Category Archives: Road Trip

Cruises, Family Travel, Group Travel, Road Trip

Driving to the Port of Miami -or- Another Adventure

Some people think about getting into the travel business for “all the free travel and great discounts.” That was a good reason to get into this business 20 years ago, but those opportunities are a small fraction of what they used to be. Still, every now and then, an agent gets thrown a bone, and it’s incredibly exciting. I had an offer I could not refuse a couple of years ago. A seven night cruise from Miami was mine for the taking, and all I had to do was get there. No one could go with me, sadly, as I didn’t have a lot of notice. Plane fare wasn’t all that great at the last minute, either, so it ended up being easier for me to drive down the day before boarding. It’s only 9 hours, and I spent the night at a Hampton Inn when I was about 90 miles outside of Miami.

Now, I lived in Atlanta for six years, so traffic and cities don’t scare me. Also, my husband is from Miami, so it’s somewhat familiar to me. But I was alone and using printed directions. Yes, you read that correctly. This low tech middle aged person was using printed directions, not a GPS, not even the nice lady on my phone who I have since come to trust. I’m such a fuddy duddy when it comes to new things, that two years ago, I was still clutching my Mapquest printout from my home printer.

As you come into downtown Miami, there are two ways you can get to the port, one of which involves a tunnel. I had planned to take the tunnel since it’s the easier route, but a digital sign warned me that the tunnel was CLOSED. That’s okay, I thought, I’ll go the other way. (I later found out from others who ignored the digital sign that the tunnel was, in fact, open, and the sign was in error. C’est la vie.) So as I drove down an exit ramp trying to read my shuffled Mapquest papers for the secondary route I didn’t think I’d have to know, I might have panicked a little.

I took a wrong turn. I realized it quickly enough, because the water was now on the wrong side of the road, which was mercifully quiet on a Sunday morning. In fact, when I turned onto a side street to turn around, the street was downright abandoned. Not completely, though. I bypassed one turn-around spot as soon as I realized it was filled with those little tricked-out, low rider, neon colored cars with the black lights underneath them. I had stumbled onto a real life scene straight out of Fast & Furious. Drivers were standing around talking to one another, nodding, getting into their cars, revving engines and such. So I went to the next place suitable for turning around and did so. Meantime, several of the cars took off at high speed with their high-pitched engines screaming. I had one of those moments where you think you might be dreaming, because you’re just a forty-something suburban Volvo wagon-driving baseball mom who lives in a rut nine days out of ten and you’re waiting to see if Vin Diesel gets out of one of those cars or if you get somehow tangled up in it all and arrested for being on the wrong road and have to call your mother-in-law to bail you out of jail. But I digress in a run-on sentence. I turned around and got back on track. Thankfully, there was no race or car chase to entangle me.

Next, I turned into the port. Now, without a second person in the car to help me look, I followed signs the best I could watched for an entrance to Parking Lot E, which was directly across from my ship’s terminal. But the next thing I knew, I was in front of the next parking lot and terminal, and no entrance had made itself known. I figured there must be a way to loop around, and I was right. So I did. But keep in mind that there are about 6 or 8 ships all lined up there, so it’s not a short drive to make one loop. Then I did it again, and again. “Look kids, Big Ben. Parliament,” I said to the empty seats in the car with me. On the third or fourth round, I decided to take the next lot, marked Lot 2. That was a good decision, because apparently E and 2 are the same thing at the Port of Miami. So I got a plum spot right across from the ship, and off I went.

So it’s really not that bad. If I hadn’t been alone, I might not have felt panicky here and there. But believe me, if I can drive down there and find it by myself, anyone can do it. If you have someone in the car with you, as most people will when going on a cruise, it has to be twice as easy. And gosh, now that I’ve done it, I consider myself some kind of expert. On my next cruise out of Miami after that one, I arrived by Uber, and I had to give the driver directions. I had apparently driven around that circle more times than he had.

One last thing to remember is that your ship may not return to the same terminal from which it left. In this case, after all of my fretting over getting a good spot, my ship returned to a different terminal on the other end of the port a week later. I ended up taking a shuttle bus back to my car. This was one of those times I repeated all my travel mottos. Be flexible and go with the flow. These things happen. Keep smiling and move on to the next thing. I’ll still get there on time. And I did!

To book your next cruise from Miami or any other port, contact Azalea Travel!

Attractions, Beach, Family Travel, Road Trip, Summer

Good Old Times in St. Augustine

History, beaches, beautiful architecture, shopping, and fun are some of things you will find in St. Augustine. I’ve been trying to think of a category of traveler who would not find something to do in this fascinating Florida gem of a city, and I can’t.

