Planning a big GA vacation to FL/possibly along gulf of mexico...

cowman

cowman

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Since I began my private training a couple years ago this has been one of my big goals... and during that time my wife and I have gone on several commercial trips.

Each time I guess I may have mentioned how much I hate commercial and how much more comfortable I'd be in the Archer a few too many times... she became somewhat annoyed. I want to show her just how great a trip in my plane can be(and hopefully never go through a TSA grope line again).

I should mention that I'm NOT instrument rated but want to be at some point. Debating doing a 10day course before the trip. Either way I want to keep the itinerary loose... clearing the calendar for 14 days and planning to return in 10. Travel date is TBD but we're thinking late Aug or early Sept so the weather is a little cooler down south but still warm.. and I'm hoping this is the off season so we can maybe find good deals or at least fewer crowds.

The point of origin for this trip will be KUIN- Quincy, IL. We might leave a day early and depart from 2i0 Madisonville, KY(her parents are there) depending on the route.
One must go destination is to fly from mainland FL VFR in view of the island chain down the Key West KEYW. I don't know how long we'll stay there I just want to do it once for the view. I am expecting beautiful views from the air and an over-water flight where at least if something happens and we go in the water will be warm(or maybe I can land on the road?). Speaking of which... are coastal regions typically turbulent on warm late summer days? Should I try to make it early morning for a smooth ride?

Now an option is to either make a more/less direct flight from home into the FL mainland(a long day) and refuel/sleep overnight and do they keys the next morning. Another option would to be go basically south to someplace along the gulf coast in TX or LA, overnight... or maybe take a couple of nights and work our way along to coast to FL. I did notice a lot of shall we say "interesting" airspace down that way. Looks like a busy region. I guess it all comes down to what we want to do. This is where I'm looking for the most input from POA... cool places to fly to in FL/along the gulf coast basically.

I have the idea that I might be able to get our bikes in the airplane... maybe... gotta go try that. Biking/walking friendly areas would be nice. Not averse to renting a car, it's just nice to be able to wander when exploring a new place rather than watch traffic and try to navigate. In general my wife is really into nature/animals/sea life. She also likes historical stuff/museums. I'm into military history, technology, space/NASA type stuff. We both like good food... not snobby places just good eatin' places. Sitting on a beach drinking umbrella drinks is always a winner. Don't need 5-star hotels but a nice clean comfy room.... and maybe at least one stop with a whirlpool would be cool. Deep sea fishing might be fun although we've done that before... basically anything where my wife gets to interact with animals/sea life will be a big winner. We've done some dune buggy/atv adventures before... at first I liked them but they seemed kinda empty. The problem is I'm following the tracks of someone ahead of me... there's no adventure. I have more fun on my ATV in the backwoods if I'm not exploring or pushing my boundaries at all it kind of ends up being a "meh" sort of thing.

Places with huge crowds and the music so loud you have to yell to have a conversation are something we would want to avoid.

This is all open ended yet... I want to build a list of "must see/do" and "would like to see/do" and leave lots of room for discovery/exploration of different areas. Loose itinerary... so we can stay in one place longer or get out sooner if we want(also I'm probably VFR). Near airport stuff is always good :D

Anyway sorry for the blog post... once we go I'll make sure to get pics and check in now and then.
 
KCDK - Cedar Key FL - as laid back as FL is anymore.....on the Gulf's "Nature Coast", west of Gainesville..
If you like non-touristy, this is the place, and Key West is decidedly not!

SPAM content - we own a place that rents out (for now - hope to Winter there yearly soon) just outside KCDK's fence - walk to your plane, walk or bike or take our golfcart to the many restaurants in town, couple of nice small museums on the island.
www.islandoaks.net
 
wrbix said:
KCDK - Cedar Key FL - as laid back as FL is anymore.....on the Gulf's "Nature Coast", west of Gainesville..
If you like non-touristy, this is the place, and Key West is decidedly not!

SPAM content - we own a place that rents out (for now - hope to Winter there yearly soon) just outside KCDK's fence - walk to your plane, walk or bike or take our golfcart to the many restaurants in town, couple of nice small museums on the island.
www.islandoaks.net
Click to expand...

I'll pass that onto the wife... little big for the two of us but the kayak rental will probably get her attention.
 
I thought forcing a woman into a vehicle will cost you 5-10?

make 'the trip' about her, and the flying for you, if possible..................says the guy who apparently will be single for the rest of his life.
 
cowman said:
I'll pass that onto the wife... little big for the two of us but the kayak rental will probably get her attention.
Click to expand...

There are any number of smaller places for short term vacation rental on the island - give the McCormicks a call (# in the link) and they'll set you up - tell them you're flying in and that Bill and Teresa sent you.
Have fun.
 
I am in Clearwater (near Tampa).

