During our holiday in 2007 we visited the Florida Keys. We booked in advance for a 3 night stay at the ragged edge resort on Islamorada.

We chose the keys as we wanted to be somewhere peaceful and quiet on the actual day of our wedding anniversary rather than the hustle and bustle of New York (which we had visited a few days earlier) and somewhere we had not visited before.

We drove from Miami to the keys and had been used to the 2 and 3 lane Highways and Interstates now we were on US 1 a single lane road behind a slow moving truck loaded with construction materials.

It was our own fault. We hadn’t taken much notice of the distances involved in driving too and through the keys.

We just assumed we would drive out of Miami, cross a few bridges and arrive at our destination shouldn’t take us long, wrong.

It’s like most things in America everything is on a big scale and the distances between the keys and therefore the bridges linking them are no exception.

 When we arrived at our destination a feeling of dejavu came over us both (not for the first time on this holiday). Before we got the Florida bug our annual family holidays were to a Greek island and that’s were we felt we were, on a Greek island. The buildings looked as though they belonged in Greek holiday resort.

Our accommodation, the ground floor of a 2-story villa, was no more than 30 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. The view was breath taking and instantly reminded us of a small Mediterranean village fishing port.

The tranquillity was a world removed from New York and the theme parks you associate with Florida. We spent a lot of our time talking to vacationers and taking walks around the island.

We visited Key West not a short drive but well worth the journey.

 We had intended to find a restaurant on the day of our anniversary but as we had spent the day relaxing and had one or two drinks by the time we decided to take ourselves off to a restaurant neither of us could be bothered to drive.

We decided to walk to the nearest bar and check out the menu.

The pub we came across had the un-reassuring name of Chilly Willies and appeared not to fall into the category of the type of venue Carol had intended to celebrate her wedding anniversary.

How wrong we were. The food was excellent, some of the best we had ever eaten and the service was second to none.

 If you want to see a totally different side to Florida and want nothing more to do than relax and chill out then I can thoroughly recommend the Florida Keys.

Brian Pearson

During our holiday in 2007 we included a 2-night stay in Niagara Falls. Carol my wife had booked us into the Marriott hotel. She had reserved a room which overlooked the falls, had a king size bed and whirlpool bath.

We arrived at the hotel mid afternoon and as the flight from New York to Toronto had not been as relaxing as we anticipated (see a relaxing flight to Toronto) plus the hour drive to Niagara we were tired. Carol sat in reception while I booked us in. She had not made me aware of the type of room she had reserved so I accepted the keys from reception without question and we made our way to the room.

We had been in the room seconds and before Carol spoke I sensed something was not as it should be.

The room didn’t have the whirlpool bath or a falls view, something I obviously was not aware we should have had when I checked us in.

Carol is the most placid accommodating person you could wish to meet, except when she is annoyed. On this occasion I sensed she was more than very annoyed.

My attempts to pacify her were failing miserably and after the day’s events I didn’t have the energy or the desire to return to reception for a confrontation.

As a result is was me following Carol back to reception suitcases in tow.

I could sense myself feeling sorry for the young male member of staff as Carol approached the reception desk. As her deliberations with him unfolded I could physically see him backing away from the reception desk almost cowering against the back wall. He didn’t have much of an input in the discussion. Carol didn’t raise her voice or showed her anger she just put forward her points of view, forcefully.

It turned out the hotel had over booked the whirlpool / falls view rooms. To cut Carol’s ‘conversation’ short the reception manager apologised, assured us we would be moved to a different room the following day, reduced the cost of our over all stay, waved the car parking charges and invited us to a evening meal ‘on the house’.

On our way back to the room I commented to Carol she should be a champion of people’s rights.

After our room problem was sorted our stay at the falls was very relaxing. Again it’s one of the places you have seen on TV but never thought you would have the opportunity to see in real life.

Our view was amazing. We from almost any point in the room even the bed we looked directly down at the falls.

We took the opportunity to walk across the Whirlpool rapids bridge into America. The US customs officer not to sure what to make of our reply when he asked what was the purpose of our visit to the US and we replied to have lunch.

If you get the opportunity to stay in the area visit Niagara on the lake. A town that seems to be frozen in time. If you’ve ever had a desire to emigrate and ‘get away from it all’ this town will bring that desire flooding back.

 We visited Niagara falls in August 2007 it was hot, very busy and left us both with lifelong memories.

 Brian Pearson

When it comes to eating there is so much choice you won’t nowhere to go there are restaurants just about everywhere and of course there a fast food places such as MacDonald’s and KFC. But of course you can also shop at Wal-Mart and make your own food which is better if you’re on a budget.  There is everything in America that there is in every country so you would find something you liked.

