From Boston to Miami. By car? Of course!
 

So lovely Dibbers I am as you may or may not know currently in the middle of writing a trip report from our fantastic holiday to the US last October.
Wow we had a great time, it definitely is up there as a best ever trip.
Highlights were... well everything I couldn’t single anything out.
The only problem when you’ve had such an amazing trip is, as you Dibbers will appreciate what next?


So this trip needed to fit a number of requests. First of all all 5 of us would be going with eldest DS joining us for this one. He missed out last year due to being in his A level year but we had promised to make it up To him the following year.
He is heading to Spain for 2 weeks before we go with his friends but has promised to be back the week before we go! We will see :omg: but we’ve said we leave without him if he doesn’t get his bottom back in time :d:
Soooo eldest DS’s first request was we go to New York which we were happy to agree to :D

We loved NY last year and are really excited about going back. Not sure what we will be seeing this time but ESB is on the cards AGAIN!
We talked about a split Centre holiday with NY and Florida.
We have been lucky enough to visit Florida a few times since 2006 and it is where all the boys have been most times on holiday. They all love it but then who doesn’t ;).
Eldest DS requested theme parks please preferably Universal Studios and Busch Gardens.

We thought that sounded like a very sensible idea :grin:
Then finally DS said if we are going to Florida it would be good to go back to Miami one last time. Now I know this isn’t always a popular choice for Dibbers but we have spent quite a lot of time if Miami over the years. Often because it’s a cheaper place to fly into but also because it has a favourite beach Biscayne

Whilst it is a lovely beach and nearly always quiet there are many such lovely beaches but it also holds happy memories of the boys when they were small.
So then I started to look at flights, when to go, what else we could fit in.

We had spent the last 2 years away from Florida visiting California in 2016 and NYC etc last year so it did feel like we were ready to go back BUT the holidays away had also highlighted what amazing places there out there to explore.
Whilst I love going back to Florida and always will there isnt the same thrill of seeing something for the first time as we’d had for the past 2 years.
We had also loved the visits to Yosemite

And North Conway

Would a trip to another national park be in order?

So the plan search for flights began.

We had decided to go earlier in the school holidays rather than later as we had done for the past few years to be back so eldest DS could ‘celebrate’ (hopefully) his exam results due on 16th August.
The other two break up on 24th July so that was our window of opportunity.
After much Skyscanning, checking the Dibb for bargains I managed to find what I think is a pretty good deal.
I found flights into Boston and out of Miami with KLM from Manchester via Amsterdam and on a Code share with Air France coming back via Paris. £2,100 for the 5 of us leaving 24/7 returning 15/8 which I make to be a very lovely 22 nights away :grin:
So now all I had to do was decide how to get from A to B but I’ll save that for next time ;)

We are flying into (and out of) Boston this year too!

It sounds like it will be a fab trip!

I like the sound of this trip. Eastern seaboard getting warmer as you go.

Exactly! Think it’s got a bit of everything as you’ll see ;)

Oh Wow, how many states will you fit in this time? I'm looking forward to reading about this.

Thanks Abby. Just trying to finish the last few days on last years then I’ll be back to this one! :wavey:

We are doing a east coast road trip in Sept/Oct travelling from Boston to North Conway then onto NYC and Washington DC. I am so looking forward to it and I have loved reading your trip report.

Thank you for reading I’ve really enjoyed reliving the last trip just need to finish it now!

****So let’s update****

Flights are booked what next. Well much discussion. More discussion. Decisions decisions. In fact I changed my mind again only a few weeks ago but I think this is the final version.

So as said we fly into Boston however the general consensus was there was no appetite to return to the city. Eldest son was joining us this trip but equally he wasn’t interested in heading to Beantown.
Therefore we arrive at Boston airport and head straight to the car rental and drive to New York.

3 nights New York
1 night Washington
1 night Chincoteague
3 nights Shenandoah
2 nights Pigeon Forge
1 night Savannah
4 nights Orlando
4 nights Anna Maria Island
3 nights Miami

That’s the plan - what do you think? Lots of driving but that’s not an issue for us. We have a couple of really long drives but it’ll just be an early morning start and a long day which we’ve done before.
Would have liked longer in New York but I think, know we will be back here in the future :d:
To say we have 3 weeks it’s still ended up being a tight itinerary but I guess when you have longer you fit more in. ;)

All the hotels are now booked, some I’m really happy with, some less so but I’ve tried to get free cancellation on as many as I can.

Car rental has been a nightmare, the one way charges would make a grown man cry :cry::cry: but in the end I had to bite the bullet and pay. To cut the costs as much as possible I have split the car hire. We pick up our Thrifty rental in Boston and drop off on our first full day in Orlando and pick up a Hertz rental the same day for the rest of the holiday. Even this totalled £1,111. See why the tears! :omg::omg:
I checked a week after we’d booked and it had gone up £300 - crazy prices. We did want a 7 seater, with 5 of us and luggage and a long road trip it seemed only reasonable.

I booked with Thrifty last year and the problem is with this company you pay through the nose for tolls. However I couldn’t find another company that came close on price so even with toll costs I’ve had to book with them again. I’m going to look at routes to see if it’s possible to travel on either toll free roads or if there’s an option to pay rather than using the toll pass.

Hotel update to follow...

Sounds amazing!