Second the suggestion for Cedar Key (KCDK). Albert Whitted (KSPG) is nice with a good restaurant right in the FBO building and the Savador Dali Museum right next to the airport. If your wife likes Dolphins you could land at Clearwater Airpark (KCLW) and hop a ride down to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to see Winter the Dolphin. (Fair warning, the aquarium is nothin' special, so hope ya' really like disabled dolphins.) Venice (KVNC) is neat too for no other reason than there's a free shuttle to a local restaurant Sharky's and a nice beach there. Key West is commercialized but still a good trip if you've never been. Everglades Airpark is an interesting stop and you can rent bikes at the FBO - first come first serve. Some of the local restaurants will pick you up at the FBO.

It will still be hot as hell in August and September. I had trouble fitting bikes into the Archer without disassembling them, so you'll at least have to take a tire off and even then might struggle. Not a lot of turbulence in the coastal areas as far as I've experienced, and as soon as you get over water vs. land, it's smooth sailing.

Let me know if you'll be in my area. :)
 
Id say it can be fairly turbulent on a hot day. But yes, over the water is typically smooth.

As far as august/september thats still peak summer for us. Expect in the 90s to low 100s and high humidity. Thats also a fairly busy tourist time because people try and take the kids on vacation right before school starts and all the local kids are out and about enjoying their last bit of summer too.

The airspace along the gulf is different but really nothing to fret about. Im guessing you found the Eglin pt 93 airspace and all it really requires of you to fly through is to be talking to approach. And there is a great little online tutorial you can do beforehand.

In any event, some nice places on the northern part of the gulf coast are KJKA and KDTS. Both close to the water and plenty to do in both areas.

Best of luck!
 
Kick the tires, light the fires and go. Actually, I am pretty serious about this. :yes:

My recommendation would be to not invest too much time in long term planning. Just think about two or three destinations you really want to see and follow the good weather along the way. Make also sure that you have a few extra days for the flight to Florida and back and book only hotels with free cancellation policies.

The reason for my suggestions is, that this will take a lot of pressure of your shoulders that you have to be somewhere at a specific time, with your girl giving you a hard time and possibly wasted hotel room costs. Even though the flight to Florida isn't too long from IL, the weather can vary quite a bit along the way and is for a VFR flight pretty much unpredictable multiple days (or even weeks) in advance.

Besides of the recommendations others already made, my wife and I enjoyed snorkeling with manatees in Crystal River and a night paddle tour in the Everglades with dozens of gator eyes staring at us.... :D
 
Ok, I wasn't fully aware just how hot Sept still was... might push this into Oct or even Nov in that case. All the same to us, we just have to find someone to watch the dogs and cats and horses.

In regards to the bikes in a Pa28... both our bikes are 26". Mine has quick-remove front and rear tires which is what made me think of it in the first place. Her's just has the front removable but I think you can convert them... or maybe she just needs a new bike :D Obviously I'll be running them out the hangar and test-fitting ahead of time. I'm probably going to invest in one of those portable AC iceboxes, and we'll have a couple of bags. As usual I'm more worried about fitting stuff through the doors than weight with the Archer.

Dolphins, Kayaks, Everglade tours with gators all sounds good. I kinda like the idea of hitting less famous but awesome spots too. I want to do at least a little NASA related tourism, my main fun will be the flying of course :)

And yeah just going is kind of the idea, I just want ideas for destinations and lots of them. Once down I don't want to stay in any one place for more than a few days
 
If you get down Texas way, stop in and see us at Amelia's Landing Hotel! :)
 
I took the family from just south of Omaha to Ft. Myers last December and we had a great time. Perfect weather and my wife found plenty of Groupons for things to do (kayaking, parasailing, boat trip to see dolphins, etc.).

Our stop on the way down was in Eufaula, AL, and we loved it! Spent several extra hours there to tour a mansion and just enjoy the town. And the airport is just south of a resort that is part of the state park system. And if you plan ahead they will let you take the courtesy car for 24 hours for $25. Pretty nice.

https://hangar.naviatorapp.com/10588/final-leg-to-our-florida-vacation

https://hangar.naviatorapp.com/10654/leaving-florida-sniff-sniff
 
Fantasy of Flight is open again, but on a shorter week.
There is Tree Trek nearby (within about twenty miles) which is a three to four hour experience.
Lots of airboat adventures.
 
Go to Apalachicola neat old Florida fishing town. Nice state park on St. George island.
 
KCDK Cedar Key has been mentioned. The kayaking is nice. The island(s) are kind of cool in a laid back way.

Arthur Whitted, KSPG, (also mentioned) is very nice and there is a cool multi story mall built on the pier in the bay right next door.

X01 - Evergaldes is also a similar kind of experience to Cedar Key, though a little less built up. And they have bikes available at the airport.