If you like going out at the night time then there are clubs pubs and also family entertainment such as old town and down town Disney which is a Disney run place. Which is free and there are shops and theatres and performances which kids and adults will enjoy. Old Town is a little town on the 192 between marker 10/11 which is good if you want to go out for an hour or for 5 hours there is always things to do look around the shops watch the live band, have cold or hot drink, food or something real British like good old fish and chips or look at all the kitted up cars and motorcycles that run down the main street on Friday and Saturday evenings. There are all sorts of shops from sweet shops to clothes, jewellery, Florida merchandise shops. Old town also have a now large “Fun Spot” There is also a place called boardwalk which is also run by Disney where there is shops and restaurants where you can chill and on the night you can also see the fireworks from magic kingdom and Epcot.

There are really good places to go shopping like the Florida mall to the Osceola mall to lake Buena vista there are expensive brands for small prices.

The first thing that hit us when we stepped off the plane was the heat.

The East coast was having a heat wave it was 100f (35c).

During our stay the weather never changed. Even at night the temperature remained in the high 70’s aided by the heat given off by the buildings after standing in the sun all day.

The second thing to hit us was the airport. It felt as though thousands of people had just arrived in JFK airport and assembled in the arrival lounge at the same moment we had.

Definitely not for the feint hearted.

We picked up our luggage and joined what seemed a never-ending queue for a taxi. We didn’t have to wait long it just felt like we did.

We hadn’t been in the taxi long when we both experienced a feeling of Déjà vu. It was one of those occasions when you see something you know you recognise and seems very familiar. You momentarily think it’s in the wrong place, and it shouldn’t be here, yet you know you have never been anywhere near it before.

We were passing the observatory towers of the worlds fair held in New York in 1964 used in the film Men in Black and the ride in Universal.

What we hadn’t accounted for were the images (left from watching TV and films) that had been placed in our memory.

Just on that journey to our hotel we ‘remembered’ buildings, bridges and other structures we had never before seen in real life. Then the real challenge, naming the film, program or series we had seen them in.

It happened on many occasions during our visit, the giant floor piano in the toy shop (F.A.O. Schwartz) in the film ‘big’ with Tom Hanks, The fire station used as the headquarters in the film ghost busters and grand central station bombarded by asteroids in the film Armageddon to mention only a few.

We also had what we would describe as reality checks during our visit.

Seeing the sight of the twin towers, the damage to the surrounding buildings and the narrative given to tourists by an employee of one of the banks who witnessed the events as they unfolded on the day.  

Outside the Dakota building were John Lennon died and his Imagine memorial a short walk away in central park. All truly unforgettable experiences.

 New York is well named as the city that never sleeps. It feels as though every building is illuminated. Even the police station in Times Square is brightly lit with large neon lights letting you know it’s the NYPD.

 I could write pages on our experiences of our short visit. If you have never been New York I would very much recommend you include it as one of your must see places to visit.

Many years ago we made the discovery of the joys and untold pleasure to be gained by visiting the Gulf Coast and in particular the beaches of South West Florida,   There is something unique about still being able in this busy world  to walk along an empty beach of clear white sand with the occasional appearance of a dolphin  freely swimming close to the shore line looking a for meal, the only company.

We have encountered this scenario many times along South beach  Boca Grande and  and Stumps Pass Englewood to name a few, the locals do not bat an eyelid when the dolphins meander past, they are just used to it.  Whilst the visitor myself included will alert to the wife in excited way that dolphins are off shore, I can just visualised the locals muttering to themselves, typical tourists.  You can see dolphins along any beach on the gulf coast but there is no doubt they like quiet areas and when they come close to shore to feed.

The peak Gulf coast vacation rental season on the gulf coast is the winter months December to April when the North Americans and Canadians flood into South West Florida especially to escape the cold temperatures and snow in the Northern States.  The months of May and June are considered the off season which has always amazed me, I have been sat on a sun chair on a quiet beach in hot and sunny weather with the temperatures in the 90s and reading the local papers which talk about the busy season being over. When on some of the beaches in Europe in similar conditions you would be climbing over people to get to the sea.

Yes some of the beaches will still be busy, the likes of Fort Myers and Sarasota but there are still plenty of beaches to explore which offer the type of experience I have described above.

Generally we book to fly from our local airport and return in to a London airport.  We find that this is usually the cheapest combination.  We then take the train home.  For the cheapest train tickets, book them 12 weeks in advance (or just less).  If you are taking the train in both directions, it is usually cheaper to get 2 x single journey tickets, rather than a return ticket.  Sometimes cheaper train tickets can also be obtained by splitting each journey down in to two parts (ie say from Leeds to Peterborough, and Peterborough to London Kings Cross, rather than Leeds to London) – it’s just trial and error if you have the time to do this.  Train tickets can be purchased at www.thetrainline.com  

With departing and returning to different airports, this will generally mean changing planes at an American airport.  We have found it costs no extra to leave the plane as it touches down in America, and catch the same plane a few days later.  We stopped over in New York for 3 nights at Christmas, with no extra flight costs by doing this.

We have also booked different returning flights to England, to the flights we booked to Orlando.  Recently we flew to Las Vegas for 4 nights (via New York), before flying down to Orlando (via Memphis).  We then returned to London via Memphis.  We were able to do this combination of flights by booking through www.expedia.co.uk and using the multiple-destination option.

