Around the State (and what we ate) - A Florida road trip report-COMPLETE 9/23

[mickey916]

Background: DH and I retired in 2022 at the age of 55. We live in Massachusetts and are planning on escaping the winters for at least a month each year. We know we love Orlando but have limited knowledge of the rest of the state. This trip was conceived as an exploratory adventure to see which areas we might like for future visits. We tried to take the scenic route, avoiding 95 for the most part. We also planned to avoid chain restaurants whenever possible in favor of local establishments. I pre-booked hotels well in advance to save money, choosing mostly Marriott properties.

Map of Our Route

Here’s our itinerary (updated with links):
4/10-4/11 - Travel days Moorestown, NJ, Chesapeake, VA
4/12 - Exploring Jacksonville, NC
4/13 - Stopping in Wilmington on the Way to Charleston
4/14 - Heading to Jacksonville Beach
4/15 - A Bumpy Start then Exploring St. Augustine
4/16 - Exploring the Surrounding Area of St. Augustine
4/17 - Exploring the Ormond Loop
4/17 - Making Our Way to Palm Coast
4/18 - Exploring Daytona on Our Way to the Space Coast
4/18 - Early Bird Dinner Surprise in New Smyrna
4/19 - A Missed Opportunity in Titusville
4/20 - Making Our Way to Port St. Lucie
4/21 - Giving the Stuart/Jupiter Area Another Try
4/22 - Starting Our Adventure for 3 in Little Havana
4/22 - (cont.) Versailles Restaurant & Rita's
4/23 - Fort Lauderdale
4/24 - The Everglades
4/25 - Driving Down to Key West
4/25 - Lunch in Islamorada, Dinner & Dessert in Key West
4/26 - Spending the Day in Key West
4/26 - (cont.) Dinner & Dessert in Marathon
4/27 - Touring Pigeon Key
4/28 - Last Full Day in Marathon - Big Pine Key
4/28 - (cont.) Turtle Hospital & Dinner
4/29 - Driving Back Up the Keys
4/29 - One Night in Pembroke Pines
4/30 - Driving through the Everglades to Bonita Springs
5/1 - Exploring Fort Myers on the Way to Tampa
5/2 - Exploring Tampa
5/3 - An Unpleasant Turn of Events in Riverview
5/3 - Back to the Fun - Tarpon Springs & Sarasota
5/4 - Graduation & Dinner in Sarasota
5/5 - Back in our Happy Place! (Orlando)
5/6 - A Day of Disney Transportation
5/6 - Dinner at 'Ohana
5/7 - Travel Day to Savannah
5/8 - Making Our Way to Charlotte, NC
5/9 - An Awesome Day in Charlotte
5/10 - Traveling to Charlottesville, VA
5/11 - One Night in Lancaster PA
5/12 home

Please follow along as I share travel tips, things to do, restaurant reviews, and hotel reviews. Join us as we answer the question: Is there anywhere to visit in Florida that's better than Orlando?

Edit to add:
Trip Statistics
Best & Worst List
Our Observations

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'm looking forward to your review.

 

[pweyl36]

must Try Sandy maple buffet

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Can't wait to see where you ate in St. Augustine. Two of my kids went to college there and never came back, so we visit all the time. So many good restaurants!

 

[mickey916]

must Try Sandy maple buffet

Do you mean Shady Maple? If so, (spoiler alert) we did!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Can't wait to see where you ate in St. Augustine. Two of my kids went to college there and never came back, so we visit all the time. So many good restaurants!

While we're waiting for the OP's review, do you mind sharing your recommended restaurants? We spent our anniversary in St. Augustine last year & plan to do the same this year. We've decided to add 2 more nights, because we didn't have near enough time to do what we wanted. I don't remember the names of the restaurants we ate at, but I can try to look them up, if you'd like.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

OP, I'm curious to see where you ate in our area. I hope you ate at the original Columbia restaurant in Tampa. We used to have most holiday meals @ Columbia, when we lived there.

 

[mickey916]

OP, I'm curious to see where you ate in our area. I hope you ate at the original Columbia restaurant in Tampa. We used to have most holiday meals @ Columbia, when we lived there.

Another spoiler alert: We did eat there! My DH had eaten there many times when he was in Tampa on business trips. He couldn't wait for us to eat there together...One of our best meals all trip! It was one of the very few reservations I made in advance.

 

[mickey916]

Here's an overview map of the routes we took down and back. The lettered spots are each hotel we stopped at along the way.

​

 

[Beachyrock]

Really looking forward to your TR!! Been hoping you would post after you returned home! Thanks

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Here's an overview map of the routes we took down and back. The lettered spots are each hotel we stopped at along the way.

View attachment 764316​

We travel these routes a lot for DH's job. I'm looking forward to hearing about your non-Florida stops too.

