A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 289 miles from Thousand Trails Orlando in Clermont, Florida to Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
park
Travel from Clermont to Homestead, Florida
We drove our coach 289 miles, about 5 hours of driving, from Thousand Trails Orlando in Clermont, Florida to Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south along Florida’s Turnpike:
An interactive map, showing potential stops:
Leaving TTO:
Toll plaza:
Sinclair Road:
Toll plaza:
Entering the Florida’s Turnpike toll freeway:
Service plaza rest stop:
Our coach in traffic cams:
Service plaza lunch stop:
Earl of Sandwich; it was a very nice sandwich:
We bought and activated a Sun Pass toll transponder for our truck:
Another traffic cam shot:
Florida’s Turnpike:
Fuel stop, alongside another Tiffin Allegro Bus (slightly newer):
Hard Rock guitar building:
End of the turnpike:
Entering Everglades National Park:
The entrance station, with a lot of traffic (other times we went through only had one or two cars):
The ranger in the booth loved seeing Paladin on the dash:
The turn to the Long Pine Key campground:
Campground entrance:
Our site:
Universal Studios Florida Theme Park
On the other two days, we visited the Universal Studios Florida Theme Park.
The Simpsons characters:
Spongebob Storepants:
Jenn in a pineapple under the sea:
Coming soon:
Springfield:
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter:
Knight Bus:
Diagon Alley:
San Francisco:
New York:
On another day, we started at Starbucks for some coffee:
The Brown Derby Hat Shop:
Beverly Hills:
Kings Cross Station:
Diagon Alley:
We did the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride:
Frozen butterbeer:
Diagon Alley dragon:
Back to the Future:
Finally, we got some Voodoo Doughnuts on the way out:
More fun stuff. We’re not so interested in Universal properties, other than Harry Potter, so we basically went to the parks just for that, but enjoyed exploring the other areas too.
Universal Islands of Adventure Theme Park
While staying in the Orlando area, we spent four days at two of the Universal theme parks. Two of the days were at Universal Islands of Adventure Theme Park.
Hogsmeade:
We enjoy the Butterbeer there:
We did the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride:
We checked out many of the shops, and bought a few souvenirs, including some sweet stuff from Honeydukes:
Dinosaur selfie:
Comic area:
Leaving Islands of Adventure at night:
Another day, we started out with cheese curds and margaritas at Margaritaville:
Then went on the Hulk roller coaster, which was the first time we’ve both ever been on a real roller coaster, with inversions and everything. We survived!
Then we went on a much more gentle ride, Storm Force Accelatron:
A Hulk popcorn snack:
Spiderman ride:
And Skull Island: Reign of Kong:
Natural Selections for another snack:
Hogsmeade:
We were going to go on the Flight of the Hippogriff ride, but they had a major delay, so we bailed:
Time for more butterbeer:
Cat in the Hat and Things:
Hat:
Finally, we enjoyed some Green Eggs and Ham:
Fun times. Tomorrow, the other Universal park.
Fort Morgan State Historic Site
We explored the Fort Morgan State Historic Site in Alabama, at the end of a peninsula between Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Here’s an interactive map:
Museum:
This fort had quite an interesting history:
Battery Schenck:
Battery Thomas:
The famous phrase “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” was (perhaps) uttered near here, something we previously encountered in Idaho at the Farragut Museum at the Brig:
The fort:
Tunnel into the fort:
Another battery:
A fascinating historic site.
Video: Meaher State Park
A brief video of birds and a sunset at Meaher State Park in Alabama.
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve
White in New Orleans, we visited a couple of units of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve.
The first unit was the French Quarter visitor center in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana.
Another unit was Chalmette Battlefield, site of the Battle of New Orleans in 1815:
New Orleans airboat swamp tour
We took a swamp tour on an airboat, via LaBiche Swamp Tours. Though more of a bayou tour, with a brief trip through a swamp.
We saw a bunch of birds, and some alligators, on a small six-passenger airboat.
A map of the area:
We booked via Mona Lisa Lounge, a nearby dive bar, who provided a bonus pre-tour beverage, some beads, and conversation with the very drunk wife of the owner:
We then proceeded to the tour dock:
The waiting area:
Our airboat:
A larger airboat:
Heading out through the bayou:
The alligators were starting brumation, so were less common, but we did see a few. Here’s our first alligator sighting:
A video of a swimming gator:
A video of airboat travel:
Another video of a swimming gator:
Our airboat:
Another airboat:
A rescued gator back at the dock:
A fun experience.
Natchez Trace Parkway
We drove along about 140 miles of the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. A weird park barely wider than the road, with thousands of years of history.
Though we drove both ways on that portion, so a total of about 280 miles, plus some detours, over two days.
We also drove past Elvis Presley’s birthplace and Tupelo National Battlefield, and visited Meriwether Lewis National Monument.
An interactive map (see the NPS site for the full route map):
Tupelo:
Back to the Parkway:
Alabama state line:
Tennessee River:
Tennessee State Line:
Meriwether Lewis National Monument, where Lewis of Lewis & Clark died and was buried:
Laurel Hill Road:
Sunset:
A nice scenic drive, with some interesting stops.
Garvan Woodland Gardens
We visited Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Map:
An interactive map:
An impressive architectural feature is Anthony Chapel, which we had to quickly visit as it was about to be closed for a wedding:
A waterfall:
Model trains:
This was in early November, so they were in the process of adding holiday decorations:
An impressive treehouse:
A very nice garden, highly recommended.