Automatic

Most cars in the US have automatic transmission. That means there is no clutch pedal. It’s best to not use your left leg at all and only accelerate with your right leg. If you use both legs, you might accidentally operate both pedals at the same time (that means accelerate and brake at the same time). Moreover, you could accidentally make a (too) hard stop simply by pushing the brake as much as you would push the clutch. Because of that: put your left leg aside, and only use the right leg.

The automatic transmission has a parking mode. Sometimes, it’s only possible to shift to driving mode when you stand on the brake pedal. If you don’t use the break, the parking mode is locked and cannot be removed.

US Cars are huge ships

Cars in the US are remarkably taller than anything we have in Germany. They have jeeps (real jeeps not SUVs). Also, many family vans are everywhere. There are also some extremely grand vehicles (RVs) that make half a house. We had a Dodge Grand Caravan once, it was a very good car but we were worried about its size and how to park and turn it. Turns out, not a problem at all. The car was only average size in the US. We did fit into every parking space; in general we found enough space to turn, park and drive.

Parking: Valet Parking and Handicapped Parking

You need to get used to valet parking. Germans don’t like to give their car to anyone else. That is totally different in the US, valet parking is everywhere.

Handicapped Parking is available everywhere. That is the same in Germany but in Germany people tend to leave these parking spots empty and not use them at all, even if they are elidible. Some handicapped people even choose to not use them at all. In the US that is very different: veterans have special number plates and always use handicapped parking.

General Speed Limit and Driving on the Interstate

There is a general speed limit on the interstate: 80 miles. This is mandatory and most people only drive 80. Every now and then, a single car or some motorbikes take over but that is not very common. It’s not like Germany where the speed limit seems to be the minimum speed.

Because of this, most cars simply drive right next to each other on the interstate. The rule to drive right is not as strict as it is in Germany. There can be someone on your right lane for several kilometer right next to you or someone else is taking over on the right. In general American drivers tend to drive cozily right next to each other.

You can easily stay on the middle lane for a longer period of time. Americans take the right or left lane to take over and don’t bother at all. That makes life in a new city much easier: you can always choose the middle lane if you don’t know where to go next.

Driving is very relaxed

Everyone is far more relaxed than German driver. You don’t run into other shouting, aggressive drivers if you make a minor mistake like driving too slowly, changing your lane a bit clumsily or using the wrong dipper.

There are some cities and routes in the US that have a reputation of being particularly difficult because of aggressive driving, e.g. Ocean Drive to Key West or Miami. We do not have any negative experience, driving in these areas was maybe a bit less relaxed than anywhere else but definitely still ok and not a problem at all.

Stop Signs, Traffic Lights and Crossroads

Americans like Stop Signs. In Germany, we have a stop for one driver, the one that has to stop. (usually the one coming from a secondary road). In the US, all four drivers have a stop sign. That also means all of them have to stop. Figuring out who is supposed to go first is always a bit difficult. Allegedly, on “first come first serve” principle. But that is difficult. If you are not so sure, just wait and let the others go first. Stop signs are very common, you find many of them everywhere. Always be careful with stop signs.
Signs and traffic lights are on the opposite side of the crossroad. Always look at the opposite side to see them.

Many Lanes and Flyovers

A very typical thing is a road with many lanes. In cities up to 8 or more lanes. Don’t get freaked out by that, you can always stay in the middle lane if you are unsure.
A second thing is flyovers. Many roads are elevated and run on bridges and several levels, in particular on big crossroads. These flyovers are in every city. The GPS tends to be misleading in these cases: going straight can mean going straight on the upper level (on the bridge) or the lower level (under the bridge). If you get this wrong, it might take a while to find the next exit.

How It Is to Have a Police Officer Pull You Over

Yes, we had a police officer pull us over. Our driver missed a stop sign and totally blew it. Bad for us: the police officer was standing right at that junction. He followed us with his lights on. You have to stop at the next secure place. We were in a town and could stop right away.

The police officer stopped right behind us and came walking along the sidewalk. I read somewhere that you are not allowed to open your bag, look for something in your handbag or in general open any bag or anything else in particular the glove box and keep your hands visible all the time. We opened the window and and left the hand on the steering wheel or in front of our body.

The officer asked a couple of questions, where we are from, if we are on vacation and where we are going. He also said, he assumes we know what a stop sign is and that we have stop signs in Germany too. We confirmed that answered all his questions friendly and after a few minutes he let us go. I have to say we were very lucky!
I have to say, I think we made one mistake. There were four of us in the car but we only opened the front row windows. I think we should have had opened all the windows to show all the cars passengers to the police officer.

He asked who was in the car. We answered but it was not visible for him because the back windows were dark.

Toll In Florida

Florida has several toll stations, mostly for bridges. There are regular toll stations where you pay in cash, stations for credit card users and on the very left a “Fast Lane” with no paying station at all. You can just pass with only little less speed on these lanes. For that, you need a “Toll Pass”, they film this pass while you pass through the station and your toll is charged on your credit card.

At first, we did not know but rental cars come in general with this “Fast Lane Pass”. Like this, we could always take the fast lane and never had to wait. The charging on the credit card was correct after that holiday.

Der Beitrag How it is to Drive a Car in the US erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Orientierung und Fortbewegung

Visitor Center, Tourist Center: Besucherzentrum, Touristenzentrum
meist am Eingang von Nationalparks, Sehenswürdigkeiten und in Zentren von Städten, wichtiger Anlaufpunkt für Karten, Magazine (Voucher), Busfahrpläne usw. Anlaufstelle für alle Fragen

Shuttle Bus: Busse, die eine Rundtour fahren
Shuttle Busse gibt es meist in Nationalparks. Hier fahren sie immer im Kreis, die Haltestellen werden so in regelmäßiger Taktung (10 bis 15 minütig) angefahren. Man kann zu- und aussteigen, wie man möchte. Meist kosten die Busse nichts, bzw. sind in Eintritt des Nationalparks beinhaltet (siehe Grand Canyon und Zion National Park)

Scenic Drive/Scenic Route: Panoramastrecke
Bezeichnet eine besonders schöne Fahrtstrecke (scenic drive oder route) oder Spazier- und Wandertour (scenic route), wird meist genutzt um eine Fahrtsrecke zu beschreiben die zwar länger ist (nicht auf der Autobahn), dafür aber eine besonders schöne Landschaft, Aussichtpunkte, die Küste, das Meer oder ähnliches anfährt. Wer im Urlaub ist, sollte sich an den scenic route Schildern orientieren.

Trail: Laufweg oder Wanderstrecke
gerne verwendet im Wanderrouten in Nationalparks zu beschreiben. Trails sind meist präpariert als Wanderweg, nicht aber geteert.

Hotel und Einkaufen

Lobby: Empfangshalle im Hotel

Gift Shop: Geschenkeladen
Findet man in den USA überall, in jedem Nationalpark, in jeder Attraktion gibt es einen Gift Shop. Meist gibt es hier Kitsch und Kram über die jeweilige Attraktion zu kaufen. Einige Gift Shops haben interessante Bücher zum Thema (beispielsweise in den Nationalparks).

Discount: Rabatt
Is there a dicount? – Gibt es Vergünstigungen?

