Devall Travels

Today we had advanced purchase tickets for the Space Center at Cape Canaveral. We were away from Silver Lake bright and early. First problem was of my own making. Seeing what I thought was the left turn lane free I 2went into it and then realised I was in the oncoming traffic lane. Doh! I pushed into the front of the column of traffic. Lots of apologetic waving ensued. The Texas plates might have made them think I was just some dumbass. Once on Irlo Bronson we headed to I4. As usual despite it being another grey day the exits to Disneyland were heavy. We were all set for a non toll run to Kennedy. Mistake . The route was I4 then SR50 all the way to Titusville. It's only about 50 miles but it took ages. Not much traffic but loads of traffic lights. Orlando seems to extend for miles and miles. There is a brief bit of country before Titusville appears. Then follow the signs. Parking was easy. Not too far from the entrance. Part of the parking was flooded... We che...

Google is a marvellous thing. So after much googling I ended up asking a friend that went a few weeks ago for tips. Her daughter is a travel agent or was, and she gave me some links to check out and then I saw the prices.  A two day Disney ticket came out at £189!! Each. Whilst I liked the idea of a visit to a park, paying that kind of money to stand in lines for hours to get on a ride and then repeat at the next one seems too ridiculous. Another link took me to a site to get entrance tickets to Kennedy.  The official site is $50 each for the day. The link was £29 or about $35 at the current exchange rate. Booked. I saw on Facebook that the Ace Cafe in London had some franchises opening up in Beijing, Barcelona and Orlando , so I guess that might be a drive out one day too. Plus the almost obligatory HD shop! I can't say that I have been a great fan of the Ace in London, but have been there a few times since it re-opened.  It's become a tourist haunt...

"How can you go to Orlando and not go to Disney?"  A frequent question when I say that although we love Florida we haven't been to Orlando before and don't really enjoy theme parks.   That's not strictly true. I have been to Orlando before, back in 1991. Back then a friend and I drove up from Miami and stayed in a hotel on International Drive for a couple of nights in December.  We did Epcot and Universal Studios.  I have photos somewhere!   On the way back we called in at what was then called "Spaceport USA", at Kennedy Space Center .   We didn't have much time and had to be back in Miami so Carol could go to work the next day. I really enjoyed Epcot. Okay, you got to ride about but none of the high jinx of the other parks and none of the queues. Plus the fireworks at night are fantastic. So this year. On the top of my list are Epcot and Kennedy. I'll start the ticket hunt soon. Not wanting a 14-day family ticket seems to be a ...

Checking on RCI ( rci.com ) shows that there are quite a few options for the Orlando area. I have finally booked one that gets good ratings from visitors and also is allegedly "quiet". At all the other places we have stayed over the years, US and Europe, we have never had to pay for the amenities;  pool etc.   There is always a swipe of the credit card to cover "security" and deposits for keys, usually apartment and parking garages, but never to use the pool or a lounger. However, this seems the "norm" for Orlando. I'm sure most of the people going there are headed for Disney and the other parks and spend less time at the resort than they might at other places in other parts of the country and even the state.  So I don't think that $10 a day per apartment is appropriate to use the pool at all. So that ruled a few out.  I found one that was charging $1 a day?  It must cost more to collect it in receptionists time than they bring in. In the ...

Plan B is pretty much the stuff that Plan A is made of, except different.  We have decided to "see" more of the "must see" sights/sites so the five nights after Punta Gorda have taken on a different complexion. So instead of heading south we have decided to go to Orlando so we can visit Epcot and maybe one of the less thrill seeker parks and then across to Canaveral to have a day at the Kennedy Space Center.  Until I started entering the hotel locations and sights into Tyre I didn't realise that they aren't too far apart.  This year, the drive to Key West was out longest drive and that was from Weston near Fort Lauderdale. Half a day in both directions although that included stops to see the Dolphins and to eat. The longest run this time will be from the east to west coasts on the penultimate day, Port Canaveral to Clearwater Beach. Of course, plans are there to be changed...... Plan B