Your Florida Vacation
By Gail Nettles, Thu Dec 8th
You've saved for your Florida vacation, and you are excited! Youare counting the days until you can travel to the SunshineState. Or perhaps you are planning a trip to Florida in the nearfuture.
The purpose of your Florida vacation is to relax and have fun. Iam a Florida native, and I also like traveling around this greatstate. Here are a few tips to make sure you have a great time.
First, know the weather in Florida. I have seen statisticsposted that our average temperature is in the mid 80's in thesummer, and the mid 70's in the winter. As a Florida native, Ican tell you that the averages don't reflect reality. In thesummer, expect temperatures in the 90's with very high humidity.In the winters, daytime temperatures in the 50's are notuncommon. I don't want to dissuade you from visiting Florida. Ijust don't want you to be unpleasantly surprised.
Florida is a long state, and it takes time to travel to thedifferent areas. If you want to visit both the Florida Panhandleand also Key West, be aware that you will spend a lot of time onthe road. If you have at least two weeks for your vacation, itmay be feasible; if you only have one week, you will miss muchof Florida's charm. Instead, you'll be in the car, fighting thetraffic.
If you plan to bring a notebook computer with you, be aware thatnot all hotels offer high-speed internet access. And the onesthat do offer this service tend to have only wireless access. Ifsurfing the internet on your Florida vacation is important toyou, call ahead to the hotel and verify the connection you canexpect.
Speaking of hotels, you tend to get what you pay for. Manyhotels offer prices of $29 or lower per night. You will get abed and linens, but don't expect anything more - including extratowels. It is usually worth spending a little more money foranother hotel; you'd be surprised at what a nice room $45 anight can buy.
If you don't like crowds, plan your Florida vacation for theshoulder seasons. You tend to get a bit better service and oftena break on hotel prices. February and October are the two bestmonths, and as a bonus tend to have some really nice weather.
In your vacation planning, take into account not only majorholidays, but local events as well. These events cansubstantially increase both hotel prices and crowds. Someexamples of local events are the lobster mini-season in theFlorida Keys, the seafood festival in Cedar Key and theFirecracker 400 NASCAR race in Daytona Beach. I have seen hotelprices literally double for some events.
If you'd like some more information and fun facts for planningyour perfect Florida vacation, I'd love to have you visit me athttp://www.great-florida-vacations.com
About the author:Gail Nettles is a Florida native who enjoys showing the SunshineState to visitors. She is the publisher of http://www.great-florida-vacations.com
