Biscayne National Park is one of the rare national parks that is mostly water, on the coast south of Miami, Florida.
We visited for a sail, paddle, and snorkel trip.
Our boat:
Heading out:
Birds:
Map; we sailed out to Coon Point on Elliot Key:
Snorkeling; I used my 360 camera, but had some technical difficulties, so didn’t get many pictures:
Other boats:
Raising our sail:
Some paddling into the mangroves:
Sitting up front on the way back:
Lighthouse:
A fun excursion.
We explored several areas of Everglades National Park in Florida.
A map of the park:
A map in a visitor center:
Entrance sign:
The Royal Palm area of the park was closest to our campsite, with some nice walks:
Can you spot a turtle?
Here it is:
Also nearby is a relic of the Cold War: the HM69 Nike missile base:
Gulf Coast Visitor Center was under construction, so they used a modular building:
West Lake:
We were amused by Rock Reef Pass, elevation 3 feet:
A two-part video, with the route and photos, then a timelapse, of riding around Long Pine Key Campground within Everglades National Park.
We stayed at Long Pine Key Campground within Everglades National Park, in Homestead, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A basic no-hookups campground within the national park. A little short for our coach, but we made it work.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Basic campground in the heart of Everglades NP
Pros: Beautiful, large, private sites within the national park.
Cons: Most sites much shorter than listed and facing the wrong way depending on your configuration (motorhome or trailer) so you have to think creatively to get orientated.
Neutral: No hookups of any kind, so be prepared. We camped at Long Pine Key Campground in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Not really long enough for our coach:
I got my bike out, for the first time in months (we sold Jenn’s a while ago):
A path to the nearby bathroom block:
Dish washing sink:
Inside the men’s bathroom:
We were staying inside Everglades National Park, and did a sailing trip in Biscayne National Park (posts coming on those in the next couple of days), so we added those stickers to our coach:
A snake on the road:
Entrance and dumpsters:
Info sign:
There were some solar-heated showers:
An interesting way to park a coach; perhaps a bit against the rules, but a good solution to cope with the sites being too short for big motorhomes:
Other sites:
Tent sites:
The campground had a path to an amphitheater, where they did ranger talks (with my bike in the foreground):
The Long Pine Key lake:
A nice campground, despite the lack of hookups. We’d be happy to stay here again.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
A brief video of birds and a sunset at Meaher State Park in Alabama.