Monday, January 09, 2012

Road Trip Diary: 3

En route to Savannah, at 6 in the evening we stopped in Macon for refreshments. And arrived at the destination around 9. Checked into a hotel and ended the day sooner than before. Next day, we woke up early and left at 10 in the morning to see the historic waterfront.

Though it was raining heavily, we had a good time on the waterfront with french colonial architecture, cobbled streets and the dark alleys, it reminded me of the old movies. It was so real and we were so happy to have visited this place. We had a fabulous time, enjoyed cup of hot coffee and brownies along with the good weather and clicked some amazing pictures. Before leaving from there, we also had a hearty lunch.

Around 3, we left Savannah and were on I-95 Southbound, to Miami. At 4:30, we entered State of Florida and stopped at Jacksonville for almost an hour. At 5:30, we started again and took a small detour in Palm Springs for gas station. And arrived in Miami at 1:30, after a long-long drive and checked into a hotel.

At Miami - our final destination, the following day was all about relaxing. Around 11, we left from hotel to have breakfast and moved on to North Miami, to visit Haulover Beach. At 1:30, we were there to enjoy the sunshine, white sands and the water. The view was breathtaking, with large stretch of white sand along the clear blue water of the ocean.

                                                                     Driving to Haulover Park

We spent quite some time on the beach and went back to hotel at 4:00. In the evening, we decided to go to Bayside Marketplace, and we were there around 5:30. Enjoyed a live show by a local band, had amazing seafood and overall, had a fantastic time. Wrapped up the day and came back to hotel at 10:00.

Next day, we planned to go to Everglades National Park, which is spread across 1.5 acres and is the perfect place to explore the wilderness. At 11:30, we arrived at the Alligator Park to enjoy the famous airboat ride. Got the 12:25 tickets for the ride and went directly to see the 12:00 Alligator feedind session. The guy told many interesting facts about their diet and resting time, and then fed the hungry alligators with dead rats.

And then it was time for the airboat ride, we got in the line and luckily we got the front seats on the boat. We sat happily and the driver told us that the people sitting in the front row will be the first ones getting soaked in the dirty water, when the boat takes sudden turns. And then the driver asked my name, told everyone that I'll be the one who'll be saving others by throwing out alligators and snakes who land up on the boat and everyone started yelling out - 'thankyou', 'you are a rockstar'; it was super funny.


The ride got over in 20 mins and we had an awesome time and yes, we really got soaked when the boat took crazy turns. Had an amazing half an hour of high speed boat ride amid alligators along with the front row excitement. Then we got so hungry, that we went off to have lunch from there. Later, we clicked some pictures and went towards the National Park entry. We entered the park at 3 and moved on to see Royal Palms, where we took the Gumbo - Limbo Trail, which was like walking through a dense forest, it was a thrilling experience.

From there, we drove all the way to Flamingo, the southern most tip of florida. The drive was through well-preserved wildlife terrain, which was just amazing. Arrived there at 4:30 and enjoyed great views of the key west islands. Clicked pictures and had some refreshments. And left from there and came back to hotel at 7:15. After that, we came out to have dinner at 9 and the amazing day came to an end.