Rental car tour Florida

This is the second part of our cruise New York, New York, Sunshine State and the Caribbean, see before.

Disembarking and picking up the rental car and then off we went, 10/22/2006

We disembarked quite early. Then the usual search for suitcases and on through customs, we had filled out the papers properly, others not. The car rental company had promised us that we would be picked up. But we had to find the person who picked us up. Where it said Alamo was the right one. We got a mid-size car and drove off, heading north, because we had heard from the people sitting next to us that Titusville, near the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, was a good starting point for seeing the whole space thing. We found a nice motel, one of the Best Westerns. For the evening, we asked the receptionist for a recommended restaurant. She knew of a nice fish restaurant right by the sea and was kind enough to reserve us a seat. We had a wonderful evening with all the trimmings

Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center, 10/23/2006

Cape Canaveral is one of the American sanctuaries. And we wanted to visit it once. So we bought a ticket for two days, because it’s a huge thing.

What do you do there? First you watch the 3D show about the Apollo program, then you take a walk through the rocket park and take a bus to the launch pad. It’s all organized for the masses. Nevertheless, it is impressive what the Americans have put together. At the end, I bought myself a little souvenir, a space shuttle.

Lake Mamilton, Cental Florida´s Lake Country, 10/24/2006

We stayed at the Best Western again. After an American breakfast, we made our way to the Kennedy Space Center, as we had paid for two days. Now it was time to visit the giant Saturn moon rocket and the Hall of Fame, where the astronauts are celebrated. The time flew by. I wanted to go to Orlando to one of the theme parks, but my wife didn’t. So we drove through Orlando in the heaviest evening traffic and finally reached The Lake Hamilton Best Western with Free Continental Breakfast via Highway 4 and 27.

In the room we found the usual brochures for the region with vouchers for restaurants. One in particular interested us: if you eat two meals, you get one free. At Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q.  We went there for dinner and ordered the smallest of the giant burgers on offer. And one more because of the voucher. Now we also realized why many in the audience were so huge, no wonder with the meat portions and there was no Coke drink under a liter. More than full, we drove back to the motel, true to the advertising slogan We put feel good Bar-B-Q- on the map.

The Continental Breakfast was just what we needed. The American guests were surprised at us, because the Germans didn’t stray into this beautiful area, preferring to laze on the beaches of Naples. We said goodbye to the cows grazing in the pasture, where the palm trees didn’t really fit in, and drove south to the Everglades.

Everglades National Park, 10/25/06

I’m quoting from the information sheet we received at the visitor center at the intersection of US 41 and State Road 29 (easy to find on the map).

Welcome to the Everglades,

…The intersection is historic, the Tamiami Trail has only connected the east and west coasts of Florida since 1928, and the State Road was only passable by ox cart until the advent of the automobile. Before that, the Glades could only be crossed on foot or by flat boat.

...Pilots returning from World War II invented the airboat, a wide, flat aluminum boat with an aircraft engine and propeller. The local Indians quickly learned how to use it.

…Native fish and crustaceans include stone crabs, of which only the legs are eaten. The crabs are caught in deep water in wooden cages, the largest leg is removed and the crabs are released so that the leg can grow back. 

…The alligator is the king of the fish water Everglades, it does not feel comfortable in salt water. The Florida crocodile is a saltwater reptile, it is very rare and hard to find. The alligator shares its habitat with snakes, fish and turtles.

We wish you an enjoyable visit and hope you come back soon.

We actually did an airboat tour. We had a look around Everglades City, visited one of the many visitor centers with an alligator pool and drove back to Miami via Alligator Alley to a nice motel. We fly home tomorrow.

Miami, rental car drop-off and flight to Germany, 10/26/2006

Today is our last day in America and, as usual, we fly back to Germany at night. Now 10 hours of uncomfortable loitering plus the time difference await us the next day. So what are we going to do? We’re going to drive around Miami a bit, which is good for Coconut Grove, a beautiful part of Miami. We’ll have lunch and then drop off the rental car.

There’s time to think about our cruises and their destinations. It’s not the first time we’ve crossed the pond to the New World, as they used to say. We didn’t skip the Big Apple this time either. Back to the Old World, just not via New York City. Well, we’ll be making more pilgrimages there. What else? Oh yes, the experience with the rental car and the associated motels, just this way of traveling. That’s what many travelers to America do.

Classically beautiful

We did everything you would do, nothing was left out. Just the classics: Taking the Circle Line very close to the Statue of Liberty in New York, taking the usual cruise through the Caribbean, learning about the Maya, seeing coral and exotic fish underwater, tasting real Jamaican rum and lying more or less lazily on a beach in Haiti. The rental car tour was just as classic: Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, cows under palm trees, taking an airboat into the Everglades. That remains in the memory.

And then the mega cruise ship, the Freedom of the Seas. You think, oh God, how big and how many passengers. We found it pleasant, lots of space, countless entertainment options. The beautiful promenade on the ship, which we could always see from our cabin.