Where to go in Florida?

[lhall]

Hi,

I could use some help deciding where we are going to take vacation this year. We want to take our first vacation as just our family Me/DH/DDs to florida.

It's been a long time since I've been anywhere besides Disney or Key West. We'd like to take the girls to the beach, but don't want to deal with Panama City crowds. Any suggestions on nice family friendly places? We'd probably spend most of our time at the beach, but maybe some deep sea fishing, or little amusement parks or aquarium type stuff would be fun too. I'm thinking we want a nice relaxing vacation. We're probably looking at late June or July.

Now, We could go to Key West in August. Yes, really hot. But, we just went 2 years ago, wouldn't get to enjoy any nightlife, and it's a long drive. Dad has a timeshare though, so we wouldn't have to pay for a hotel.

We could also go to Titusville. Dad is a Florida resident and lives in his motorhome down there. He has a airconditioned building there. The hard part would be finding a week he's not there, or gone to a rally in the motorhome. Again, no hotel room to pay for.

Thanks in advance,
Leigh

[LynnSC]

Hi Leigh,
My in laws live in Cocoa Beach, which is just about 40 minutes south of Titusville. CCB is pretty family oriented. You might look into that. Kennedy space center is there also. You can go shop at Ron Jon's surf shop. It is world-famous!
Lynn

[jpap]

seaside is nice and close enough to Destin and Ft Walton to get to the amusement parks. Janet

[vbak]

We are making our 4th trip to Cocoa Beach this spring break. It will be DH and another couple and we like it there because it is family oriented. We went to Panama City for years and what a zoo at Spring break. Cocoa is very nice. The Pier outdoor restaurant has THE BEST COCONUT SHRIMP!:D I can hardly wait. There are many nice restaurants and the space center is there, too. Most of all it is pretty quiet-no obnoxious drunken kids suggesting to you that it is past your bed time and you should get home. Vicky

Orlando is an hour away if the desire for crowds hits you.

[newsomz]

I would recommend either destin or st. augustine beach. Both are less well known (and therefore have less people around). destin is gorgous with the white, white sand and gulf water (what panama city used to look like). Also, seaside is pretty close by so you could go do that for a day. However, I wouldn't advise staying there because it's pretty expensive. St. Augustine is cool because there's historic downtown and you can visit the fort or ripley's believe it or not, the fountain of youth-- you get the idea there's lots of touristy stuff to do if you want. or you can just chill out at the beach. check out this page for a couple of links to the
less crowded, pretty beaches (http://plaza.ufl.edu/wburns/work/links.html)

enjoy your trip to fl

carrie

[foodiedelite]

Sanibel Island. One of the best shelling destinations in the world!
Nice beaches, June-July very sticky and humid (recall some heavy rain that time of the year) , check for a condo with a screened in porch. A lot of kid friendly restaurants. Try the Bubble Room Restaurant on Captiva Island (within minutes of Sanibel Island).
Food is so-so, but kids eat up the ambiance.


Collect shells at sunrise.
Visit the Lighthouse.
Visit the Shell Museum.
Rent bicycles and drive the island.
Take a boat excursion.
Have lunch or dinner at Gamma Dot's on the deck.
Have a hearty breakfast at Sanibel Cafe (check out the seashells under the table glass).
Of course, lot's of beach time.