Coupon: Rabattmarke
Meist aus Gratisheften oder Magazinen, damit erhält man oft Rabatt, Vergünstigungen oder Prozente

Voucher: Gutschein
Häufig für Hotelzimmer, die bereits im Voraus gebucht wurden. Man erhält vom Anbieter ein „voucher package“ für alle Zimmer der Rundreise. Im Hotel wird oft nach dem „Voucher“ gefragt, dann einfach die Seite ausreißen und abgeben.
Auch: Gutschein im Einzelhandel

Kulturelle Unterschiede

No-Bag-Policy: wörtlich Politik des Taschenverbots
Das Verbot, Taschen zu Großveranstaltungen mitzunehmen, wichtig bei Sportveranstaltungen und weiteren Großveranstaltungen (siehe Artikel zu Football in Atlanta). Gilt die „No-Bag-Policy“ heißt das, keine Handtaschen, Rucksäcke, Fototaschen und ähnliches erlaubt. Wird streng kontrolliert und durchgesetzt.

Rise Up: wörtlich steht auf
Im Übertragenen Sinne, macht Stimmung. Wird im Football verwendet, um das Publikum via Leinwand zu mehr Stimmung zu animieren.

Veterans: Veteranen
In den USA verwendeter Begriff für ehemaliger Angehörige der Armee. Veterans genießen in den USA ein hohes Ansehen, ihnen wird viel Respekt entgegen gebracht für den Dienst, den sie am Land geleistet haben. Daher gibt es einen Feiertag für sie (Veterans Day) und besondere Ehrungen (zum Beispiel beim Football). Im Norden Floridas findet man viele Veterans Homes, also Gebäude am Meer, wo die Veteranen wohnen. Außerdem haben Veteranen gesonderte Nummernschilder, mit denen sie auf Behindertenparkplätzen parken dürfen.

Civil War:
Bezeichnet den Krieg zwischen den Nord- und den Südstaaten der USA von 1861 bis 1865, der durch den Sieg des Norden letztendlich zu Abschaffung der Sklaverei führte. Das deutsche Wort ist Sezessionskrieg oder amerikanischer Bürgerkrieg.

Essen und Getränke

Food Court:
Hier gibt es mehrere Anbieter von Essen. Es handelt sich um Mitnahmeessen. Meist in einem großen Gebäude in der Mitte, außen befinden sich die verschiedenen Anbieter von Essen (Burger, Donuts, Cookies, Pizza, Nudeln usw.), in der Mitte sind viele Tische und Stühle. Das Essen holt man sich selber an der Theke und sucht sich einen freien Platz in der Mitte. Bei Gruppen mit vielen Personen geschickte Methode, damit jeder was Passendes findet.

Meal :
Meal bezeichnet das Angebot eines kompletten Essens in den Restaurant, bei Subway, Mc Donalds, aber auch bei etwas schickeren Restaurants. Meal beinhaltet damit einen Hauptspeise, meist eine Beilage wie Pommes oder Gemüsen und ein Getränk (meist Cola, Fanta, Sprite etc. oder die entsprechenden Produkte der Konkurrenz). Manchmal gibt es im „Meal“ noch einen süßen Nachtisch dazu.

Nicht verwechseln mit Menu wie das deutsche Menü. Das englische Wort für Menü ist Meal, Menu bedeutet Speisekarte.

Menu:
Menu heißt Speisekarte. Speisekarte heißt nicht Card o.ä.

Soda:
Soda bezeichnet die kohlensäurehaltigen Getränke der Coca Cola Familie (alternativ der Pepsi Familie). Diese werden an einem Getränkeautomat, wie man ihn von Mc Donalds in Deutschland kennt abgefüllt. Man kann hier frei wählen zwischen den verfügbaren Getränken. Immer dabei sind Cola, Cola Light, Fanta und Sprite, oft noch ein paar weitere, die man nicht unbedingt kennt.

Beer and Draft Beer:
Das Standardbier in den USA ist Budweiser oder Budweiser Light. Gezapftes Bier heißt draft beer. Hiernach muss man fragen, wer ein Bier bestellt, erhält eins in der Flasche.

Auto

Upgrade: wörtlich Verbesserung
Gerne genommen bei Autovermietern, aber auch bei Hotels. Hat man ein Auto oder Zimmer einer bestimmten Kategorie gebucht, und der Anbieter versucht einem die höhere Kategorie zu verkaufen bietet er ein „Upgrade“ an. Hier immer vorsichtig sein, das kostet meist zusätzlich. Deshalb wird es angeboten.

In Einzelfällen kann ein Upgrade kostenlos sein (beispielsweise bei Flitterwochen). Hier aber lieber nochmal nachfragen.

Rental Car Center: Zentrum der Autovermietung
Meist an Flughäfen, bezeichnet den Ort am Flughafen, wo sich die Autovermieter befinden. Hier stehen die Mietwägen auf dem Parkdeck.

Insurance: Versicherung

CDW (Collision Damage Waiver): bei Mietwägen Vollkasko
CDW kann Beschränkungen unterliegen, das heißt es kann einer Obergrenzen oder bestimmte Situationen sind ausgeschlossen. Hier mit dem Reisebüro sprechen.

It’s all covered: Es ist alles abgedeckt

No extra/further insurances needed: Keine weiteren Versicherungen benötigt

For extra charge: Zusätzliche/erhöhte Kosten (Beispiel: Ist das Upgrade kostenlos oder kostet das Auto dann mehr Geld?)

Put it on the dash: hinter die Windschutzscheibe legen
Wird verwendet an Parkautomaten u.ä., Parkzettel und Belege über gezahlte Gebühren sollen so sichtbar ausgelegt werden. Das deutsche Äquivalent ist „klar sichtbar hinter die Windschutzscheibe legen“

Valet Parking:
In Deutschland extrem unüblich in den USA sehr geläufig. Vor Hotels, Restaurants etc. gibt es einen Parkservice. Man fährt mit dem Auto direkt vor die Tür, gibt dort seinen Schlüssel ab und erhält einen Beleg mit Nummer. Das Auto verbleibt in der Einfahrt. Die Angestellten des Valet Parking fahren immer dann ein neues Auto zum Parkplatz, wenn sie ein anderes holen. Abholen der Autos funktioniert dann umgekehrt, man gibt den Beleg ab und es fährt jemand mit dem Auto vor. Kostet entweder eine Gebühr oder Trinkgeld für die Angestellten des Valet Parking. Das Trinkgeld fällt an bei Abholung und bei Abgabe. Manchmal, beispielsweise nach Konzerten, kann die Wartezeit am Valet recht lang sein. Im Valet Bereich darf man nicht selbst parken. Hierzu gibt es „self-parking“.

Self-Parking:
Parkplätze, die man selbst ansteuern darf. Sind oft weit entfernt vom tatsächlichen Ziel oder voll. Alternative ist Valet Parking.

RV:
Kurzform von recreational vehicle, wird nur in der Kurzform verwendet
RV ist das Gegenstück zum deutschen Wohnmobil, jedoch deutlich größer oft auch ein wenig monströs. Kann man auch häufig mieten. Sieht man sehr viel in den USA.

Toll:
ist das englische Wort für Maut. Maut fällt an bei Brücken, manchmal auch bei vereinzelten Straßen. Ein Großteil Autobahnen ist aber mautfrei. In Florida gibt es vielen Mautstationen wegen der vielen Brücken.

Glücksspiel

Gambling: Zocken, Glücksspiel

Slot machine: einarmiger Bandit
In Las Vegas, Maschinen, in die man eine Münze (oder einen Schein) wirft und dann drehen sich die Räder. Bleiben diese Räder bei einem bestimmten Muster oder Symbol stehen, hat man gewonnen.

