Do Not Miss the opportunity to visit the unspoiled beaches around Fort De Soto - near to St. Petersburg. BUT DO NOT TELL EVERYONE.

On our travels we decided to head south from Clearwater beach to get away from all the weekend crowds. We followed the coast road going through Teasure Island and stopping for a brief while at Pass De Grille. A great place right on the beach to listen to concerts at the weekends and have a bite to eat whilst you watch the sunset go down.

We decided to head further South although we had to travel North to get on the I275 that led us down to Fort De Soto. What a fantastic place. They said it was named the Top Beach in 2009 and they were not wrong.

Fore!

If you fancy playing some golf at Disney then look no further than Oaktrail just on the other side of the entrnace to Magic Kingdom.

Last year we decided to purchse a 5 day Hopper pass for Disney and that gave us Free rounds of Golf at Oak Trail. It is a walking course but is great for a knock around. They do not have too many rules and it is well worth the visit.

If you take the family there is a pool nearby and a small refreshment hut whilst you hits some balls around the course.

Mind you it is not an easy course. Whilst you are there you can check out the Palm Trees and Mgnolia Course which is a bit more expensive.

Even if you do not have a 5 day disney pass giving you free rounds it was only $38. Great Value. So check it out.

On Highway 557 between Lake Alfred, Auburndale and the Fantasy of Flight we stumbled across this quaint restaurant with a gift shop and Antinque showroom.

The restaurant provides some fantastic sandwiches that are served up in a quaint picnic basket. You can eat inside or outside. There is also a bar that does the usual selection of American Beers along with some Iced wine - My wife thought this was great.

As we sat outside on the decking beside the samll lake we were introduced to Bob by the staff. He was their resident alligator who came right up close whilst we were sitting there. Don’t be afraid he was in the water below the decking.

You get a selection of fillings and bread for you picnic. The staff can’t be anymore helpful and they never rush you out of the place.

Right next door is a large antique shop and a gift/garden centre with some quaint little gifts.

Give it a try it’s a great place away from the usual tourist traps that you would associate with Florida.

As you drive into the park you will find a small car park and there is a Historical account of the invasions/conquering of Florida.

The park staff will provide you with a free ferry ride across to an island where the small fort of Metanza can be found. It is located there to protect one of the routes to St Augustine.

When we visited there were even three guys dressed in military costume who gave you an account of how life was in the Fort during the time Florida was owned by the Spanish.

The kids will love it. A small ferry trip across the river and then some history as well

They have the best steaks that I have ever tasted and you can see the cuts all displayed to help you make up your mind.

At the same time there is a happy hour from 4pm to 7pm - great value draft and bottled beer including wine for the ladies.

There are also special offers during the week, e.g., Wednesday night is 2 for 1 fajita night they are delicious. You get bottomless salad and sweet yeast rolls with most meals.

It has a great atmosphere but you need to make sure that you call in advance as there is always a queue to get in - so that tells you a story.

So give it a try you will not be disappointed.

Ever thought of going on a Caribbean Cruise!

We have been three times now and it is fantastic. We tried the 3 day cruise that included a visit to the Bahamas and the Disney Island Castaway Cay.

Whether you are Adults travelling together or taking the kids along, you will all enjoy the experience. There are three pools - one for the kiddies, one for the older kids and then an Adult Only Pool.

The food is wonderful and you get to try out all three themed restuarants whilst on board and what is good is that your waiters follow you around into the different restaurants - so they get to know you a little bit.

For those who wish to really relax it has a Spa on board with all the services that you would think of and for the fitness fanatics it has a gym and a running track around the deck.

Kids of all ages can join in with some of the Disney Clubs and they have recently included a nursery too.

Finally, there is plenty to do at night with deck parties, themed bars and you can even go and see a show. We enjoyed watching the latest movies on the the big screen on the main deck.

So give it a go. The Disney Cruise Ship even comes to the UK this year.

We spent Christmas in Florida this year and decided to visit the Hotel as there were quite a few things going on inside. It had the Ice Land where you pay to go in and brave the cold (we didn’t as that is what we were getting away from). The braver one’s were actualy invited to go round in their bathing costumes (brrr!)

There were lots of festivities going on along with Carol Singing and hunt the Gnome competition.

The hotel itself had three Atriums - Key West, Everglades and St Augustine, each with its own unique restaurants. We decided to eat in Key West as that had its own Yacht on a lake in the Hotel. The food was fantastic but not in the large portions that you would normally expect in the USA. However, the food was great. We will definitely visit again and go to one of the other restaurants.

The Hotel also had its own 9 hole putting course that was free to use. What a bonus for the two golfers in our party.

Finally, one thing to mention is that it will cost $12 to park there but if you eat in one of the restaurants that fee is refunded.

We bought our tickets in advance and printed them off at home. That saved some time at the gates.

We entered the park to be met with different street zones that were not only scary but amusing as well. There were also six haunted houses to visit. Meet Cleaver was our favourite.

My wife has never screamed so much - she nearly lost her voice. The ticket also let us visit on two nights so we did not have to worry too much about getting in all the houses on one night as there was some queuing.

All in all a scary halloween in the heat of Florida at 80 degrees.

Well worth the trip

The launch was due on Tuesday 27th but got dealayed so we decided to visit Titusville to watch the launch on Wednesday. We had read that we could watch FREE from Titusville - Space View Park but in fact ended up just by Merritt Island. We were lucky in that we parked next to a lady whose husband was an Operations Engineer at the Space Centre. So we had a direct line in to get up to date news.

The rocket launched at 11.30am that morning and what a site it was. From where we were we had direct line of sight and an unobstructed view of the take-off.

A Space Shuttle Launch is scheduled for November so if you get the opportunity head for Titusville.

After our once in a lifetime experience we headed off to the Dixie Crossroads Restaurnat in Garden Street. We went for the Broled Rocket Shrimp (Titusville being the only pace to get them) and they were amzaing. Great service and great food.

We turned up at a busy time with 4 of us but to our amazement we only had to wait about 15 minutes. That impressed us straight away.

We were served within minutes of sitting down and were forewarned that the portions were going to be large. But our friends decided to do the usual English thing and order separate meals. We heeded the advice and we are glad we did.

When the meals arrived we were astonished on how large the portions were. Our friends had the pasta with chicken and there were four chicken breasts sitting on the plate. Amazing. The food was great and the deserts were just as glorious. We recommend the Cheesecake Factory to anyone.

One final word for those woman amongst you it is right by the Millenia shopping Mall as well. As an extra bonus there are threee or four other restaurants there that we are yet to try.

Don’t miss out on the Cheesecake Factory!!