Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel

H2O ON THE GO IN

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

(2ND IN A SERIES)

Driving somewhere special for camping and watersports is a great idea anytime of year, but it’s especially nice to head south during mid-winter in search of warm weather and water. For these frequently cold months, it’s hard to beat Florida’s Everglades and the Gulf Coast of Texas, which both warm the soul with great driving, camping, and watersports.

FOREVER FUN IN THE EVERGLADES:

Florida’s Winter Wonderland

Less than an hour’s drive from the Miami metropolitan area, the Western Hemisphere’s largest mangrove ecosystem awaits exploration on land and water. The extraordinary Everglades National Park occupies more than 1.5 million acres at the southern tip of the Florida peninsula and provides a perfect place for winter fun in the car, on the water, and at campgrounds.

Mid-winter is by far the best time to drive to and around the Everglades, while enjoying camping and the plentiful water. The best bet for overall information is the headquarters office for Everglades National Park, which can be reached by calling 305-242-7700 or visiting their helpful website (www.nps.gov/ever). The state tourism organization, Visit Florida, can also be a huge help with planning (888-7FLA USA; www.flausa.com).

Diverse habitats in the park range from marine, estuarine, and mangrove communities to pinelands, hardwood hammocks, and extensive freshwater sloughs and prairies. The best introduction to the diversity of the Everglades is to head to the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center at the eastern entrance to the park (just 60 minutes driving time from downtown Miami).

You can stop at the Coe Visitor Center for a wide variety of information. Then, a pretty 38-mile drive to the Flamingo area runs past typical Everglades landscapes and also provides several excellent places to stop for an introduction to the unique environment. Some popular stops include: the Royal Palm Visitor Center (be sure to walk the Gumbo Limbo Trail and the Anhinga Trail); Long Pine Key; Pa-hay-okee Overlook; Mahogany Hammock; Nine Mile Pond; and West Lake.

At the end of the road, Flamingo features everything you need for Everglades fun. First and foremost, the camping possibilities are excellent. There are tent sites available (800-365-CAMP) right on Florida Bay (super sunsets), as well as at Long Pine Key (6 miles west of the main park entrance and 34 miles northeast of Flamingo). Reservations are typically accepted during the busiest part of the winter season and fees are often suspended during the hot mosquito-busy summer season.

There's an incredible amount to see and do nearby. Well-run tours through Flamingo Lodge, Marina, & Outpost Resort (941-695-3101) include backcountry cruises in a mangrove forest, Florida Bay cruises, and fishing, while the National Park Service features guided canoe trips, daily walks and talks, evening programs, and more.

The flora and fauna encounters are astounding, with the possible sightings including unique plants, raccoons, turtles, snakes, bobcats, herons, hawks, terns, bald eagles, egrets, pelicans, cormorants, ibis, ospreys, roseate spoonbills, alligators, crocodiles, manatees, dolphins, sea turtles, and sharks.

Of course, you can also drive to many other points of interest, where there is much to pursue on your own. Hiking is quite popular in the Everglades, with nearby options including pretty Eco Pond, the Coastal Prairie Trail to Clubhouse Beach, Christian Point Trail, Rowdy Bend Trail, and Snake Bight Trail. Canoes, skiffs, and bike rentals are also available. You'll want to stay outdoors forever in the Flamingo area.

When you do head indoors, the Flamingo Lodge is accommodating (for non-campers, they even have hotel and cabin accommodations). The resort features a well-stocked gift shop and marina store, as well as a post office and laundry facilities. The Flamingo Restaurant offers excellent meals and views and the Buttonwood Patio Cafe is a perfect place to trade stories about the day's adventures.

The Flamingo area is definitely a bit more crowded in the winter, but it’s easy to get away from the crowds. In addition to driving to quieter areas, there are other parts of the Everglades easily accessible to those with their own vehicle.

One further park campground possibility is Chekika (first-come, first-served), which is located about 30 minutes to the north of the main entrance, just off SW 168th Street/Richmond Drive and six miles west of Krome Avenue. However, Chekika may still be closed due to damage sustained during Hurricane Irene in 1999.