Downtown:
In der USA, zentraler Orientierungspunkt in den Städten. Meist befinden sich hier die Touristenattraktionen (Ausnahme: Las Vegas), auf jeden Fall Stadtzentrum

Black Jack 17 + 4:
Glücksspiel mit Karten, bei dem man gegen die Bank spielt und 21 Punkte erreichen möchte

Städte

Main Street:
Hauptstraße, zentraler Straße einer Stadt

Beat the crowds:
Der Masse aus dem Weg gehen (“To beat the crowds come before 8.”)

Besichtigen von Sehenwürdigkeiten

Tour Guide:
Wörtlich übersetzt ein Fremdenführer, also ein ortskundiger Anführer eine Gruppe, die sich eine Sehenswürdigkeit anschaut, bei praktisch allen Sehenswürdigkeiten kann man eine “guided tour” also eine geführte Tour buchen.

Fully-Narrated Tour:
Eine Besichtigung (wahlweise eine Bootsfahrt o.ä.), bei der ein ortskundiger Experte (manchmal eine extra Person, manchmal der Kapitän des Schiffes, manchmal auch nur eine vom Band gespielte Stimme) Informationen über die Sehenswürdigkeit erzählt. In den USA sehr geläufig. Für meinen Geschmack nicht immer so toll, nicht alles ist interessant, manchmal werden die Infos stark heruntergeleiert.

Self-Guided Tour:
Das Gegenteil der fully-narrated tour. Es gibt eine Besichtigungstour, diese muss man jedoch selbst ablaufen meist mit Hilfe einer Broschüre, einer App oder weiterer Hilfestellung. Es ist aber kein ortskundiger Experte dabei.

Events

Ride:
Ride bezeichnet eine Achterbahn, das Wort rollercoaster wird praktisch nie verwendet. Ride kann jede Form von Achterbahn und Karussell sein. Meist sind das jedoch recht verrückte Achterbahnen, nicht für Kinder geeignet sonder klar auf den Adrenalinkick für Erwachsene ausgerichtet.

Observation Tower: wörtlich Beobachtungsturm
Ein Turm oder eine Aussichtsplattform von der man einen besonders schönen Ausblick genießt.

Motion Sickness: Übelkeit ausgelöst durch Auto- oder Schiffsfahrten
Für alle mit einem empfindlichen Magen relevant, es gibt Tabletten dagegen, auch auf vielen Touristenschiffen.

Der Beitrag Wörterbuch – Tipps fürs Englisch Sprechen erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

3 public entrances

The swamp expands to 180.000 hectares and is mostly protected. There are 3 entrances to the swamp – all three are located in Georgia: by Folkston in the East, in the South by Fargo and in the North by Waycross.

In the Stephen C. Foster State Park which is located south you can rent canoes, kayaks and motor boats, go fishing, enjoy a guided tour or go hiking. The Fargo Folkston entrances are used mainly by adventurers for canoe tours – there are several spots in the swamp to spend the night at.

Boat tour at Okefenokee Swamp Park

We visited Waycross, Georgia in November where the Okefenokee Swamp Park is located. Right at the entrance we had an encounter with a huge alligator which obviously enjoys to rest on a small island within a narrow channel left of the visitor parking lot. The visitor center provides information about the tours.

One of these tours is a boat tour with a small motor boat using the swamp’s water roads. We were lucky: due to a hurricane the previous  day, visitor load was very low, the park was basically empty. The tour guides has information about flora and fauna and tells stories about the park while we were travelling cozily in the channels of the park. Alligators are everywhere, quite likely right next to us. We saw some young alligators which were nurtured at the sides of the channels. We did not spot fully grown alligator during the tour.

The water tour stops once – at an observation tower reachable by a walk on a bridge. The tower is approximately 30 meters high and provides a stunning view over the vastness of the swamp and the high tree tops where many different bird species live. After 45 minutes the tour ends.

Train tour and animal encounters

As a second tour option is a ride on the small train with a little steam engine. The tour goes 1,5 miles through the park. The train drives very slowly – almost walking speed. It stops on a little island where an exhibition about the early settlements of the swamp is shown. It is a nice tour, although the first one is a little more spectacular. Maybe you should first do the train first tour and the boat tour after that.

Back at our starting point, the visitor center, we watched a 30 minute presentation in which animals of the swamp where shown. At least it is NOT some kind of circus thing – the animals (snakes, baby alligators e.g.) are just shown for a moment while some interesting facts about the species and life of these animals are given. Afterwards they go back into some boxes. We sa some baby alligators, very little ones that are only a few months old and slightly older ones that are still tiny. I asked where they come from an the answer was: 2 animals per year can be held in captivity for educational purposes.

Having this presentation at all and presenting these animals at all is debatable and maybe questionable. Of course it is interesting to learn about the animals of the swamp. But do you really need to see a living animal for demonstration purposes? The animals were looking fine, they did not seem to suffer (as far as I can judge). To me, this presentation is not a reason to boycott the park because they treated their animals respectfully. 2 alligators per year are arguable – there are also living alligators in zoos for example. The animals were not severely bothered during the presentation, so I can accept this (in other parks I have a different opinion).

During the train tour we could see some Christmas decoration. The typical Santa Claus Figures, reindeer, sleighs etc. where positioned near the tour. In the South it’s obviously only Christmas when some fancy decoration is arranged – just like the snow fits to Christmas in Germany. I personally don’t need to see that but it didn’t really bother me.

See also article on Atlanta

Atmosphere of the swamp

Remarkable in the swamp is the very dark prevailing mood. Despite of bright daylight everywhere else the water is almost black and you always expect some alligator beneath every water lily. The black color of the water comes from the many dead plants and derives from the fact that it is marsh land (“Blackwater River”). According to the tour guide a lot of water was evaporated during the summer – consequently, the level was too low. Because of that the water appeared even darker. The atmosphere of the Okefenokee Swamp is very unique, difficult to describe and capture in words. It is dark and mysterious – like from a louring fairy tale.

Organisation Tips

Due to the size of the swamp it is necessary to pick one entrance. It is not possible to drive to more than one entrance in a day. Within the swamp there are no roads, only waterstreets. A car doesn’t help here. By car, the only option is to travel the long distance around the swamp. In the swamp, only boat traveling is possible. Okefenokee is not really easily accessible. We traveled from Tallahassee but it takes around three hours till Waycross (150 Miles). In the South, distances are always long and that is something that has to be considered – we started to travel early that day so we reached early enough to spend enough time in the Okefenokee Swamp Park.

From Jacksonville, the swamp area is easier to reach by the North entrance in Folkston. But here it is best to rent a canoe and go paddling. That would be surely a great adventure but for us not the right thing for the first visit. I wouldn’t want to paddle and suddenly an alligator is swimming right next to me. Moreover the swamp is a huge maze consisting of water streets, moor, swamp, land and lagoons. I would have quite some problems to know where I am and I would defintely need a tour guide. But anyway, it would certainly be a great adventure to once do a canoe tour with someone who knows the area!