There are so many things to choose from (museums, historic homes, activities, and tours) that it might just make your head swim. One thing my family did there recently was buy the Old Town Trolley passes. I thought it was a great way to get an overview of the city, get our bearings, and figure out what we wanted to do. It also helps you find free parking in a place where that sort of thing comes at a premium. The trolley passes are good for three consecutive days, so you can use them for transportation in addition to getting background info on all the famous haunts in the oldest city.

One of the places we visited was Castillo de San Marcos. Now, being from Charleston, I always think that if there’s a fort somewhere, I have to see it. But honestly, now that I’m in my mid-40s, I have come to realize that if you’ve seen one fort, you’ve seen most of them. Notice that I said “most” and not “all.” Castillo de San Marcos is bigger and has a little more to take in than the majority of forts I have seen. (Although my favorite remains Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, SC.) It offers a unique experience with live performers, areas that are set up to look as though life is carrying on in 1700-something, and stunning views. It’s worth the visit.

There’s a little free museum that you can walk through if you have the trolley passes. It makes for a nice, air-conditioned twenty minute stop. That’s nice when you are visiting in July. The attached gift shop is also a good place to get your alligator heads, all things key lime, and other touristy must-haves.

At the Mission of Nombre de Dios, you will find the Great Cross, which marks the founding of St. Augustine. Visiting this cross and the adjoining cemetery and chapel is actually a free activity, but donations to the Mission are appreciated. It’s so lovely and peaceful that I almost can’t quite describe it. It’s definitely a holy place, and just a special experience. Even if you visit on a hot summer day, it feels cooler and pleasant as you stroll through the cemetery, but that may be in part because of the river on which it borders. I personally feel that no trip to St. Augustine will be complete for me without a stop at this inspirational spot.

We skipped the ever-popular Fountain of Youth, but it was a stop on our trolley tour. We just didn’t have time for everything. I do wish we had made time for the Flagler Museum. Next time.

A walk through the old gates and through the Old City proved fruitful and fun. The Oldest Schoolhouse is on that stretch, along with many fine shops and restaurants. Columbia’s is where all the locals say you simply *must* eat.

Potter’s Wax Museum was one of our favorites. I really thought this was going to be a short stop with little value other than entertainment. But there was great historic value in this visit for the whole family. It was definitely fun, but it was educational, too.

The last thing we did before leaving town was the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum.  Be amazed, be fascinated, and be grossed out at Ripley’s. As you are probably aware, this is a chain, and there are many Ripley’s Museums, but this one was the original. Each location is going to have different things in it, and this one is in an old mansion. There’s a good ghost story that goes along with it, too.

This was a great little summer vacation for my family, but would be nice at any time of year. Due to the great variety of things to do in St. Augustine, I would recommend it to families, couples looking for a romantic getaway, a girls’ weekend for shopping and sightseeing, a guys’ golf weekend, or a nice place for retirees to toodle around.

Contact Azalea Travel for help planning your St. Augustine vacation!

Azalea Travel is a proud member of ASTA and CLIA.

Attractions, Family Travel, Hotel/Resort, Restaurants, Road Trip

Family Fun in Savannah

Rich in history and beauty, Savannah is a no-brainer as a fun family destination if you live in the southeast. It ranks right up there close to St. Augustine, if you are making your way south or north on I-95 and need a good overnight spot. Now, I may be a little biased since I lived in Savannah for two years when I was single, but it was always on my must-visit list with my husband and son. We went over President’s Day weekend, and it was unseasonably warm ( like 80 degrees!).

Our first stop was Fort Pulaski. Since it’s a national park, admission is reasonably priced. On the day we were there, admission was free in honor of the holiday. Now there’s a great “See 3 Pass” where you can get discounted admission to your choice of historic or educational sites, and it includes Fort Jackson in its range of choices. However, Fort Jackson is much smaller and doesn’t have the history that Fort Pulaski does. Fort Jackson might be closer to downtown and have daily cannon firings, but Pulaski saw actual battle action and offers a lot more to see and learn. Especially if you’re only in town for one day, I would opt for the slightly longer drive to Pulaski (located on the road to Tybee Island) and choose one of the “See 3” destinations, depending on the ages of your children.

