Florida road trip 2025

We drove 3600 miles and stayed in 16 places, 8 campgrounds and 8 motels/airbnbs. All in 23 days. Joanna had a good plan where to go and what to see, but we made specific decisions each day. We left cold weather in Chicago and arrived in sunny Florida with temps reaching 90ºF. April is already beginning of low season here – some sites were preparing to shut down for the summer (too hot). We avoided big crowds, but were still able to observe a few manatees in the wild. No problems finding places to overnight (campgrounds were mostly empty). As for Subaru camping, additional moonroof ventilation would be good on hot nights, but we did not have anything to use as insect screen. No car mechanical problems this time.

Our main destination was National Parks: Everglades, Biscayne and Congaree – we added 3 to our list of visited Parks (new total 39 out of 63). Did not make it to Key West, as originally planned. On this trip we spent more time than usual visiting several cities and museums, but also did many short day-hikes and spent a lot of time watching wildlife: birds, alligators, crocodiles and of course manatees. We are becoming bird-watchers (beginners) – on this trip we watched, photographed and identified 37, others flew by too fast. Spent almost full day at Kennedy Space Center.