Are you looking to get away? Maybe a nice long road trip to help clear your mind and relax? How about a road trip that takes you from the gulf coast to the Atlantic! If the beach is your thing then this is the perfect trip for you! Let me help guide your adventure on a 1,109 mile round trip! This trip will take you to some of the most amazing beach’s, restaurants and hotels. Let’s go ahead and dive in on this wonderful trip!
On this amazing trip we will start by heading to cocoa beach! We will then travel the Atlantic coast to wynwood walls in Miami, Jupiter’s beach’s and then head to our amazing Florida keys! After some time in the keys we will head back up to Tampa but making a stop in the Florida Everglades! But first let’s go ahead and see what cocoa beach offers!
Our first spot we are going to stop at is cocoa beach! It’s about a 2.5 hour ride from Tampa! When arriving to this famous east coast beach, surfers will be tearing up the waves while the tourist watch! This is one of the most popular things to do at cocoa beach. Anywhere you park you will find many stands set up in the sand renting out surfboards! Usually they average to about 45$ a day for the rentals!
If you have never surfed before you should still rent a board and give it a try while there. The waves are amazing unlike our gulf coast! If you can’t master self taught surfing, they do offer lessons! You can ask the same stands renting out the boards about lessons! If you aren’t wanting to surf and just looking to relax then this is still a perfect beach to do so!
What’s better then laying on a beach watching the surfers on the waves! While in cocoa beach you may also want to visit the space station! Located on the north side of cocoa beach the space station is open to the public to tour! Also another amazing place to visit is Ron Jon surf shop! This 2 story huge store is a major attraction to cocoa beach and a must see while in town! Cocoa beach also has many restaurants to offer as well as the board walk!
After a long day of surfing, relaxing on the beach or even sight seeing, what’s better then taking a hot shower? After your day go over to the La Quinta Inn & Suites ocean front. This hotel is right on the water just like the name advertises! They have a large pool, bar area, breakfast included, computer room, And a boardwalk that takes you straight out to the water! I would rate this hotel stay 5 stars! Pictures of hotel are listed below so feel free to swipe through them! Also I tagged the link to the hotel below as well!
Blowing rocks preserve is located on our Atlantic coast smack down in the middle of Jupiter Florida. This remote location is a preserve to many animals and plants that are being destroyed everyday in our ecosystems. One of the many creatures that call this area home is the loggerhead sea turtle. When arriving to the preserve you will park and find a boardwalk that leads you out to the beach!
On our trip we spent half the day here before heading to Miami for our second half of the day. I promise videos and photos do not do this wonderful land justice! When stepping off the boardwalk and into the sand it felt as if I was in Hawaii or even another country! The hills of plants gave a breath taking backdrop that blocks out the view of roads, homes and everyday life while the waves crashed against the huge limestone rocks! This place is a must see while in Jupiter and is unlike anything you have ever seen before
At blowing rocks preserve you are allowed to swim in the water and lay out in the sun just like every other beach but this beach gives you the vibe of being in another place! I promise this was the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been too and I’ve been to many! If your on this road trip it’s totally worth the stop to see!
While in Jupiter you may even see these little guys! The curly tail lizard is a invasive species here in south Florida and originally came from Cuba and the other surrounding islands! Now they run wild and can be seen just about anywhere in south Florida! The one to the right was one of the biggest ones we saw while in Jupiter!
After spending half a day in Jupiter we have moved on down to Wynwood walls, Miami Florida.
This is about a hour and half ride from Jupiter! You may be thinking what’s so cool about Wynwood when Miami is already such a tourist hot spot and offers a ton of stuff to do! Well Wynwood Art district is a
Unique outdoor destination featuring huge, colorful street masterpieces by artists from around the globe. This town is completed by hundreds of murals, museums, art shops, bars, restaurants and more! Most places wall art & Graffiti are illegal but here it’s the culture!
Everywhere you look is a different form of art painted on the walls, buildings and even the ground where you walk!
We spent the 2nd half of our day touring all the shops and museums here in Wynwood. You can spend all day here if you wanted too. Parking was cheap and ran around 10$ for the day!
There are no admission costs so help yourself
Into all the museums and find your most favorite work of art! The artists that created this have such talent! The pieces of work here are just so creative and inspiring. I know this may sound weird but if you have ever wanted to see a real wall made out of Gum..... there is one here in Wynwood.
This photo was taken in one of
The garden areas to Wynwood! They even offer wine and beer while touring the garden.