Der Beitrag Okefenokee Swamp at the Border of Georgia/Florida: A Blackwater River Swamp erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Three Entrances to the park

The national park at the very southern end of Florida needs to be on every Florida travel route. In the Everglades, the ocean becomes land and land becomes ocean. This tropical wilderness between sea water and fresh water has created a special environment and a biodiversity with a vast variety of species.
The northern border of the park is highway 41, leading from Naples in the east to Miami in the west. There are three different entrances to the park; we have visited two of them. Both offer an entirely different program.
If you are lucky, you get to see manatees, alligators and crocodiles (since one of it prefers fresh water the other salt water, that is very rare), several water- and wading birds (e.g. cormorant and heron) and lots of countryside and nature. Information about current problems is available with focus on environmental destruction and invasive species and as well as information about its history of settlement.

Gulf Coast Visitor Center and 10,000 islands: Sea Water Area of the Everglades

It takes 1 hour (60 km) to drive from Naples to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center, the visitor center closest to Florida’s gulf coast. In terms of ecology, the national park is split into two parts: the first part is called 10,000 islands and describes the sea water part, hundreds of small and tiny islands in the ocean, a maze of water streets, mangroves, trees and tiny islands. The second part describes the fresh water part of the park. Here the ocean is no longer visible but has become a swamp area, already mainland but still full of water. The ranger lady stood in the water of the swamp waist-deep, all the fresh water pushes up from the ground.

The 10,000 islands – salt water part of the Everglades – are a colorful collection of mangroves and waterstreets that can only be explored by boat. To me it felt, as if I had already reached the ocean and was no longer on the mainland. Due to the sheer size and variety of the area, I would not have been able to find the right way without a tour guide. The visitor center offers a boat tour. If you are lucky, dolphins will be there. Birds will definitely be there and even if you are unlucky and do not see a single animal, the nature of the Everglades itself is worth the trip. It absolutely stunningly beautiful!

The visitor center can be reached on Highway 41 and Interstate 75. Just follow the signs that say “Everglades City”. Parking is available at the visitor center. The visitor center provides all information about tours and prices.

Shark Valley Visitor Center

The Shark Valley Visitor Center is located another 50 minutes (70 km) east (following highway 41). This entrance to the Everglades offers an entirely different face of the park: water has become mainland: a huge swap and even a paved road are there. This is the fresh water part of the park. Except from the street, it feels like being in a jungle. It is a wetland full of reed, swamp with water waist-high and alligators that live in fresh water.

The paved road is a leftover from the time before the area was protected as a national park. It’s nowadays used for guided tours by train (not on tracks but on wheels). In addition, there are two smaller hiking paths and bicycles for rent. We did the train tour which was lead by a ranger. The tour took us through the swamp area, was fully narrated and the ranger talked about flora and fauna. We saw birds and an alligator.

The Shark Valley Visitor Center can be reached via highway 41, approximately 1 3/4 hours (130 km) from Naples. Parking is available in front of the visitor center.

Recommendations and Information about Different Tour Options

A quick first thought could be: why would I want to visit the Everglades twice? The answer is simple: because you get to see two totally different areas. The 10,000 island are water with many little islands and Shark Valley is a swamp land where hiking is possible. The Everglades look entirely different in both cases.

Before I was there, I imagined the Everglades to be a swamp area – just about what I saw in Shark Valley. The 10,000 islands was something totally new to me.

The third entrance Flamingo Center is located at the southern end of the Everglades. We ran out of time and could do all three entrances in one day. The Flamingo entrance was simply too far away. If you rush from one place to the other, it might work but we wanted to have time. Flamingo entrance is the main entrance to the park (reachable via Florida Turnpike from Miami or Florida City from the Keys). Flamingo has a port, a café and a campground. I didn’t see it so I cannot say anything else.

Time wise, we could only do two entrances in a day. If you want to do the third, plan an extra day. Coming from Naples, Flamingo Center is a bit off the route and difficult to reach.

Manatees – Floridas Mascot and Symbol in the Park

The “mascot” of Florida is the manatee. It’s a large, brown mammal living in the water. Manatees prefer fresh water and very warm water, shallow water, water with very little salt and like living close to the coast. Manatees are good-natured and herbivores. That is why Florida is a perfect place for them. Unfortunately, they are an endangered species. They like the water streets of the Everglades very much. I didn’t see any of them on our tours. I guess they are easier to spot in a kayak and in a smaller group of people outside the main roads somewhere between the mangroves and the smaller water streets.

Airboat Tour? – An Option?

To me the answer is no. On highway 41, there are many offers about air boat tours. Their ads follow you all the way along highway 41. I read in a travel book that these airboats are too loud and upset various animals. Also, these boats are causing many problems to manatees in Florida. As described above, manatees live in shallow water close to the coast. That is why they tend to crash the airboats’ screws and propellers. Manatees are a bit slow that means they hear the airboats coming but are to slow to get away. Supposedly, most manatees in the Everglades have airboat scars on their skin. I don’t know if all of this is true, but it could be and that is enough to know for me. That is why I would not recommend an airboat tour.

I know, environmental conscience, protection and tourism is an issue itself. Anyways, I think we should always prefer anything that is offered officially from the national parks and its rangers. At least, this way the national park makes money and the national park’s purpose is to protect and maintain nature. Also, the tours in the national park and entrance fees to the park are rather low, compared to for example all the parks in Orlando.

Der Beitrag Everglades Nationalpark – A park at the Land/Sea Boundary erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Monument Valley – Part of the Navajo Reservation in Utah and Arizona

The Monument Valley is a three-hour-drive from the Grand Canyon. It is located northeast, right at the Arizona state border in middle of the Navajo reservation. There is only one hotel in the valley: the View Hotel. Another option to spend the night is in Kajeta, a little village 20 minutes from Monument Valley. Kajenta does not offer much; it’s in the middle of nowhere. Don’t expect more than a place to stay for one night. Monument Valley can be combined with a ride to the Grand Canyon Nationalpark or the Arches Nationalpark in Utah. Both parks are about 3 hours from Monument Valley (Grand Canyon Southwest, Arches North).

We drove from Grand Canyon to Monument Valley after sunset when it was too dark to stay in Grand Canyon and reached Kayenta in the evening. He had a room in Kayenta for one night and went to Monument Valley the following morning to see the sunrise.

Sunrise at Monument Valley – Breakfast in The View Hotel

Early that day, we drove to Monument Valley on highway 163 to see the sunrise. Sunrise is a very special time in Monument Valley: the light emphasizes the red color of the rocks even more. It is a very good time to take beautiful pictures. A viewpoint for this is the place in front of the visitor center (you also find the View Hotel here). This spot offers an extraordinary view to the popular rock formations. The view you have here is the well-known perspective of the valley. Until here, it is easy to drive yourself. A proper, solid street leads to the visitor center. The hotel had a breakfast buffet. We were thinking it’s not worth asking, this place is super-exclusive and breakfast will cost more than 20 Dollars per person. But that was wrong, I’m glad we asked because the breakfast was only 10 Dollars. Having a breakfast here was the right thing to do: sitting at your table and enjoying the view was perfect after that sunrise. I would recommend doing that.

Monument Valley is located on a plateau, quite above sea level. That is why it can be cold in winter. On the pics you see in tiny bit of snow in the valley. Watching the sunrise was really cold, even though we had proper winter clothing. You will probably need a warm jacket here, unless you come in the summer months.

