Florida - not Disney!!!!! -where to go???

[jambomum]

Want to go to US in Sept/Oct and get a bit of sunshine, so thinking of Florida.
DH doesn't want to go to Disney and says he wants to be able to go for walks and not be stuck in malls all the time.
Does anyone have any knowledge of Florida to suggest somewhere with restaurants, shops, gardens etc that we could go?
DH has this idea (although he's never been to the US) that you have to drive everywhere and there is no outdoors places to visit.
Any useful suggestions very gratefully received.
p.s. we have one DS (2.3 yo)

We went to Florida and were v sceptical (I used to work for 'the mouse' and didn't want to go anywhere near). However, we kind of got into the whole thing once we were there, and did actually go to the parks - which DD absolutely loved. It is a great and easy place to take the kids - aside from 9 hour flight!

Orlando is exactly what you would expect - loads of theme parks and malls. However, there are other places where you can walk/ explore normal towns e.g. Harry P Leu Gardens. We headed off to little towns and the beach in between doing the more touristy stuff.

And, yes, you do have to drive everywhere - but you can drive to places where you can walk.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about other parts of Florida, but I don't think it is all like Orlando. The Keys, for example, are supposed to be lovely.

Have a lovely time

Go to the gulf coast, clearwater is great according to my folkes

My mum lives in florida so we took DS (who was 1 yr old) twice last year. The Keys are lovely and there are a lot of outdoorsy places to visit in southern florida (but unfortunately you HAVE to drive everywhere to reach them).

I highly recommend finding somewhere that does the airboat rides on the everglades - my DS absolutely loved it . There is also a Safari Park with a giraffe feeding station somewhere down there (can't remember the name - maybe 'Lion Safari'??)

Be aware that even at that time of year the heat can get a bit much and before long you will be clambering for those air conditioned Malls

Oh and there is the Miami 'Duck Tour' in a big truck that goes in the water, which was good too.

Lion Country Safari

Miami Duck Tour

Monkey Jungle

You will find that nearly all restaurants are family friendly - it is just the way they are

HTH

Sorry last link I promise....

Sawgrass Mills shopping mall - it took us 2 seperate days to cover all of it, and The Cheesecake Factory is a fab restaurant.

The Keys are lovely, although it's 20 years since we visited them.

We are going to Florida next sunday and having a week on the gulf coast as well as the disney experience. Have also spent many summers in palm beach which is lovely as is Key West.

Captiva & sanibel islands are lovely if expensive. Excellent beaches for collecting shells, majority of people cycle or walk everywhere.

One caution - September / October is hurricane season in Florida. Weather may not be great if if there is a hurrican you will be evacuated inland. If you are in the Keys when this happens it's an awful long, slow drive on the single road in and out.

For good US based sunshine at that time of year you are better of in California - Yellowstone or Yosemite park perhaps ?

Anna Maria Island near sarasota is lovely - beautiful powdery beach and not too many people. It's less pricey than Sanibel etc. but go more character than Naples, Venice etc.

What about South Beach Miami, or Fort Lauderdale, which is a beach resort with a lot of waterways, or Boca Raton? Also agree with the others who said the keys- a whole variety of experiences there. The gulf coast with Sanibel and Captiva are lovely too. Further up north is lovely too.
Doesn't have to be all Disney type experience! I've been going for years and only go to Disney for a few days at a time, rest is spent elsewhere.

Thank you all so much. This is really apprecaited, as I would love to go and need the infor to convince DH that somewhere other than bloomin' Lanza-grote is possible with DS.
I'm off to look for flights, car and villa. I don't care if everyone lives on an 'estate'. DH also says that he could stay at home to look at other people's houses and driveways !!!!!
I make it sound as though he's such a snob, but it's just that he's only ever seen the USA on TV, so has no idea.
Thanks for all your ideas.

We have just come back from Florida today and had a week on the Gulf coast which I can recommend.

I had to go in August because as a teacher it is the only time I can go but I would not choose to go at that time of year if I did not have to and the same would go for sept as this is hurricane season and it was unbreably hot and you will get plagued by mosquitoes.

We loved Sanibel Island both for the beach and the wild life tours.

We did some touring about and our highlights were naples.

I also love the keys especially key west but again I don't think I would go tot he keys in hurricane season.

I also like Palm beach although it can feel a bit oppressive after a while and we love Lion County Safari.

We have been going to Florida since dd1 was 3yo (now 9). Last couple of times didn't go anywhere near Orlando. We love Manasota Key, which is just south of Venice. Not at all built up (3 storey build limit), if you stay on the northern end just beach houses still. Fab beaches - so deserted!! Great shelling and sandcastle building. Venice is great to wander around, quaint shops and eateries in old town. They also do a wonderful Halloween parade where all the kids dress up and go trick or treating around all the shops - great fun dd1 loved it last year! Busch Gardens in Tampa is good fun if you fancy a bit of theme park and a bit of safari. In fact it is so much fun we are going for Christmas this year!

we go to Naples every year and absolutely love it

Florida Keys is very interesting. Not at all mall-like, and very distinctive in culture - extremely laid back.

We stayed 8 nights on Anna Maria Island, absolute bliss and if you don`t want to drive they have a free wooden trolley that runs round the island day and night, so hop on and off where you want. Island only 7 miles long x 1.5 wide so trolley every 30 mins, brilliant place, sugar white sandy beach, lovely restaurants and nice shops, heaven!