I'm driving the family from Michigan to Disney World in Orlando. Rather than just booking straight south down I-75, I'm planning on taking a leisurely couple days to get there and going the I-77 to I-95 route (about the same mileage). Since we're travelling with a 3.5 year old, I'll be doing some night driving, and then we plan on spending a good chunk of the day in one town playing/eating/relaxing, then hitting the road again later. We'll grab a hotel or two along the way as well.
Looking at the map, it looks like I'll be ending up on I-95 right around Charleston, and then heading southbound to Daytona Beach, and then heading west towards Orlando.
Since I have time to kill, and my son absolutely loves the beach, I thought we'd plan on spending a day somewhere along that stretch. Good beach towns? food? etc.
Thoughts? Favorites?
I am not familiar with this stretch of the US. Any ideas and input is greatly appreciated!
Once in Florida, St. Augustine is a great family spot. There is an old Spanish fort that you can explore and the town has a very cool historic district. The beach isn't far from there either. It is actually the oldest town in the U.S.
A little further south (just North of Daytona) you'll drive through Flagler Beach. Flagler is a quiet little beach town with a great view of the beach and some beachside restaurants / bars. It isn't a rowdy town like Daytona can be, and the locals are a little less wild. Once you get South of Flagler, do yourself (and the family) a favor and turn right on Highbridge Rd. This will take you over a small drawbridge and into Tomoka State Park. It is a beautiful place, with the tree's canopies forming a tunnel to drive through. Occasionally the forest parts and you'll be out in the marshland. It is a very nice drive that I take a few times per week just for the ride.
http://www.ormondscenicloopandtrail.com/
If you are in the Daytona area during regular workhours, make sure to stop by the GRM office--- 915 Ridgewood Ave. Holly Hill FL 32117--- if you are by around lunchtime you may even get a few of us to escape our offices to grab a bite!
I think Joe just nailed it.
I liked Tybee Island in Georga. Fort Pulaski is right there too
When are you headed down, we are going to Orlando then New Smyna in July.
T.J.
PowerDork
6/19/12 9:14 p.m.
Go to Orlando in the fall. The summer is hot, and crowded and there is a daily thunderstorm at 4 pm that only serves to make some cool lightning and then make it even more humid 20 minutes later when the rain has stopped and everything has evaporated off the 200F pavement.
I lived there twice. My least favorite place of all 12 places I've lived.
That being said, enjoy your vacation and ignore my opinion.
mad_machine wrote:
I liked Tybee Island in Georga. Fort Pulaski is right there too
Like the smell of sulfur, I guess? 
Other than the fact that the water from the faucet (and as a result you, your hair, any clothing you wash) smells like rotten eggs, this was a pretty cool place when we visited.
+2 for Tybee and St Augustine.
Edisto/Edingsville SC feel kinda like old Florida...more so than anywhere in Florida. Good fishing/crabbing if that's your thing. Spend a couple days there. No highrises. berkeley A1A.
St. Augustine is totally cool for "Family" stuff, but not cheap. The Ripley's museum is cool for kids.
Your extreme ends are your best bets. Folly Beach isn't too bad to be at with Charleston just a 20 min drive away. Florida is probably more commercial on the beach then SC. So if you want "peace and quiet", SC. Family things to do, FL.
X2 for Folly Beach....kind of "quirky", but really laid back.
Folly's pretty cool but has something of a 'party time' atmosphere you may or may not be comfortable with. I haven't been to Tybee in a hella long time, like 30 years, but last time it was pretty nice. Beaufort has Hunting Island nearby and that is a pretty unspoiled kind of beach, not the typical resort thing.
It seems everyone knows Tybee Island in GA. It's a working island - good number of houses, hotels, stores, restaurants, etc. The best beach is the north beach area in my opinion, but the ocean on the Georgia coast is typically the muddy atlantic. At the public parking area for the North beach there's a pretty good beach bar / restaurant too.
Lesser known perhaps is Jekyll Island, about 45 min south of Tybee of the coast at Brunswick GA. Jekyll is limited by law to 35% development ( or something like that) and so it is much more natural, relaxed, less crowded. There is an area of restored homes and a hotel on the back side of the island from the early 1900s when it was the Rockefeller's playground that is pretty cool for adults to tour. The beaches are great, and if you want massive, open sand beaches go to the undeveloped south end of the island and "Glory Beach." this beach is accessed by a long boardwalk over the scrub dunes, and it's huge. the final assault seen in thr civil war movie "Glory" was filmed there, but it's probably the least used beach on the island. There are also bike paths all over the island, but not a lot of choice for restaurants, shopping, etc. It's a great place to be chill though. Also worth mentioning - there's a small fee for daily entry (like $2?) to help keep the place up. There are a few hotels with good beach access, and a ton of reasonable vacation rental houses too. If cost is a problem, it's close enough to stay at a hotel right on 95 in Brunswick and daytrip out to the island.
I highly recommend a stop at Jekyll, and if your kid's dig the beach life, I'd choose it over Tybee any day.
awesome feedback. thanks everybody!
Secretariata wrote:
mad_machine wrote:
I liked Tybee Island in Georga. Fort Pulaski is right there too
Like the smell of sulfur, I guess?
Other than the fact that the water from the faucet (and as a result you, your hair, any clothing you wash) smells like rotten eggs, this was a pretty cool place when we visited.
When I was at Tybee in the 80s.. it reminded me of Ocean City NJ pre-casino sprawl.
Oh, and thanks shiny happy people. I've wasted half the afternoon looking at beach houses in Edisto. Daddy needs a vacation!
Join us Poopmeister. 
Much trouble to be had
I live in northern Fl. and was curious to see/read what folks were going to recommend. I would agree, that St. Augustine is a great place to spend some time...I guess it beats anyplace north of there? AND, I would also recommend you steer clear during the next month or two/three? It does rain nearly every day and yes, the resulting humidity increase is a bit difficult to get used to for a "Northerner".
Baaaah, You're from the Northern Hemisphere, what would you know about hot weather.
This guy = True Southerner
Hey now. Just because y'all use them funny numbers Down Under it don't make it any hotter there than Columbia, SC in August. 
Melbourne is considered the cold part of the mainland, during the bushfires a couple of years ago it was 116 for five consecutive days.
One Summer I recall it was 90+ every day and night for 10 weeks.
NW Australia sees 140 regularly.
And our funny numbers are smaller than your inflated readings.
Ha not even in the contest bro
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USSC0065
aussiesmg wrote:
Join us Poopmeister. Much trouble to be had
Where are you guys headed?
Orlando then Daytona area 8th to 17th ? or so.
I vote for new smyrna beach it is a little further than Daytona but not from from otown. Make it a short drive to your final destination and the beach there is not overcrowded like daytona.