Driving on 27 km Unpaved Road – Monument Valley Road

The only way to continue your route and drive in the Valley is an unpaved road called Monument Valley Road that starts at the visitor center. Lonely Planet says this can be done in a standard passenger car. But I disagree, we tried it, it didn’t work. We did the first bend of the road, drove a bit further down a hill and a little further just straight. All in all, maybe 800 meters. This little part was enough for us to give up: the car bounces, we heard bumps and noises all the time, and potholes were everywhere. The ground was wet, muddy and plashy; you could only drive walking pace. We stopped because there was a huge puddle all the way across the road. We don’t know how much water it had but it definitely looked deep. We decided to not drive any further and not take any risk with our rental car. Maybe it would have been possible to drive cross that puddle, maybe we should have been driving faster while crossing those potholes. That’s difficult to say now. For us, it was too risky to damage our rental car.

The residents of the valley offer Jeep tours. There are different tour options available. All these jeeps drive faster and with much more routine and confidence through these potholes and all the mud. We could not have done it ourselves. Anyways, most likely they try to fill the jeep that means you will have to squeeze and share the car with other guests.

We were there in very low season (you can the snow on the pics). The valley had very few visitors. In and in front of the visitor center, there are many tour options and offers available. The shortest tour was offered for 80 bucks per person. None of us wanted to pay that much. We were a group of four: we would have to pay 80 dollar per person, not per jeep. After long and difficult negotiations, the price became much less. In the end, we paid 25 dollar per person. I doubt this would have worked the same way in the main season. When we were there, there were rarely any other tourists around. I think they decided to drive for little money instead of not driving at all.

Three Sisters, Totem Pole, the Thumb and John-Ford-Point

The tour itself was nice. It leads a bit further into the valley; you get to see many rock formations that are not visible from the hotel. I wasn’t sure if I’d be interested in the tour at all, in particular because I was supposed to pay 80 dollars. I have to say, it was worth doing the tour. You get to see the popular rock formations Three Sisters, Totem Pole, the Thumb and the John-Ford-Point. John-Ford-Point is a rock ledge that was used for many shots in John Ford’s movies but also Ford himself enjoyed standing there and watching larger scenes with many extras from there.

On the tour, several ladies sell jewellery, they say it’s authentic Indian jewellery. Necklaces and bracelets are pretty and not expensive (10 – 20 Dollar). You also get to see some Indian homes, even though these homes seem a bit artificial and made for tourists. In fact, all residents don’t live here but in different area that is not open to public.

At the John-Ford-Point you can take pictures with a rented horse at the rock ledge. I didn’t do that, that’s not my kind of thing. Horse lovers can also do an entire tour on a horse. I cannot say if that is good or not. I’m rather skeptical when it comes to using animals for touristic purposes.

When you do the longer guided tour, you see some places in the park that are only accessible with a tour guide. Because we had paid so little, of course they only did the short tour. To us, that was sufficient.

At the very end of that unpaved road, a little Opel Corsa came along. Somehow, these guys made it to the very end of that road. It don’t know how that was possible. The longer you drive along that road, the less standard cars you see. All the regular cars disappear one after another. At some point of the route, only Jeeps still drive along the road except that one Corsa.

Well-known because of it s many TV and film appearances

Monument Valley has appeared in many movies. The first movie the be shot there was Stagecoach with John Wayne, by John Ford. Ford made another nine movies in Monument Valley. Clint Eastwood’s The Eighter Section was also shot here, the Totem Pole appears prominently in this one.

Many famous scenes also play here: Forrest Gump ends his long run here, Tom Cruise climbs in the Mission Impossible II opening sequence, the Transformers Autobots reunite (Transformers: Age of Extinction). Many scenes with Jonny Depp in The Lone Ranger were filmed here. Just recently, HBO’s Westworld used Monument Valley as a filming location.
A very well-known campaign is the Marlboro campaign with the Marlboro cowboy. This was also made here. Many car ads are made here as well.

When you have visited Monument Valley, you recognize it in many films, ads and publications. Everyone has already seen Monument Valley somewhere. It’s the blueprint for all Wild West Impressions. It shows how we imagine the Wild West to be.

Suggestions and Ideas

Visiting the Monument Valley is highly recommendable. It’s the best place to take nice pics. I would not recommend doing a tour in a regular car. I think the road is simply too bad. A rental jeep would have worked. Or rental car (Dodge Grand Caravan) was not right. Maybe it’s possible to drive there yourself if you have offroad experience or are a very good driver. Anyways, we couldn’t.

The 80 Dollar-guided-tour is pricy, 80 would have been too much or us. I’m glad we bargained hard and got a better price, without the tour we would have missed a lot. Although the visitor center has a great view, it’s necessary to move further into the valley and see more rock formations.

The driver was a bit annoyed and not very motivated or friendly. Maybe that was because of the low price. The tour itself was ok, we saw all important rock formations and it took exactly as long as planned.

I would always do Monument Valley if I was in Grand Canyon. It requires an extra 2 days. Driving there, spending time there and continuing your route takes about 2 days (1 night). Half a day is enough for monument valley. If you are very enthusiastic about it, you can also camp there and hike.

Our next stop was Page in Arizona. This is where you find the Horseshoe Bend, Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon. Page is about 2 hours (200 km) from Monument Valley.

See also:

Article about the Horseshoe Bend

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Key West is a very crazy island at the very southern end of Florida. You very clearly leave the subtropical area and reach the tropical climate: it is hot, very hot with a high humidity. We were there in October, not even the hottest period of the year.

The island has a very Cuban flair; you are really very close to Cuba, not only geographically. Its residents speak a different version of English, the coffee tastes more intense, somehow more Cuban and the atmosphere is unique. Life is different here, that becomes clear when you consider that these islands have indeed declared their independence from the US once. In 1982, the issue of border controls in the Upper Keys kept everyone busy and emotional. That is why the keys formed an independent state (Conch Republic) but only for a day.

The most southern point of the US (for some reason called the Southernmost Point) is here. They used to have a sign about this, but the sign got stolen too many times. Now they have a buoy. We walked all the way there and definitely underestimated the tropical heat. It was exhausting to walk at all. On the way to the buoy, you find many “southernmost”, like the southernmost hairdresser, café, supermarket, anything. In fact, there is an even more southern point but that is in the restricted military area further west. You can visit the buoy, do the walking tour, but to us it was a bit of “ok, we were there”.

Key West Downtown: Mallory Square, Duval Street, Sloppy Joes and Hemingway House

A not so nice way to put it is: Key West is a small, overly crowded, overly hot island. A nice way to say it is: it’s an island with its own attitude, strong Cuban influence but also big independence, strong temperament and everything a bit too crazy.

The two most important places in Key West are Mallory Square and Duvall Street. Mallory Square is always full of people; in the evenings the walls get crowded by people who sit there to watch the sunset. As soon as the midday heat leaves, street artists appear. There are little performances but also, art exhibits of sculptures and paintings. Mallory Square is in the northeast of the island. Tourist like to book boat tours for the sunset, you can see many boats right in front of the coast.

This is also where the most famous street of Key West starts: Duvall Street. Duvall Street is almost 2 km long, crosses the entire island and reaches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic. In Duvall Street various influences mix: Cuban, Bahamian and Victorian. There are many beautiful buildings. Two very well-known people were very fond of Key West: Ernest Hemingway and Harry Truman. Hemingway even stayed several years. The Hemingway House is in the old part of the city and can be visited. It’s only one block from Duvall Street at the southern end of the road. Its six-toed cats are a special feature, all of the descendant of Hemingway’s cat.