The Georgia State Railroad Museum is also a a great stop for your kids who like transportation. I think it’s fun even for someone who isn’t that much into trains. You might find a new hobby or passion there, because the place is so interesting! Be sure and catch one of the guided tours of the old passenger cars that happen throughout the day. My son and I spent a good hour and a half at this museum but could have easily spent longer. If you’re interested in visiting the Savannah Children’s Museum , be aware that it is adjacent to the Railroad Museum. If you have kiddos interested in both, you should definitely go ahead and buy admission to both. It makes sense.

A walk down River Street is a must. The cobblestones and the steep, uneven staircases can be treacherous, but knowing that you are climbing the same stairs that pirates and merchants used hundreds of years ago is pretty fun. Your children might convince you to board one of the riverboats for a tour or a meal. You have been forewarned. If you’re lucky, you might get to see a freighter ship coming or going. It’s quite the close encounter and pretty neat.

If you have any Brownies or Girl Scouts in your family, you can’t miss the Juliette Gordon Low house, of course. Otherwise, I would save that for a grown up trip, unless your children are way into historic home tours.

As for trolley tours, the green and orange trolley never does us wrong. This is one of those hop-on-hop-off affairs and can be quite handy for seeing as much as possible without moving your car a lot.

Where to eat? Definitely Pirates’ House. This is an experience, even apart from the dining aspect. Check the website for menu choices and times, because you might prefer to go for the lunch buffet while you’re already walking around downtown. This building has been a restaurant for a couple of hundred years, but served as a place for pirates to gather back in the days of yore. Kids get a special hat (that also serves as their menu), but what will entertain them more than anything is the ghost stories and staring down into the old tunnel under the restaurant. There is said to be an underground tunnel that leads all the way down to the waterfront. Legend has it that unsuspecting drunks would pass out at the bar, then be carried through the tunnel to the pirates’ ships. By the time they woke up, they would be out to sea, kidnapped, and enslaved.

If you’re looking for a good pizza, don’t pass up Vinnie VanGogo’s. It was one of my favorites when I lived there, and it’s still the hip place to go for a pie.

Where to stay? If you’re looking to save a few dollars, try a Southside chain hotel. You will be near all the malls and chain restaurants, but with the Truman Parkway, you won’t be terribly far from downtown. There are a few good chains in great downtown locations, too, such as Hampton Inn or Doubletree. But if you’re going to stay downtown, the fun places with ghost stories and local charm are River Street Inn and East Bay Inn. Parking costs in downtown Savannah, whether it’s at your hotel, metered places on the street, or garages.

One more thing – I downloaded the ePass app on my phone, and I do recommend it for a weekend or more. It provides you with discounts and specials all over town for dining, activities, and more. I only used it once – at the Pirates’ House – but it paid for itself after one use.

Contact Azalea Travel to assist you with your travel plans including cruises, group travel, and Disney!

Road Trip

Road Trip Notes: A Pecan Log from Stuckey’s

stuckey's pecan log

If you grew up in the southeast, you might remember passing a Stuckey’s once about every 50 miles when you were on a road trip with your family.  They stood out from the other gas stations and convenience stores, with their pitched, shingled roofs (as opposed to looking like a flat box) and cursive signs welcoming you like a note from your grandmother.

If you ever got out of the car and went in, you would have seen the Pecan Log Rolls.  Maybe you had a less deprived childhood than did I, but I never had one of those sweet delicacies as a child.  My mama raised me on Grape Nuts for breakfast and alfalfa sprouts and raisins when I asked for a snack. Candy was a rare treat. So I didn’t even bother to ask for a Pecan Log.  I was well into adulthood (maybe in law school?) when I stopped alone at a Stuckey’s one fine Saturday.  As I marched my road-weary, stiff body back from the ladies’ room, I saw a long, double-tiered table piled with Pecan Logs.  It was one of those, “You know what?” moments. Yeah, I did it. No one was there to tell me, “No.” I bought one and ate it in the car.

I have to tell you that after a lifetime of wondering and waiting, I found that Pecan Log Roll to be good.  Not a gourmet experience, mind you, but good enough. Since it has so many nuts, it will stick to your ribs for a while. That makes it a good road trip snack. The fluffy nougat stuff on the inside gives it that sweet indulgence that you’re looking for when you’re on vacation. Have plenty of napkins on hand, though. They can be sticky.

Nowadays, when you see the Stuckey’s sign, the buildings don’t look that different from the other convenience stores. You don’t see them as often around the Carolinas anymore, but I understand they are still thriving west of here.

So if you’re road tripping and see a Stuckey’s around the time you need a pit stop, take advantage of the opportunity to engage in a southern tradition.  Stop in and “git you a Pecan Log, darlin’,” as some folks’ grandmothers would say.

Azalea Travel