don't like camping? Buck it up, Rockefeller, and stop being a wuss. It's warm there. Put a decent air mattress in it and it is not nearly as bad as some crap hotels I've been in. The bathrooms are usually kept very clean and you won't freeze to death taking a shower. I have yet to be disappointed in a Florida state park because the ecosystem is so varied throughout the state. Spanish moss hanging from big dramatic oaks in one, grassy rivers with big birds staring at you from the mangroves, beautiful white beaches, crystal blue springs, you name it. It isn't Disney. It is a different kind of good.
We have one particular park that we love going to called Bahia Honda State Park. It has camping on what is regularly listed as one of the most beautiful beaches in the country. I began trying to book a campsite there months and months ago to no avail because word is out on how cool it can be. The last time I was there a manta ray swam over my foot as I stood in the water watching my family kayak on the ocean. Seriously good. It is important to have a specific goal to get to when you go on vacation, something to shoot for that you can plan the trip around and then adjust to it. That way, you can build a time frame and travel distances that feel you can handle on a long drive.
And, oh yeah, plan on driving. Camping is cheap, equipment must be hauled, food supplies need space and a car is necessary. Plus, unless you are planning on going by yourself, I doubt if you have enough round trip frequent flyer miles to get you to somewhere warm with more than one person (which you will need to feed yourself with anyway...more on that later) and you will probably have to rent a car to boot. Get some decent cd's, download some free podcasts from Itunes (we listen to a lot of NPR shows on roadtrips) and look at it as an educational trip on Pennsylvania, the most endless not big state in the union. Or spend some time talking with the people in the car. Something I don't seem to get enough of these days.
We chose to take one long first leg, switching drivers periodically so that we can have a shorter shot into Florida the next day. Our first stop on our trip will be a Fairfield Inn hotel near Columbia, South Carolina. The hotel is part of the Marriott chain. I had an enormous amount of rewards accumulated in their program from business trips for my previous job. I thought that I was eligible for a gift certificate to take the edge off of the hotel price, but, as it turns out, I had enough points to purchase two nights. Actually, if I wasn't determined to have a really nice room on the last leg of the trip, I could probably have squeezed one more in a lower end hotel in the Marriott property food chain. But we opted for breakfast, a pool and fitness center and, most importantly, high speed free internet because I know you would miss me. So far the first night of sleep costs us nothing and gets us a free albeit probably carbohydrate laden breakfast.
The next night we land in Florida. We should be in Orange City home of Blue Springs State Park by the time check in rolls around. It is located about 40 miles north of Orlando. I chose this one because it is a sane amount of driving time after a long miserable one and because it is the home of the largest population of manatees in Florida during the winter months. My daughter loves large animals that look like Teddy Roosevelt. The water is a tad over 72 degrees year warm. And the air ain't bad either. Take that parka and your ugly friends clunky boots!!! The cost to camp here is $27 including taxes.
We will spend the next two nights in the Keys which is quite a haul so we will probably kiss the manatees goodbye at a fairly early.....but warm...hour and head on down the state. This will require pit stopping to pick up some groceries and getting some lunch on the way down but we want to get there at check in so that we get some chilling time in the Keys. Like I said before, I could not get a night or two at Bahia Honda but, after stalking the reservation website, someone canceled a couple of nights at Long Key State Park. It ain't Bahia Honda but it is a relatively short drive to it and we still get to wake up trying to decide which body of water we prefer to look at in the morning, the Gulf of Mexico or The Carribean, depending on which side of the highway we want to sit on. Blue blue waters and white sand and as little clothing as possible. Amen. Alleluiah. There will be sanity again. These campsites are $42 a night including taxes kicking us up to a whopping $84 for two evenings. Which is actually pretty pricey for a Florida State Park but these parks are special.
I couldn't get more campground time in the Keys no matter how hard I staked out the sites so the following three nights are going to be at the next best thing. The Everglades National Park. Moneywise, this is a real saver. You pay $10 per vehicle for 7 days. The campsites at the Flamingo area on the Gulf Of Mexico lower side is $16 a night. The total is $58 dollars for three nights. We are taking a ranger led 4 hour canoe trip complete with all needed equipment in the park for free. FREE! Yeah us! There are all sorts of hiking and outdoorsy kind of activities offered by the park to entertain and educate. Folks fret a little about snakes and alligators. I don't care as long as they don't make me put on a hat and gloves before they bite me. If it rains? Oh well. It's not snow. We have a car. Carry on.
On the last leg of the trip, we will get up bright and early in the lovely warm Everglades, take one last look at the Gulf of Mexico and begin to drive to Winston Salem, NC. It is a very long one so I picked an extra nice hotel to rest up and do one last lovely night before we go back to reality. We will be staying at the Springhill Suites by Marriott. They have a microwave and mini-fridge and a livingroom area. They are higher on the foodchain than the Residence Inn or Fairfield in the Marriott line and, once again, we get a pool, free internet and breakfast. And best of all it will cost me nothing but a maid's tip.
Drum roll please.....The grand total of all sleeping accomodations on a 8 night venture will come to about $168. Or less than one night in a decent Boston hotel would cost. Badow.
Wait till you hear what I am doing to feed us.....
www.reserveamerica.com
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Yeah I know the temperatures dropped to an alarming level. But what goes down....
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