To head further afield on four wheels, Everglades exploration can continue to the west by taking Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) toward Everglades City. Be sure to stop by the park’s Shark Valley (305-221-8776) where there’s a 15-mile loop that leads out to an observation tower with (seemingly) views to forever (hiking, bike rentals, and tram rides available).

The Everglades National Park Gulf Coast Visitor Center (941-695-3311) is located just south of tiny (but active) Everglade City and includes an interpretive center, various ranger programs, and canoe rentals. In addition, Everglades National Park Boat Tours (941-695-2591) offers several interesting routes through the Western Everglades’ saltwater gateway. Four variously sized boats run frequent and varied-length tours through the mangrove islands, as boat captains serves as fascinating guides. Outside the park proper, several reputable operators run boat tours, fishing charters, canoe trips, and the famed ‘airboat’ tours.

The western side of the Everglades doesn’t have any camping within the park boundaries, but Collier Seminole State Park (941-394-3397) is located just to the north of Everglades City. For the tent contingent enjoying this part of the park, it’s a great base. Of course, no matter where you choose to park your car and pitch your tent, the Everglades (and lots of water) await.

Getting There

Everglades National Park covers much of the southern end of the Florida peninsula, which is about 400 miles long. Approximate driving mileages from a few Florida cities include: Miami (45 miles), Tampa (318 miles), Pensacola (718 miles), Tallahassee (523 miles), and Jacksonville (386 miles). Driving Tip: As you enter Florida from along most major routes, Official Florida Welcome Centers can help with driving, camping, and watersports plans in the Everglades and along the way. They can be found on I-75 1.5 miles south of the Florida/Georgia border, immediately after crossing into Florida on U.S. 231, seven miles north of Yulee on I-95, and 16 miles west of Pensacola on I-10.

THE TEXAS GULF COAST:

Lone Star State Riviera

Leave it to Texans to take a 624-mile strip of Gulf of Mexico coastline and turn it into one of the biggest and best places for mid-winter coastal driving tours, camping, and watersports. The combination of mild sunny days on the buckle of the Sun Belt and a variety of things to do in the great outdoors make the Texas Riviera a perfect place for a winter driving tour. Since the region is made up of many entities, the Texas Travel Guide is by far the best overall resource (www.TravelTex.com; 800-8888TEX--be sure to ask for the excellent Texas Travel Guide).

Basically running from the Louisiana border and Port Arthur area down to the Mexico border and the South Padre Island vicinity, the Texas Gulf Coast region consists of barrier islands all along the shoreline, as well as reaching inland 30 to 60 miles. Major cities, hideaway resorts, and beautiful wildlife refuges and parks dot the area.

The beauty of driving, camping, and enjoying water sports in this area is that you’re never far from any of these activities. There's always somewhere interesting to drive, camping is abundant, and water sports opportunities are everywhere.

Driving along the Gulf Coast is easy, with mainland coastal and inland roads easy for making time and convenient bridges to the barrier islands and good roads once there. Camping can be enjoyed at many of the area's state parks (Matagorda Island State Park & Wildlife Management Area, Mustang Island State Park and Galveston Island State Park are highly recommended), as well as many commercial campgrounds all along the water and inland.

Of course, watersports are as easy to enjoy as a dip in the Gulf, with the options including: sailing; power boating; varied boat tours; windsurfing; some serious fishing; scuba diving; dolphin watch cruises; island equestrian activities; and even birdwatching (they love the water--the region's Great Texas Coast Birding Trail is very popular).

The resort islands and coastal cities of South Padre Island, Corpus Christi, Galveston, and Port Aransas all offer relaxing beaches, great camping, and a host of other activities. Located just north of Port Aransas, the twin coastal cities of Rockport and Fulton feature history as well as documented bird sightings of nearly 500 different species. Port Arthur also offers gorgeous beach areas, including Sea Rim State Park.

Other attractions in the area include Galveston's historic Strand District and Moody Gardens; the Port Isabel Lighthouse; and Columbus ship replicas and the U.S.S. Lexington harbored in Corpus Christi. Brownsville and its Mexican sister city, Matamoros, display the ambiance of Old Mexico, with marketplaces, Mariachis, and Mexican cuisine. For those who need a big city fix, Houston, is the largest city in the state and one of the nation's largest seaports.