In the keys (and yes, the views are amazing!) there is Key West but also, for a less alcohol laden experience, try Marathon KMTH. It's basically 1/2 way down. There are nice snorkeling cruises, lots of sport fishing and the Key Deer reserve on Big Pine Key just south.

KTIX, Spacecoast Regional is in Titusville right across the causeway from the Kennedy Space Center complex and you can call the tower at KTTS and fly down the shuttle runway if they're not busy. That's a big runway! And the views of the rest of the space center are nice too.

St. Augustine, KSGJ, is a nice little airport and the city has some fabulous history. You will need a car here, though.

Those are places I've visited myself. There are more, I'm sure.

Bumpy afternoons are quite normal. We gets lots of sunshine and sunshine gives us thermals. Mornings are usually quite smooth, but in the summer that transition can be as early as 9:30 or 10. Thunderstorms are also normal afternoon events in the summer (which here can carry through September into early October). Usually you can get out over the water on one coast or the other and bypass the storms, but beware, you have to go inland (at least a little) to land. If there's a storm at your intended destination make sure you have a plan B.

John
 
Wow, lots of great suggestions and there are even folks offering to give me a ride. The aviation community is certainly a great place!
 
Good advice all around here. We do Key West a good bit and enjoy it but it's always a drunken crawl. Done Cedar Key - you've gotten good advice. We rented a place within walking distance on short notice and it came with bikes and kayaks. A low pass down the space center runway is cool.

The thing about FL is that there are a lot of airports, lots of places to go and more airports with restaurants than anywhere else, or so it seems. Cheap fuel is easy to find as well.

I'd forget about the bikes - we hauled ours around in the Maule a few times but found it less than worth it. I'd forget about the AC thing too. It's hot - wear less, fly early and fly higher.

My last trip included the Bahamas (put that on your future list) and fly fishing for laid up Tarpon in Everglades National Park. Now that was exciting!!
 
Flew from KIKV (Ankeny, IA) to Clearwater, FL in 5.5hr in an RV10 for a day trip to Sun n Fun last month. The people at Clearwater were fantastic, very helpful. We rented a car and went to SnF for a day then spent a few days around the Clearwater / Tampa area. The plan was to fly to Key west but others in our party out voted us. We ended up flying to Space Coast and taking a bus tour of Kennedy Space Center - well worth it and a must do.

Key west is a great place with lots to see and do. Easy to fly into as well. Marathon, as mentioned, is a great place too. All in all, wherever you go in FL you'll have a great time. I personally like going Feb thru April area as the temps are perfect (for us mid westerns) and the weather can be a bit more tame.

Paul Austin


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Check out Sarasota . Nice airport. Rent car and go to longboat key up to mar vista resturant, for a good Berger, etc, right on the water, siesta key next door , great beach. Sarasota is very clean and modern. Good food , beaches, people. Also has ringling museum which is interesting.
 
My wife and I liked 4R9 (http://www.airnav.com/airport/4R9) and it is much like Cedar Key. Sporting airport to land at, small town, friendly, relaxing. Better beaches at Dauphin Island (though the rigs on the horizon detract a little from the sight), but Cedar Key won on dining. Neither one has fuel, so plan accordingly.
 
Well, looks like this is happening. Heading out on Oct 1... got everything set up for neighbors to watch the house/check on the critters. We're taking the dogs as far as KY where the in-laws will watch them for the duration of the trip. First leg will be a very packed airplane...

Next day we're off with a much lighter aircraft. Decided to start in Crystal River, was looking at cedar key but wife wants to swim with a manatee and it looks like crystal river has fuel, longer runways, more of a facility in general and I can get a rental car there. We'll probably drive up to Cedar Key and do some stuff there too though, it's not far.

After a few days we're probably going to Sarasota... do more stuff there and meet with some of my wife's family. Then the next stop is for me... Titusville and the Space Coast area.... we'll fool around there a while and head home.

I've got no specific dates or times.. haven't booked a thing but it doesn't look like there's much trouble with available rooms or open slots for tours this time of year. I'm a bit uncomfortable with booking things more than a day or two in advance given the VFR nature of our travel.

Don't know FL weather well, I'm seeing a lot of scattered T-storms in the forecast but that doesn't even get to our departure date yet. Do storms this time of year tend to be the kind that you can just wait out for an hour or two and have clear skies again? I'm hoping I can work around anything that comes up and not get delayed more than a day or two anywhere...

I suppose if the whole state is no VFR for days I can always divert to Louisiana or something. Two free weeks, money, and airplane..... lots of possibilities for unexpected detours and adventure on this trip :D
 
Yeah you shouldn't have trouble booking anything this time of year.

Weather is typically nice in the mornings and then you get afternoon popup thunderstorms. You can typically fly around them or wait an hour and they are gone. Plan to fly in the morning and you should be alright as long as a you don't have a front passing through that has weather with it.
 
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