Key West has become a common stop for cruise ships. You should try to get information about their schedules and when there are too many of them around. I can totally imagine how the town gets overly crowded then. There was no cruise ship there when we were there, but the island was already crowded. Definitely choose a good date to come here.
Key West is a place where many runaway teenagers go to. It seems to be a kind of challenge to make it up until here.

The most popular bar in Key West is Sloppy Joes from 1933. After moving Sloppy Joes is now close to northern part of Duvall Street.

A very special feature is the Dry Tortugas National Park, which is a bit more than 100 km from Key West and can only be reached by ferry or plane. The ferry takes 2 ¼ hours (single ride). Dry Tortugas is a diving and snorkeling paradise. If you want to go here, you need to plan an entire day to do so. We did not have the time, but I definitely want to do that one day. I’m sure it’s a huge highlight.

https://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

https://www.drytortugas.com/

Shuttle Busses from the Hotels

We did stay in a hotel at the eastern end of the island. All the major tourist attractions are at the western part of the island. It does not appear to be far, when you check the map, you think this is easily doable. But that’s not really the case. It’s very tropical and very hot. Every step becomes more exhausting. Several hotels offered a shuttle bus to the city center together. I would definitely use that shuttle and let them take me to the center as close as possible. We walked; it was too much, definitely! Don’t take your own car, leave it at the hotel. There is no parking and no space in general in the center.

Route and Duration

From Miami to Key West, it’s 266 km. You need 4 hours for this. The road along the keys and their bridges is outstanding. You hop from island to bridge to island and can enjoy a view over the vastness of the ocean almost everywhere. It’s a very nice route; you should have time to enjoy it. There is no point in speeding to reach as fast as possible. One thing is definitely the case: it’s the way that counts. Bring enough time to stop at various points.
Our travel agency recommended two nights in Key West. At first, I was thinking that is too much. But now, I definitely agree. Like this, you have an entire day to drive from Miami to Key West. You have many nice spots to stop: the Everglades (Flamingo Visitor Center or Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center), Key Largo and John Pennekamp Nationalpark.

You continue your route along all the Keys till Key West. There are many options to stop. You should definitely do the 7-Mile-Bridge and Bahia Honda State Park. You can easily spend an entire day like this. In the evening, you can watch the sunset from Mallory Square. You then spend a full day in Key West (Duvall Street, Southernmost Point, Hemingway House, etc.). On the third day, you drive back to the main land. Depending on what you are interested in, you can spend the morning in Key West or go back to the mainland directly and stop several times. You can for example visit everything you missed on the way to Key West or everything you liked very much.

It’s always an option to book an additional night in Key Largo or the Everglades. I think you don’t really need it when you have two nights in Key West. One night in Key West is not enough, doable if you really, really don’t have more time and leave Key West in the afternoon/evening. But two nights is definitely much better!

I would absolutely recommend that tour to Key West. It’s a very nice route, but you need 3 days (2 days) to do it. If you don’t have that, I would not do it at all.

This is Part 2 Road Trip to the Most Southern Point: Key West, Mallory Square and Duvall Street.

Part 1 of the article can be found here:

Road trip to the Most Southern Point in the US: Part 1 On the Way to Key West

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Heading to the Most Southern Point of the US: Key West and the Keys – Upper Keys, Middle Keys and Lower Keys – all of them reachable and connected by the Overseas Highway (No. 1)

The Florida Keys are a vast collection of little coral islands called keys. The chain of islands starts in the southeast of Florida, 26 km south of Miami. Final point of this route is Key West, it takes about 4 hours to reach from Miami (266 km). The 181.9-km-Overseas-Highway is basically a long-streched collection of roads and bridges.

The Keys can be split into three groups: Upper Keys, Middle Keys and Lower Keys. Upper and lower in this case refers to North and South. This is also the order I use to describe a few highlights on the route.

Because the Overseas Highway is a mere 180-km-straight, addresses and places have a mile marker in their name. Addresses use a five digit code, the first three digits refer to the miles on the road (including position after decimal point), the last two digits refer to the location of the address: odd numbers are at the Bay of Mexico, even numbers at the Atlantic Coast. The mile markers start in Key West, this is where you find the number 0. The higher the number, the closer you are to the main land.

One example: John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park address is 102601 Overseas Highway. This means it is on MM 102.5 at the Bay of Mexico. The first first important stop on this route is in the Upper Keys: Key Largo MM 91- 107.

Key Largo and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park: Glass Bottom Boat Tour in the Park

Key Largo is one of the northern keys and relatively large, almost 53 km long. Of course there is the Overseas Highway, but Key Largo has a second connection to the main land (at the northern end of the island, Highway 905 to Florida City and the Everglades).
Very important in Key Largo are its surrounding Coral Reefs. These are protected as a State Park called John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. It’s a paradise for divers and snorkelers. We did not do a snorkeling tour but a glass-bottom-boat tour. That means, the boat has a glass window at the bottom and you can see the underwater world from the boat.

It’s easy to organize: you just go to the visitor center, ask about the next tour and buy tickets. To shorten this: next time, I would go snorkeling instead. The boat tour is ok, quite nicely done but you don’t get to see a lot. The engines are turned off, the boat bobs up and down in the water. You stand behind a barrier all the time and look through that bottom window. This means you are very likely to get seasick. On the way to the riff, they provide various information on what to do in that case. We bought one of these preventative medicine, took it and and did not have to throw up. Probably, the medicine did their job. But we were anyways feeling quite bad on the way back. Most people on the boat looked rather troubled. These problems with motion sickness have to do with the general situation of being in a solid room (the boat), that moves in the waves and the fact that everyone stands at the barrier and looks down to that window at the riff which is again solid and not moving. On the boat they say our brain loses its point of reference, cannot handle the situation and reacts with dizziness and motion sickness.

To me, the size of the bottom windows turned out to be a flop. I expected huge windows where you can see large parts of the riff and the ocean. But that was not the case. The windows are two rather small windows where people gather around. Most parts of the ship are fairly regular.

A good thing about the tour was the audio guide. A female tour guide on the ship was an expert in recognizing and naming all the different fish. That was really interesting; her enthusiasm about it became very obvious.

The snorkeling tour stopped in close distance. Next time, I would definitely book that. I think you get to see much more and don’t get dizzy and sick.

Snorkeling tours are 30 dollar per person and take place several times a day. One tour is 2 ½ hours of which you spend 1 to 1 ½ hours in the water. There are also longer snorkeling tours (4 ½ hours). The Glass-Bottom-Boat-Tour is 24 dollars (2 ½ hours) and takes place four times a day. Information about all of this can be found on the website.

Another interesting option is to rent a canoe, kayak or Stand-Up-Board. Because Key Largo is so close to the mainland, you can paddle to the Everglades. I did not do it, but I want to come back for that one day.

Because of all the many options you have in Key Largo, you need to bring time. I think you can easily spend 2 full days here. If you don’t have that much time, you can at least spend a morning or afternoon here (on the way to or from Key West) and do some snorkeling or kayaking. If you just drive to Key West with no stop here, you miss the best part.
The Upper Keys continue another 50 km after Key Largo. Several smaller keys follow. End point of the Upper Keys is Long Key with the little town of Layton. The bridge between Long Key and Conch Key is called Long Key Bridge (official name: Dante B. Fascell Bridge) and is the second longest bridge on the route.

From the Middle Keys to the Lower Keys on the Seven-Mile-Bridge

The Middle Keys are mainly organized in the little town of Marathon and cover a distance of 45 km. Long Key has a protected area (Long Key State Park, MM 70), Long Point Key as well (Curry Hammock State Park, MM 56), Key Colony Beach has a beach.

