[at-l] OT - Florida Question.

[athummingbird at dnet.net (Linda Benschop)]

Steve,

You DEFINITELY need reservations and they are very hard to come by this time 
of year....and very costly.  The KOAs are always booked, extremely crowded 
at around $90 a night.  The state parks are the best but booked up for a 
year ahead unless you luck out and get a cancellation.  We managed one night 
at John Pennecamp and were able to get first in line for the next day and 
got another night.  There were two campgrounds in Key West and one closed 
down this year, so the only one there now is Boyd's.  It is $100 a night on 
the water, $75 a night off the water.  We arranged for two nights there and 
it was really great.

You definitely need to bring bikes with you!  There is so much traffic but 
the bike trails are everywhere.

The best deal we found in the Keys was a campground in Marathon called Jolly 
Rogers.  They were also the cheapest at $42 a night.  The spaces are very 
close together but the people there are so friendly.  Everyone walks down to 
the water with their drinks to celebrate the sunset and they always have 
something going on there.  As long as you have a vehicle, the best thing to 
do would be to get a weekly spot there as weekly rates are even lower.  The 
ride from there is not bad to anyplace else in the Keys.  The best thing to 
do is to try and get a reservation ASAP.  Good luck!  It took us many, many 
calls and no openings until we lucked out on Jolly Rogers.

The police in the Keys have really buckled down on RV's and other campers. 
If you don't have a place to stay, you will have no choice but to turn 
around and drive all the way back.  The is a Wal-Mart in Florida City that 
welcomes campers of all types.  We stayed there free for two nights before 
we could start our reservations.  It felt like we were in a campground as 
about 1/3 of the parking lot was campers.

Let us know when you are going and we will give you some great places to 
eat....a REAL Cuban sandwich location, a place to get yummy "fried" key lime 
pies, the best fish sandwiches and meals etc.

It is ALWAYS crowded in Key West, but not so bad on the other Keys.  If you 
get a chance, and can get a reservation at the KOA at West Palm Beach, it is 
a real treat to drive through the Safari there where all the animals come 
right up to your vehicle to greet you......lions, tigers, zebras and 
critters I have never even heard of.  There are "ice cream socials" at the 
park there for $1 at night too.  Best of all, every one there is so old, you 
will feel like a kid...LOL!

Hugs, Hummingbird 




-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.8.6 - Release Date: 2/7/2005