If you know me well, then you know I love my plants and greenery! One of my favorite shops / museums was one that had nothing but plants! Below is my favorite work of art that I saw! It’s a face created out of moss growth! When I tell you this picture was about 12ft high and 8ft wide it was HUGE!
I honestly found it so neat just because it looked sooo real and how they could get moss to turn into a painted face was just so neat to me! How do you keep the moss from just growing everywhere?
It was definitely a neat thing to see while in Wynwood but there is a form of art for just about everyone’s taste and liking!
After this long tour of Wynwood Walls I’m sure your getting hungry or even thirsty! Well there is way to
Many restaurants and bars to pick from here in the art district so let me help you pick one! When we first got here and we’re trying to pick a place to eat we were so confused on where to go!
Not because nothing sounded good but because there was just so much to pick from! We ended up at this raegae style bar called the “bar next door!” They offered a ton of food and drinks all Miami styled. We ended up getting a spicy chicken quesadilla and a hamburger and they were both very good! So if your looking for an easy pick this is the one for you!
our next stop is going to be the Florida keys. The Florida keys is a 2hr drive stretching to many different islands. They’re many things to do on each of these islands and it can be overwhelming. I’m going to narrow down some of the best things to see and do while in the keys for 2 days. So let’s go ahead and dive right in!
I’m sure by now you're exhausted from Jupiter and Wynwood and it's probably getting dark so lets find a place to stay. When leaving Wynwood it's about an hour and half drive to my most favorite hotel in the Florida Keys. Islander Resort a Guy Harvey hotel is located in Islamorada. This hotel is beautiful! It consists of a few large pools, its own restaurants, Water sport rentals, a large private beach, night time movies poolside, personal villas and grills. It’s the perfect place to stay for your entire time in the keys.
Rooms can be a little more pricey due to the fact that this resort is the best in the entire area. The rooms are large and super clean. I’ve included some pictures of our room below as well as their website
When we arrived at the hotel we got checked in, unloaded our bags and went down to the pool area where we had dinner, swam and got to watch a movie they had been playing by the pool. We didn’t spend much time at the hotel during the day because we wanted to explore but if you are wanting to just relax then there is no reason to even leave the resort.
Day one in the keys we went to Robbies for breakfast. Robbie’s of Islamorada has a wide variety of breakfast at a decent price. In front of this tropical restaurant they have many stands selling touristy goods. One of the main attractions that make Robbies so famous is the hand feeding Tarpon.
Make sure to do this while there because you will not find this anywhere else. Once on the boardwalk they will sell you a bucket of dead fish for about 10$. You will then go and hand feed the Tarpon. It is so fun and adrenaline rushing for newbies.
After Robbies head over to the famous Bahia Honda State park. This park consists of the old bridge that use to connect the islands. This bridge is no longer in use and makes for some wonderful pictures. Another famous park in the keys you can check out is John Pennekamp Coral Reef state park. This is where the large underwater Jesus statue is.
After the long day exploring the islands we headed back to our hotel where we swam, laid in the hammocks and then got ready for our evening dinner. We decided to go to Square Grouper in Cujoe Key. This restaurant is a little more fancy and pricey but totally worth it. My favorite dish there is the spicy chicken in jasmine rice! After dinner we were back at the hotel enjoying the hot tubs.
Our second day in the Keys we booked an all day tour to Looe key Reef. You can book this tour through Looe Key Resort and dive shop. This tour will take you by boat on an all day snorkel trip to the reef. I’ve been to many different reefs and I will say that this reef is one of the most beautiful ones. You will get to see huge coral heads, tons of colorful fish, sometimes sea turtles and even sharks. Enjoy this tour because it is amazing. Photos below
Our last evening we spent some time at Duvall Street in Key West. This is about a two-hour drive from the hotel but is a must. Duvall Street is full of bars, restaurants, shops, museums, aquariums and more. It is so much fun but make sure to drive safely back after.
Once we finished up in the Keys, it was sadly time to head back home. On your 8hr drive back let's make one last pit stop in the Florida Everglades. Here we are going to go on an airboat tour of the area. Captain Jack's Airboat tour offers a great ride through the swamp where they guarantee to see tons of wildlife. You will be amazed at the amount of alligators!
Lastly it's time to finish your drive home. I hope this guide helped you on a great road trip full of adventure. If you have any questions feel free to send me an email! Enjoy.