The Seven-Mile-Bridge on MM 47 is an interesting spot. This is where the Middle Keys end. The bridge is the longest on the route. A new bridge became necessary because the old one was destroyed by the weather. The new bridge was built in 1982 and runs almost parallel to the old one. Pedestrians and cyclists can still use the old bridge. You can stop here and take a walking tour. It is indeed funny standing in one bridge and seeing the other one.

Bathing and Snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park

Right after this bridge, there is Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key in the Lower Keys. It’s a beach in a protected area (that means you need to pay to enter) from which you can see the old bridge quite well. The beach is nice, but compared to the rest of Florida rather small. The keys are not the right place for beautiful bathing beaches. You can stop and swim, but don’t expect too much. All islands are small and only have small beaches. Some areas in Big Pine Key are privately owned and not publicly accessible.

The beach was voted the number 1 beach in the US in 1992 (by Dr. Beach, a Florida Geology Professor). One thing that is always there is the wind: you are far into the ocean on a very flat island. There are definitely nicer places to sunbathe. The keys are more about nature and underwater worlds. You can hike or watch rare animals and plants, in particular birds.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Bahia-Honda

This is Part 1 of the Article: Road trip to the Most Southern Point in the US: On the Way to Key West

Part 2 can be found here:

Road Trip to the Most Southern Point: Key West, Mallory Square and Duvall Street

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Driving in the South Part 2: A Tour From Memphis to Vicksburg, New Orleans and Pensacola which can be found here.

From Pensacola to Jacksonville: North Florida – The Panhandle

The route from Pensacola to Jacksonville is described in this article.

Tallahassee to Charleston

The route from Tallahassee to Savannah is 491 km (I 20 and I 95). If you are interested in nature and protected areas, Okefenokee Swamp in worth a visit. (Information on Okefenokee Swamp here). If you take the route we took, you leave I-10 in Madison and drive along highway 84. This route is 60 km shorter, but takes 30 minutes longer. In this case, you avoid Jacksonville and cannot see anything of Florida’s largest city. Heading further to Georgia, you pass the Golden Isles of Georgia (more information can be found here) – Georgia’s islands. Every island requires a long detour. There is so much to be seen on this route, it’s not possible to see all of it without staying an additional night somewhere.

We wanted to visit the Okefenokee Swamp. The next time, I would go from Tallahassee to the Okefenokee Swamp (maybe via Fargo) and stay in Jacksonville for a night. Like this, I could spend the evening in Jacksonville and and focus the following days on the Georgia Isles. The route from Tallahassee to Savannah is easily doable in a day, but there is so much to see on the route.

From Savannah to Charleston, it’s only 175 km (2 hours). This part of the route gives you time to stop at all the islands (see Islands of South Carolina ###LINK###). A islands require again a long detour. We drove from Hilton Head to the little village Beaufort, a picturesque village than can be seen in Forrest Gump as Forrest’s fictional home Greenbow, Alabama.

It’s only 45 minutes from Hilton Head to Beaufort. From Beaufort you can driveto the ocean and reach the nature protected area Hunting Island. Like this, the route takes 1 ½ hours (90 km). From there, we drove directly to Charleston on highways 21 and 17. Instead of 1 ½ hours, you need 3 ½ hours to reach Savannah (270km). This shows, that driving to the islands takes time (in our case, an extra 100 km, 1 ½ hours). I think one island per day is enough; more is too much of a rush. Better head to Charleston on the afternoon.

Whatever island you want to visit on this route, plan a whole day to do so. You find more information about these islands in their own articles.

Charleston is super-interesting; it is also possible to go to Charleston directly to have more time there.

Parts 1 and 2 of this tour can be found here:

Driving in the South Part 1: A Tour From Atlanta to the Great Smoky Mountains, Nashville and Memphis

Driving in the South Part 2: A Tour From Memphis to Vicksburg, New Orleans and Pensacola

A tour in the Panhandle/Northern Florida can be found here.

Der Beitrag Driving in the South Part 3: From Florida’s Capital Tallahassee on the Georgia Coast to the Carolinas and Charleston erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Driving in the South Part 1: A Tour From Atlanta to the Great Smoky Mountains, Nashville and Memphis which can be found here.

Memphis to New Orleans via Vicksburg : From Tennessee to Mississippi to Louisiana

Driving directly from Memphis to New Orleans is a 650 km ride on the I-55. It takes about 6 hours. The route is far east off the Mississippi River, the only town you cross is Mississippi’s capital Jackson. A long ride for a single day but possible, anyways it makes an entire day of your holiday only sitting in the car and driving, nothing else.
A bit further west, you can drive in close distance to the Mississippi River and see the Mississippi Delta occasionally.

Vicksburg is an option to stop (see Article on Vicksburg). The first part of the route from Memphis to Vicksburg has several options to stop, all of them smaller towns: Greenwood (Mississippi Delta) and Indianola (B.B. King Museum) can both be reached on highway 49 and 278 (Northern and Southern Route) and highway 82. Greenwood is one hour from Memphis (75 km), Indianola is on the way to Greenwood (about 1/3 of the distance). Driving from north to south on the highway route takes 45 minutes more than the interstate route (anyways it’s even a few km less). Taking the detour to Indianola and Greenwood will cost you two more hours. You cannot avoid taking the same route back and forth and need to calculate an extra 2 hours for this.

For this part of the route, we decided to take the interstate to have more time in Vicksburg. Also considering the next day, we did not feel like driving an extra 2 hours.
The following day, the route leads from Vicksburg to New Orleans. A direct route is available on interstate 55 (330 km, 3 ¼ hours). Anyways, this second part of the route offers so many options; you would miss a lot on the interstate.

South of Vicksburg, a town called Natchez is worth a stop (1 ½ hours, 120 km). Natchez is a former trade hub and enclave for millionaires with many beautiful, well-preserved antebellum mansions. (more information about Natchez here).

Once you have decided to go Natchez, it’s best to stay on the highway for another 120 km. The interstate is far east of Natchez, driving to the interstate would mean driving unnecessarily east although you are indeed heading south.

Once you’ve reached Natchez, you can go back to the interstate. You go east to I-55 and stay on it until you reach New Orleans. Choosing this option means, it takes 4 ½ hours (400 km) to drive from Vicksburg to New Orleans. If you decide to stay on the scenic route, take highway 61 after Natchez till Louisiana’s capital Baton Rouge. This is a good place to stop for a coffee or food.

Baton Rouge is one hour from New Orleans (I-10). On this route, the next stop is Vacherie with its big plantations (see Plantations in the South). Vacherie is easy to reach (exit 187, highway 6, just follow the signs that say Oak Alley Plantation, ca. 15 minutes). I would highly recommend this stop. It’s close to the main route and you should have seen at least one of the big Vacherie plantations.

This is how we did it. We managed to fit everything in a day; it is doable but a tight schedule. We had enough time for the final stop, the Oak Alley Plantation and also for the first stop Natchez. Anyways, you need to leave early on this day. Driving along highway 61 takes a while. Even though it is very little traffic, it’s slow-moving. Anyways, I would do it exactly like this again. I would not want to miss Natchez or Vacherie.