We have also found cheap charter flights by booking the night before, although this option is usually outside of school holidays, and means set durations of 7, 14 or 21 days.  Also, when taking this option, it usually means that baggage is charged extra, but the upside is that these flights are usually direct flights, although in to Sanford Airport and not Orlando International Airport.

We have also found it to be an advantage to be a member of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, register at www.virginatlantic.com . We have acquired numerous airmiles both with Virgin and their network of partners, such as Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Dollar Car Rental.  These airmiles entitle members to reward flights (look out for the special offers) and for miles+money flights, which means reduced flight prices in exchange for 2000 of your acquired airmiles.  Airmiles do not expire as long as you earn or spend airmiles every three years.

We originally had the idea to chill out at our house and during our stay visit other parts of Florida.

After Carol had done her flight costing routine with the Internet she concluded that it would be cheaper for us to do a hop and stop than it would be to fly from Manchester direct to Orlando. It worked out £40 each cheaper.

When Carol had finished she presented me with the following itinerary.

Depart Manchester airport direct to JFK airport, New York. Stop over 3 nights.

We booked a room in the Metro hotel one block away from the empire State building.

Depart JFK, New York, direct to Toronto, Canada. Pick up hire car drive to Niagara Falls. Stop over 2 nights.

The Marriott hotel at Niagara Falls (16th floor) directly over looked the falls.

Depart Vancouver, direct to Miami, Florida, Stop over one night.

Pick up rental car drive to Islamorada Key, Florida. Stop over 2 nights.

Ragged edge resort motel, overlooking the Atlantic.

Drive to West coast stop over one night in Naples. The biggest bed we have ever slept in.

Drive to our house10 night’s chill out.

Fly home from Orlando airport direct to Manchester airport.

I briefly thought (for about 0.01 of a second) that I should point out that the additional costs we would have staying in the hotels ‘we’ had chosen would far our weigh any savings we would make on our flights. However I could see Carol was now in full flight making the arrangements so I thought if I wanted to reach our 26th wedding anniversary I had better keep my thoughts to myself. After she had finished making reservations at hotels, booking flights and renting cars we could barely contain ourselves. The thought of us visiting and seeing some of the ‘must see’s’ in life in one holiday was beyond belief.

When we made our plans, decided what we would do and were we would visit we anticipated that all might not go as planned and alterations to our itinerary may be encountered. It turned out fate had some additional items on our agenda which proved to be every bit as memorable for very different reasons.

I can highly recommend a hop and stop holiday. For us it was totally exhausting but the sights; experiences and memories will stay with us forever.

Brian Pearson

There is a wide range of shopping malls big and small as close as international drive. For the older generation there are beaches like coco and Daytona and if you fancy a long drive, you could take trip to Miami.

There are water parks some that are suited to the more adventurous and others that are just like real beaches. And there is water skiing, jet skiing to flinging from a 300ft pole overlooking a lake these options are for the more adventurous.

There are spas that you can visit if you want to get away from the kids. There are also helicopter rides which can take you all over Orlando.

There are Wal-Mart’s located all over the place  for your shopping it great it’s just like Asda in England. There are loads and loads of restaurants from buffets to three course meals. The buffets are to die for the ranges of food you get for just a small price it’s amazing. There are obviously fast food restaurants located just about everywhere.

Going to Orlando is the best thing you could possibly do. There are a wide range of hotels with a wide range of prices. But there are others places to stay such as villas or condos. If you rent somewhere its means that it’s yours and you don’t have to share it especially in a villa. Orlando it a place you don’t ever want to leave that’s why you have to get it right and book suitable places that you will enjoy.

The theme parks are all amazing so there is no worry there. You’ll kids will love it but it’s not just for kids the adults will love it as well.  If you got a chance to go to Orlando take it. So if you want to go to Orlando get booking.  

We have all heard that the Prices to the Disney Parks will definitely increase in the first week in August this year, The present Multi Day Ticket offers will be honoured, so it makes sense to look into booking your tickets NOW.

We hope they do not also increase the Parking charges!!

With all of the rumours concerning the 40th Anniversary of Disney in 2011 the price increase may continue gradually to offset a big rise to pay for the proposed new Disney Night Kingdom and the new Parades and Rides in the pipeline.

The Night Kingdom is said to be open from 4pm to 12 midnight and for Adult Adventurers there will be a special experience which includes Close Ups with Lions, Tigers and feeding the Hippos. A new Indiana Jones Adventure and Dining Experience sounds brilliant. A bit like the Swim with the Dolphins experience, it will be a limited daily entry, with only 2000 guests allowed at a time and 2 hospitality staff to each couple. The rumoured cost is $300.00 each.  

He has also said that the new Universal/Islands of Adventure, the First Phase of Harry Potter’s Hogsmeade Villages will open this December but with limited attractions. The Second Phase, with Hogswart Castle, The Forbidden Forest and the New Flying Cars Ride will open in 2010.

Everything sounds exciting, we just hope they can keep the price increases to a minimum.

Happy Holidays

Mary & Larry