Florida is located on the Southeast corner of United States and it is well known for its warm weather and beautiful beaches. Since Florida could get extremely hot during the months of July and August, we decided to visit Florida in May when the temperature has not reached its highest temperature.
On Day 1, we took the direct flight from Portland to Orlando airport. The whole flight was 5.5 hours and it was very long. When we got to Orlando, it was already 5PM in the afternoon. As soon as we landed, we went to AVIS and got our rental car and toll route pass. The toll route pass was very important since many highways in Florida are toll routes.
On Day 2, we went to Kennedy Space Center. We have always wanted to visit this place and check out the real Saturn V rocket and Space Shuttle Atlantis. Afterwards, we went to Hawkers Asian Street Food for a late lunch.
On Day 3, we took a road trip down to Key West. Before we get to Key West, we had brunch at Little Hen. Then we continued on by driving over the oversea highway. Around lunch time, we stopped by Robbies and checked out the pelicans and tarpons. When we got to Key West, we had dinner at Conch Republic Seafood Company.
On Day 4, we woke up early and waited at the door as part of the Dry Tortuga ferry wait list. Unfortunately we didn't get on. Instead, we walked around Key West and had lunch at El Meson De Pepe. Then we went to the Southern most point of Key West. During sunset, we went to Mallory Square and watched the sun setting below the ocean.
On Day 5, we went to Smathers Beach. The sun rise was beautiful there. We then headed to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. Then we had lunch at DJ Clam Shack. In the afternoon, we went to Bahia Honda State Park.
On Day 6, we left Key West and head to Miami. On the way to Miami, we went to Vizcaya. We also dropped by Biscayne National Park but didn't do any excursion there. We then checked in to hotel and went to Bayside Marketplace for a walk. The traffic was crazy at Miami downtown.
On Day 7, we went to Little Havana. We walked for about 40 minutes to get there from downtown Miami. There was a lot of cigar shops at Little Havana and we bought one as a souvenir. We had authentic Cuban coffee at The House of Cuban Coffee. It was really good. We then had ice cream at Azucar Ice Cream. In the afternoon, we took Metromove and went to Wynwood Wall. While on the way there, we had donuts at Salty Donut.
On Day 8, we went to Everglades National Park early in the morning. We first went to Long Pine Key for the sun rise, then went to Royal Palm Visitor center to hike Anhinga Trail. Afterwards, we stopped by Robert Is Here and had amazing smoothie. Then we went to Shark Valley for the bus tour. In the late afternoon, we went to Versailles for a Cuban cuisine lunch.
On Day 9, we went to Miami South Beach in the early morning for the sun rise. Surprisingly there was a lot of people there. The beach was beautiful in the morning. We then drove back to Orland and had lunch at Bee Won Korean restaurant before we flew back to Portland.
This Florida trip was an amazing trip. The only downside was that it was very humid and hot. We were sweating after being outside for just 5 minutes. Also, there was a lot of mosquitos even on the beach. We were bitten pretty badly.
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