Covid-friendly Vacations (1 Viewer)

[Slapdash]

I'm headed to Zion and Bryce for 4 days of hiking.  Some of the trails are closed, but most parts of the parks are open.  Staying at local hotels.

Nice. Are the Narrows open?

 

[Terminalxylem]

Nice. Are the Narrows open?

Looks like it (bottom section), but the shuttle isn’t operating so parking will be a PITA.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Looks like it (bottom section), but the shuttle isn’t operating so parking will be a PITA.

Just FYI from friends who have been traveling on the roads and doing the Parks...Zion or parts of it have filled up so fast, I would be there as early as possible is all I'm relaying. 

 

[cashman88]

Thanks for the heads up about Zion. We read about the crowds, so we’re bringing bikes and biking into the park. 

 

[Payne]

I’ve been. Traverse City during the cherry festival and Mackinac Island specifically. It’s OK, but nowhere near a top road trip destination. Like most things in the Midwest, there’s better stuff elsewhere.

So you visited the two most touristy cities. There is plenty of nature to explore as well. Hard to beat Lake Michigan, the sand dunes, pictured rocks, etc. Should give those things a try. 

 

[mr. furley]

You know the ####ty thing about living in Miami? It takes 6 hours just to get out of the state if you want to take an out-of-state road trip.

Not too many other places where you have to drive 6+ hours to get to another state/country. Are there any?

I would love to head out west but man, we would be driving more than we would be enjoying the sites. Plus my wife just drove 17+ hours straight back from her mom's house in S. Illinois so she's not looking to hang out for another road trip anytime soon. 

once drove approximately 3 1/2 days straight across Texas. might have been 6. felt like 12.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

You know the ####ty thing about living in Miami? It takes 6 hours just to get out of the state if you want to take an out-of-state road trip.

Not too many other places where you have to drive 6+ hours to get to another state/country. Are there any?

I would love to head out west but man, we would be driving more than we would be enjoying the sites. Plus my wife just drove 17+ hours straight back from her mom's house in S. Illinois so she's not looking to hang out for another road trip anytime soon. 

Hey SS, I totally get what you are saying as a Miami Native. When we moved up to Martin/Palm Beach County Line, 2 hours and we are in Orlando, doesn't take as long to get out of the area. 

-I have a suggestion. My wife traveled around the State with her mother last weekend and specifically went to the Panhandle, Ft Walton Beach, etc...it's the Wild Wild West. I am not telling people to mask up or rip them off, I'm just telling you that people there are not acting the same as people in these more Urban sections. I was visiting my son in St Pete and Tampa had just mandated masks at 5:00 Friday as I rolled into town. 

-Going to the Keys is not an escape right now. I don't know how you personally feel but as a Native Floridian I am pretty angry with how they are handling things. I don't want to turn this into a nasty thread but I have respected and enjoyed the Keys most of my life and I don't feel like they view Miami and Ft Lauderdale as anything other than large swaths of people with a heavy Spanish influence that let's be honest...Key West isn't that culturally diverse, it's White and it's Gay, that's not exactly cultural diversity and they don't want any of the "Yucky" people coming down there and messing up their beautiful little islands. The problem for me is that they make up the State of Florida and they are in along with the rest of us but they seem hellbent on not allowing folks down there. People in Florida would love to come down and spend money but they don't want it.  

I have been to the Keys dozens of times in my life.  Bahia Honda is amazing. Not sure the next time in my Life that I will ever see them again and I feel blessed that I have traveled and seen what I have. Keys Fisheries, the little money taped on every inch of the walls Bar, all the nooks and stuff down there, Full Moon parties, no more. 

 

[Psychopav]

We're heading to Alabama in a couple of weeks, and then to the Gulf Shores.  We made the plans before the world went to hell, and I expect the beaches there to be relatively sparsely attended even in normal times.  So chalk up another one under beach house rental with social distancing vaca.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

We're heading to Alabama in a couple of weeks, and then to the Gulf Shores.  We made the plans before the world went to hell, and I expect the beaches there to be relatively sparsely attended even in normal times.  So chalk up another one under beach house rental with social distancing vaca.

Mrs was there last weekend in the Florida Panhandle, very relaxed rules compared to South Florida and Tampa Bay. 

Everything was wide open she said. 

 

[Slapdash]

Thanks for the heads up about Zion. We read about the crowds, so we’re bringing bikes and biking into the park. 

If it gets too busy you can probably find some stuff nearby off the most touristic paths. Hard to get bored hiking that part of the country.

 

[Psychopav]

Mrs was there last weekend in the Florida Panhandle, very relaxed rules compared to South Florida and Tampa Bay. 

Everything was wide open she said. 

Wide open and packed, or wide open and plenty of space to distance with?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Wide open and packed, or wide open and plenty of space to distance with?

There's going to be people a lot closer than 6 feet, that doesn't mean you have to go where they are. I saw in St Pete, went to a spot called "Dead Bob's" just to see what was happening and I couldn't even enter. I could see right in, not much social distancing at all, people on top of each other, that was the same thing in Ybor City in Tampa and I think that's why they truly put the mask orders in place. You cannot trust people out drinking to remember to socially distance once they get tipsy. 

You're fine on the beach. Food was a little challenge for them, but my mother in law is a cheapskate and I'm sure that was a big factor. She thinks you can get a delicious grilled chicken sandwich with sides and it should cost about $5, anything over that is expensive. 

I would make sure you have whatever PPP you need to make you and others you are with comfortable. 

Enjoy your trip and I want to read how things go on your travels. 

Cheers!

 

[Psychopav]

Great, thanks.  I'm banking on Gulf Shores, Alabama being a little less crowded, especially on the western end where we will be.

I'll let you know how it goes!