Starting in the northeast, Orange, Port Arthur, and Beaumont provide perfect introductions to Gulf Coast touring by car. Try an air boat cruise through the swampy wilderness in Orange, imagining what it must have been like for early Spanish and French explorers. Next, head to Beaumont, where the first oil gusher in the world erupted in 1901 (it's recreated at Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown) and many old mansions now welcome shoppers. Finally, a drive through Port Arthur goes past restored Victorian homes like White Haven and the Pompeiian Villa, as well as stops at the Museum of the Gulf Coast and lots of watersports on Sabine Lake.

Next stop is Galveston, where a 1900 hurricane meant most of the city started from scratch and is now built for fun. Many of the city's historic homes and buildings incredibly survived the hurricane. Today's highlights include: 156-acre Moody Gardens, with the Rainforest Pyramid and the Octopus Slide at Palm Beach; the Texas Seaport Museum (Galveston was once called the Ellis Island of the Southwest, when 130,000 immigrants entered the new world through her port); the Lone Star Flight Museum (more than 40 vintage aircraft); the Seawall (the world's largest sidewalk), overlooking miles of Strand beachfront; and a dinner-dance aboard a paddle wheeler or great Gulf shrimp at one of many waterfront restaurants.

Just 50 miles inland, Houston beckons with lots to do in the big city. The NASA Space Center Houston in Clear Lake is reason enough to head inland, with Disney Imagineering transporting visitors into the past, present, and future of manned space flight.  For those who can't get enough of the water, the busy Port of Houston provides interesting tours aboard the Sam Houston inspection boat or great views from the observation deck at Gate 8.

Next, the 70,000-acre Aransas National Wildlife Refuge awaits. It's the winter home to a colony of endangered whooping cranes, beautifully (to some) gawky birds that share the limelight with nearly 500 other species of birds and other critters like coyotes, javelina, and even a few alligators. Nearby, Port Aransas is a funky former fishing village.

Just to the south, Corpus Christi welcomes water lovers with the Texas State Aquarium and the U.S.S. Lexington. The huge aquarium is the place to see sharks and much more gliding through the encrusted legs of an oil derrick, while the Lady Lex offers tours of its labyrinth hallways, the captain's cabin, the engine room the flight deck, and much more. One of the most decorated aircraft carriers in naval history, her rich career of 49 years of action included being the first ship into Tokyo harbor, surviving a kamikaze hit, and serving in all major Pacific battles during World War II.

Down near Mexico, the high rise skyline of South Padre Island awaits visitors who like their beaches with some fun company. A wide array of water sports are available, plus offshore and bay fishing, dolphin watches, birding trails and much more. The southernmost resort in Texas, South Padre Island is sure to give you a warm welcome. Along with the great beach and bustling Port Isabel to the south, inland lures include Brownsville's Gladys Porter Zoo and the Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary.  You also can simply head north along the coast until the crowds (and tall buildings) quickly disappear. In fact, the 80-mile stretch of unblemished coastline that is the Padre Island National Seashore is one of the last natural seashores in the nation (primitive camping on the beach is available).

This variety reveals the beauty of a driving tour of the Gulf Coast. Just stop your car, pitch your tent, and hit the water.

Getting There

The Texas Gulf Coast is a great winter driving destination for northerners in search of sunshine, sand, and water. Approximate driving mileages from a few cities on the way to Galveston include: Dallas, Texas (288 miles); San Antonio, Texas (387 miles); El Paso, Texas (774 miles); New Orleans, Louisiana (413 miles); Little Rock, Arkansas (455 miles); Albuquerque, New Mexico, (881 miles); and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (497 miles).

Driving Tip: As you enter Texas and the Gulf Coast on I-10 from Louisiana, the Travel Information Center near Orange offers professional travel counselors to welcome drivers, provide a wealth of free literature, and make specific recommendations for a driving tour of the Gulf Coast. There's also a Travel Information Center at U.S. 77 & U.S. 83 at Harlingen, near the Mexico border.