There is another option for this route:
In Natchez, you can go further west (west of the Mississippi river) (highway 15, 105 and interstate 49). This is a way to reach Lafayette and Avery Island 50 km south of Lafayette. Avery Island is the home of Tabasco (the spicy sauce). Moreover, there are tropical gardens in Lafayette. It is the cultural capital of the Acadian Scene (Cajun and Creole). To see this, you need to take another detour. Anyways, this detour will make your route too long for a single day. It makes an 8-hour-route of 700 km (from Vicksburg to New Orleans with stops in Natchez, Lafayette, Avery Island, Baton Rouge and Vacherie). A mere driving time of 8 hours means, we would not have had enough time to see the attractions on the route properly. One option is to shorten the route (leave out Natchez or Lafayette) or stay a night somewhere on the route (maybe Lafayette).

We chose to leave out Lafayette, because it would have taken the longest detour. Vacherie can be reached easily and we did not want to leave out Natchez.

East of Lafayette (close to West Texas), there are a few nature protection areas. If you have the time and decide to stay another night, you can think about visiting these as well.

From New Orleans to Pensacola: Going from Louisiana to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida

After a couple of days in New Orleans, we are now heading to Florida. This article only deals with the route to the Florida border. Just to get a rough impression of what we are talking about: the entire route is as long as 800 kilometers, starting in New Orleans, driving east along the coast till Jacksonville.

I only describe the first 300 kilometers of this route. The rest can be found in the Article on North Florida.

On interstate 10, it takes 3 hours (320 km) to go from New Orleans to Pensacola. The interstate stays close (almost parallel) to the coast all the time (5 to 10 km inbound). Because the interstate is so close to the coast, you can always alternate between interstate and highway 90, which is the coast highway. Pass Christian and Gulfport are spots to enter and exit the interstate. It is also possible to stay on the coast highway (highway 90) the entire time. For this, you need to plan an extra hour (compared to the interstate route). The latest point to go back to the interstate is Mobile in Alabama; you need to go north to Mobile anyways. There is only one bridge leading over the bay. Because you already are on the interstate, you can stay there.

On this route, there are several environmental protected areas: Gulf Island National Seashore and Mississippi Gulf Park in Alabama and Perdido Key in Florida (information about Perdido Key here). Try to stop in at least one of these parks. The ones that can be reached easily are Gulf Island and Perdido Key. You can also think about spending the night in Perdido Key instead of going to Pensacola for that. The former fishing village Mobile is also an option to spend the night.

We drove along the coast highway from Pass Christian until Biloxi, in Biloxi we took the interstate till Pensacola and did Perdido Key the following morning. On this route, there are many beaches, restaurants and coffee shops for lunch, a coffee or dinner are everywhere. Also, you pass by many veterans’ homes. It was a beautiful, cozy day along the coast.

More Information on this tour can be found in part 1 and part 3:

Driving in the South Part 1: A Tour From Atlanta to the Great Smoky Mountains, Nashville and Memphis

Driving in the South Part 3: From Florida’s Capital Tallahassee on the Georgia Coast to the Carolinas and Charleston

A Tour in the Panhandle/Northern Florida can be found here.

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Avoiding Driving the Same Route Twice – The Southern States as an Expansive Area: Highway or Interstate

We were having difficulties to find proper information about the South of the US right before we went there. The area seems to be of little interest to German travel agencies, they are focused on California and Florida. The southern part of Florida is rather small, issues like that don’t exist to the same extend. In particular in the southern states of the East, choosing the right route is important. This determines how fast or slow you move forward and as a consequence what you get to see. Taking short field trips to certain sights usually does not make much sense and will only cost you money and energy. The rule is: avoid driving the same route twice whenever possible.

Atlanta, The Great Smoky Mountains, Nashville and Memphis: From Georgia to North Carolina and Tennessee

Atlanta is the perfect starting point for a tour. Anyone coming from far away will most likely arrive at Atlanta Airport, the largest airport in the United States with many connections to any destination worldwide. (see Flying via Atlanta)

Georgia’s capital is located conveniently in the center of the South. A tour from here may start in any direction. South of Atlanta at the Atlantic Coast, Florida’s capital Jacksonville can be reached easily. In the North (heading to South Carolina) Savannah and Charleston are within reach. On the direct road, the interstate, all these cities are within a five hour distance to Atlanta. We drove from Charleston to Atlanta (I-20, I-95), it took exactly 5 hours. Depending on where you want to go next, you can choose between these options. On the way to Charleston, there is the little town of Augusta for a stop, on the way to Savannah it’s Macon. Charleston is the right choice if you want to move further north (North Carolina), Jacksonville if you want to move further south to Florida.
We chose a different route. Our second stop after Atlanta was Nashville; on the way to Nashville we stopped to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (see Great Smoky Mountains)

Our route lead us to the eastern entrance of the park, the village right next to the entrance in called Cherokee, hotels are available here. It’s a 260 km drive (3 hours) (I 85, Hgw 23, Hgw 441). There is one interesting stop on this route: the North Georgia Premium Outlets, and outlet mall 75 km north of Atlanta. Anyways, the outlet center is a bit further northwest and not reachable directly from the Interstate. Instead of the interstate 85, you better take highway 19. This little detour requires an extra 20 minutes even though it’s only an additional 15 km. If you are interested in outlet shopping, you should definitely do that. You don’t need to go a long way round it’s just a minor detour. Outlet centers are usually located outside larger cities; in this case it’s conveniently located on the way.

Asheville is located west of the Great Smoky Mountains. The largest privately owned southern plantation can be visited here. If you have some time left, go there. We didn’t and I regret it. I cannot say more about it, anything else can be found in the article on the Great Smoky Mountains.

Next stop after the Great Smoky Mountains is Nashville. There are two very different tour options here: the northern route is the shortest way (via I 40, 410 km, 4 ½ hours) and the southern route via Chattanooga (Hgw 74, I-24, 450 km, 5 hours). If you want to see the little town Chattanooga, the southern route is the right one. Whiskey fans will find the southern route more interesting. Lynchburg, Tennessee is the home of Jack Daniels and its distillery can be visited. The closest interstate to Lynchburg is I-50, anyways it’s a 50 km drive from the interstate. For the southern road, you need an entire day in order to have time for Chattanooga and the Jack Daniels distillery. We left the Great Smoky Mountains on midday and decided to take the direct route without stop. On the northern route, right before Nashville, there is a little town called Lebanon and a smaller outlet mall. If you have some time left in the evening, you can go here. That’s what we did. Traffic wasn’t heavy and we had some time to kill. So we stopped here for a short break. The Lebanon outlet itself is rather small; I would not drive here only for the outlet.

Die fastest route from Nashville to Memphis is I-40 which connects both cities (3 hours, 340 km). At the western side of Nashville, there is the Belle Meade Plantation (reachable via highway 70s). Going to Belle Meade first and to the interstate after that will only take you a few minutes longer. A stop in Belle Meade is always something interesting, it’s only a minor detour and you lose about 10 minutes. For the rest of the route, I recommend the interstate. I don’t have any more suggestions for stops on the route. We only did Belle Meade Plantation and Memphis.

More Information on this Tour can be Found in Part 2 and Part 3:

Driving in the South Part 2: A Tour From Memphis to Vicksburg, New Orleans and Pensacola

Driving in the South Part 3: From Florida’s Capital Tallahassee on the Georgia Coast to the Carolinas and Charleston

A Tour in the Panhandle/Northern Florida can be found here.

Der Beitrag Driving in the South Part 1: A Tour From Atlanta to the Great Smoky Mountains, Nashville and Memphis erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.