La Quinta Road Trip: Cruising the Florida Coast, Find Nearby FL Hotels

Cruising the Florida Coast Fort Lauderdale to Key West, Florida US 1 epitomizes sunny Florida, basking in the East Coast rays and paralleling the wave-washed beaches from Fort Lauderdale to Key West. There's something for everyone along this drivefamily adventures and beachcombing, upscale dining and shopping, turtle watching and kayaking, and sampling key lime pie. Use our route planner to find hotels for your next trip.
		BEST OF THE ROAD: Alabama Crossing the Heart of Dixie Arizona Desert Adventures Florida Cruising the Florida Coast Florida's Cultural West Coast Louisiana Let the Good Times Roll New York Cultivating New York Texas Culture in Cowboyland Head for the Hill Country MORE ROAD TRIPS: Alabama Alabama Coasting Birmingham Bound History and Music Mississippi/Alabama Gulf Shore Sunbathed Shopping on Mobile Bay Arizona Arizona to Santa Fe Via the Four Corners Jerome, the Town that Wouldn't Die Phoenix and the Old West California La Jolla Jewel Weekend Los Angeles OffRamp Florida Beyond the Theme Parks Florida Everglades and Alligator Alley Landing in Lakeland Oldest City St. Augustine Day Tour Georgia Gothic Savannah Mostly Macon Illinois TheatreTown Chicago Louisiana Kicking It Up in Cajun Country Massachusetts Headache-Free Boston Maryland Back Streets of Baltimore Michigan That Car of Yours Built a Lot of House New Jersey New Jersey Pinelands Ohio From the Cuyahoga to Cleveland Oklahoma Northeast Oklahoma Via Route 66 Oregon Oregon's Oregon Trail Country Texas Funky Folk Art Menageries Riddle of Wichita Falls The Mother Road Through the Lone Star State Tyler: The Yellow Rose of Texas Vermont Knocking Around Burlington Washington Oregon/Washington Scenic Coast Seattle: It's Not Just Grunge Wisconsin Milwaukee Beer and Brats



Wannado City 12801 W. Sunrise Blvd. Sunrise, FL 33323 Call (954) 838-7100	Visit a mini-economy city where school-aged kids play doctor or other professions and earn big bucks, at the same time.

Johnny V Restaurant 625 E. Las Olas Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 Call (954) 761-7920	Savor spicy fish dishes, but don't miss the cheese appetizer plate (choice of 50 cheeses!), a meal in itself.

3030 Ocean 3030 Holiday Dr. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 Call (954) 765-3030	Friendly staff serves outstanding fresh seafood. Setting provides great ocean views.

Fort Lauderdale Water Bus 1850 SE 17th St Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 Call (954) 467-6677	A $13 all-day pass gives you unlimited rides to 11 stops plus local gossip, like who owns which mansion.

The Fragrance Shop Perfumery 612 Lincoln Rd Miami Beach, FL 33139 Call (305) 535-0037	Custom-blended perfumes of essential oils are made on-site.

Fly Boutique 650 Lincoln Rd Miami Beach, FL 33139 Call (305) 604-8508	Snap up Versace, even Prada cast-offs at Fly Boutique consignment shop.

Afterglo Restaurant 1200 Washington Ave Miami Beach, FL 33139 Call (305) 695-1717	Healthy foods, wild meat, and "beauty" food.

Big Pink 157 Collins Ave Miami Beach, FL 33139 Call (305) 532-4700	Huge, lavish breakfasts served indoors or at outside cafe tables.

Versailles Restaurant 3555 SW 8th St Miami, FL 33135 Call (305) 445-7614	Locals and visitors love this Little Havana Cuban cuisine favorite.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens 3251 S Miami Ave Miami, FL 33129 Call (305) 250-9133	Built in 1916 in the style of an Italian Renaissance villa, this museum has 34 rooms containing antique furnishings that date back several hundred years. The site covers ten acres and features guided tours and educational programs. Downtown Miami is nearby.