 

[mickey916]

April 10 & 11 - Travel Days to New Jersey & Chesapeake VA​

We hit the road on April 10 heading to Moorestown, New Jersey to visit my brother and his wife (for those who read my May 2022 report, same ones that met up with us in Disney). As I researched for months prior to this trip, I used TripAdvisor to choose local restaurants to try along the way. I discovered quite a few times though that I should have checked restaurant hours in advance (Lesson #1). My first plan was to stop at Gaetano's deli in Westport Connecticut. However, they are not open on Mondays. So, instead we ended up at Moe's Southwest Grill in Hamden Connecticut (so much for no chain restaurants).

We both ordered the Homewrecker burrito: chicken, rice, beans, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream and guac. It was tasty and very filling.

​

We ventured on and navigated the craziness that is the George Washington Bridge. Why Waze would send us on the lower deck forcing us to cross several lanes of traffic is beyond me. Lesson #2: avoid the lower deck of George Washington Bridge.

We arrived in one piece at my brother's house for an Italian feast ordered from a local take-out (I didn't take pictures). The next morning we awoke to an amazing breakfast spread. My sister-in-law provided scrambled eggs, sausage, fresh fruit, fresh bagels with assorted cream cheese, coffee cake, apple fritters, orange juice and coffee...for the four of us. We joke about staying at their "B&B", maybe she should open a real one! Filled to the brim, with leftover fruit, coffee cake, and apple fritters in a shopping bag, we hit the road for Chesapeake, Virginia.

We decided to stop for a picnic lunch consisting of our breakfast leftovers and go for a short walk in Delaware. We followed the signs for the Abbott Mill Nature Center in Milford, Delaware. While this was a lovely place with nice walking paths, there was a very strong smell of some sort that we could never quite locate. It smelled like there was a pig farm nearby. It was really bad! We did see some nice wildlife though on our walk: a blue heron, muskrat and lots of turtles.

It was a beautiful day as we crossed the Chesapeake Bay bridge.



We were in a bit of rush hour traffic but finally made it to the Fairfield Inn & Suites Chesapeake Suffolk. We weren't eager to head into traffic again so we decided to head to a nearby shopping mall for dinner. There were all kinds of chain restaurants. We originally opted for Chick-Fil-A but the line was out the door and around the building as was the drive thru. So, we headed to Zaxby's, a place DH has eaten at on work trips but I had never even heard of. There was NO ONE in the restaurant (they were all at Chick-Fil-A apparently) which I didn't take as a good sign but we were hungry.

We both got the Cobb Zalad with crispy chicken. It was actually surprisingly good! The vegetables were all very fresh, the chicken was nicely seasoned, and the garlic toast was buttery and tasty.



After dinner we headed back to the Fairfield Inn & Suites to get an early sleep for the next day's ride. This Fairfield Inn was very clean and appeared to be either new or newly renovated. We were extremely pleased with our stay here and plan to stay again next year on our road trip.

Next up: Finally eating at one of my planned restaurants in Jacksonville, NC.

 

[mickey916]

Really looking forward to your TR!! Been hoping you would post after you returned home! Thanks

Thank you! It was a rather bumpy re-entry into the real world upon our return. We got home on 5/12 and Dad was rushed to the hospital on 5/14 with congestive heart failure. He's stable now and home awaiting open heart surgery next week. He was actually with us for part of the trip and we're all very grateful it didn't happen while he was driving home from Florida!

 

[dizneegirl]

I *love* Zaxby's - a must-do chain restaurant stop on our trips to FL!

Looking forward to more (and so happy your dad made it home, and is stable!).

 

[dznymemories]

Really looking forward to following your trip report. Your trip seems like something my DH and I would love to do.

 

[mickey916]

Really looking forward to following your trip report. Your trip seems like something my DH and I would love to do.

Thank you! We loved it!

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Looking forward to reading your report!

I was very shocked to see your first stop choice, then I read on to see you had family there. We live very close to Motown and I’m guessing your dinner was from Passariello's. Their food is fantastic!

 

[mickey916]

Looking forward to reading your report!

I was very shocked to see your first stop choice, then I read on to see you had family there. We live very close to Motown and I’m guessing your dinner was from Passariello's. Their food is fantastic!

That is where it was from! I couldn't remember but that was it! We had so much delicious food from there. I wish I took pictures.

 

[maxaroni]

Following along, love everything so far! Your first stop, oh my goodness, we moved from the next town over 2 years ago. We ate at Passariello's quite often and loved it. We now live in Delaware, so know of the smell, lol. Lots of chicken farms in that area. It can be quite overwhelming and have been known to put my shirt or coat over my nose.

We drove to Florida in January and had not had Zaxby’s . We found the same thing, if there was a chic-fil-a nearby, the lines were enormous. Zaxby’s was less crowded and far better, in our opinion. It’s a bit different being the chicken fingers, but oh so good. Another one we tried during our driving was Bojangles. It was also so good and we liked it better than Chic-fil-A.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

That is where it was from! I couldn't remember but that was it! We had so much delicious food from there. I wish I took pictures.

I’ll just have to make a huge sacrifice and go there for lunch soon and take some pics for you