Biscayne Nature Center 6767 Crandon Blvd. Key Biscayne, FL 33149 Call (305) 361-3737	Kayak in mangroves, or take a guided hike through a tidal pool.

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden 10901 Old Cutler Rd Coral Gables, FL 33156 Call (305) 667-1651	Opened in 1938, Fairchild is one of the finest botanical gardens in the world. The garden occupies 83 acres with many lakes and tropical plants, including spectacular examples of orchids and bromeliads from around the world. Newer displays include the 2-acre Richard H. Simons Rainforest (opened in 2000) and the William F. Whitman Tropical Fruit Pavilion (opened in 2003).

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Key Largo, FL 33037 Call (305) 451-1202	The first underwater sanctuary in the nation, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is named for the Miami Herald newspaper editor who fought for its preservation. It protects the only living coral reef within the continental bounds of the United States. Almost 54,000 acres of the park lie underwater, and the adjacent Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary extends the protected underwater area to 103 square miles. This is the perfect place for scuba divers and snorkelers, expert and novice alike. There are many different areas to dive, and both depths and shallows teem with colorful fish and coral. Concessionaires lead scuba and snorkeling classes and expeditions, offer glass-bottom boat tours, and rent canoes, motorboats, and kayaks. Popular underwater sites include the reconstructed wreck of a Spanish galleon, several real shipwrecks, sunken cannons close to shore that harbor schools of parrot fish, and the famous Christ of the Deep statue, one of the world's most photographed underwater subjects. Don't miss the 30,000-gallon aquarium at the visitor center. The park's campground offers 47 gravel, back-in sites with electric and water hookups. A dump station, restrooms, and showers are available on site, and there is a snack bar nearby. You'll find the park in Key Largo, at Mile Marker 102.5.

Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park Islamorada, FL 33036 Call (305) 664-2540	Sign up for a ranger-led tour of the island's tropical hardwood hammock.

Bud N Mary's Fishing Marina Islamorada, FL 33036 Call (305) 664-2461	Captains for hire lead bonefishing and deep-sea fishing excursions.

Bahia Honda State Park 36850 Overseas Hwy Big Pine Key, FL 33043 Call (305) 872-2353	Bahia Honda State Park, a favorite of "conches," or native Key Westers, offers one of the prettiest natural sand beaches in the Keys. Beaches, by the way, are rare in the Keys, so take advantage of this one. You can snorkel, kayak, bicycle, or just stroll, keeping an eye out for an abundance of birds including white or blue herons, gulls, egrets, and pelicans.

Big Pine Kayak Adventures 1791 Bogie Dr. Big Pine Key, FL Call (305) 872-7474	Paddling expert leads half-day trips in marine sanctuary.

Dry Tortugas National Park Key West, FL 33041 Call (305) 242-7700	In 1513, Ponce de Leon first came upon a group of islands about 70 miles west of Key West. Plentiful turtles refilled his larder, but the islands held no fresh water, so he named them the "Las Tortugas," which means "turtles" in Spanish. Today the largest of these coral reef and sand islands almost resembles a turtle because the enormous six-sided Fort Jefferson ruins sit atop it. In the early nineteenth century, the United States decided to fortify the Gulf of Mexico approach to the Mississippi River. Designated a wildlife refuge in 1908 to preserve a sooty tern rookery, Dry Tortugas has since grown more valuable as a relatively undisturbed sanctuary. Blue-green shallow waters just cover coral reefs teeming with underwater life.

Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum 907 Whitehead St Key West, FL 33040 Call (305) 294-1136	Get a sense of life in another era with a peek inside the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. Built in 1851, "Papa" Hemingway lived here for a decade, starting in 1931, and the house contains many of the furnishings used by the writer and his then-wife Pauline. Dozens of cats, said to be descendants of the Hemingways' felines, still roam the grounds.

Southernmost Point Marker Whitehead and South St. Key West, FL 33040	Only 90 miles from Cuba, the last stop in the continental U.S.

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