Living in Florida, the beaches are sure to become your constant friend. Although not as true for the state capital, you’ll find a handful of options just an hour’s drive away. But when you plan to relax, an hour’s worth of driving is worth it to blow off steam, something that would positively impact your behavior in the following week.
Finals’ week was hectic and after 14 December nobody was going to hold me down from going to Miami.. I had never been to Miami, and I found other like-minded people who also hoped to walk the streets of Vice City. We planned on starting on the night of the 23rd, and when on the 22nd our semester grades came through, I was over the moon. Everything was off to a good start.
We were a group of 11. On the day of starting, two of us got two cars from a rental. One was a four-seater Chevrolet Malibu 2023 worth $211.39, and the other a seven-seater Jeep worth $464.24. We also had to get Sunpass toll stickers worth $5 each. The Sunpass account took a charge of $10 each for account creation as well. Besides, we booked a two room AirBNB for $445.42 starting from 3 PM of 24 to 1 PM of 26 on Lincoln Rd, Miami.
We started from W Tharpe St, Tallahassee at 9:30 in the night. The streets were already empty as schools had broken off and most people traveled home for the holidays. We caught the Interstate no. 10 (I-10). We had three hours of driving ahead of us. The interstate was pitch dark and the trees on either sides were blocking the view to the almost-full moon. We gossiped for an hour and half and then drove to a stop beside the road after we had ridden for about 100 miles. The thing about traveling in the States is that the long roads are huge, desolate, and fatiguing.
There’s no “tong” on the road where you can stop, talk to the locals, eat “peyajus,” relax and then be on your way again.
Instead, there are “rest places” where travelers can park their vehicles and take a nap; and there are gas stations that have fast food and basic essentials that you might need while traveling. They also have restrooms. The non-Bangali reader might not understand the significance of this statement, and it would be pointless trying to make them understand. We were aware of the non-existence of such “tongs” on the US roads and so, we traveled prepared with beverages in the trunk of the car. We created as close a simulation of the Bangladeshi highway tongs as we could. Soon enough, we were back on the road. Close to a hundred miles later, we had reached St. Augustine’s.
Our plan was to travel to the Bridge of Lions at St Augustine’s. No sooner had we come into proximity of the area that we noticed blinding and beautiful LED lights and decorations on both sides of the road. We drove past the “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” museum, past the decorated hotels and nightclubs, and found a parking spot close to the bridge. The lights were beautiful, and the streets were lively. The nightclubs were booming with life. The energy was real, and we met other tourists as well. A small band had been singing country tunes and we joined the enthusiastic crowd.
People in Florida love Bon Jovi more than they love Flo Rida.
We walked the streets, the bridges and the pier clicking photos. The weather was not too cold, but we kept our jackets on. The shops were already closed. Soon after 1:30, the clubs began to shut down. It was at this time that the park benches began seeing more crowds, pouring out of the clubs and into the park. We decided not to stay there any longer, and to go to the museum. The museum decorations were beautiful. and nearby hotels had aesthetic lighting too. We roamed around the streets before we decided to get back on the road.
We did not get breakfast and instead decided to stop at a McDonald’s. To our disdain, we were educated with a more logical meaning for the term on the signboard reading, “Drive-thru open 24 hours,” because McDonald’s was most definitely closed when we arrived. We ended up stopping at a gas station not too far from there and got sandwiches and fruit drinks, the totality of which cost us not more than $6 each. We then drove. Our next destination, West Palm Beach.
The people at the back fell asleep because we knew that we had a long drive ahead of us. The naps, however, were as good as one would expect inside a Sedan on the interstate. Before we had reached West Palm Beach (WPB), all of us were wide awake, and were down at the beach at around 7 AM. We were lucky because that is when the sun was about to rise. I experienced the most perfect sunrise of my life. Then we stuck around for some time. The waves were mighty that day and they came hurtling down onto the rocks with great force. The ambience was simply amazing. A few other tourists had also been with us, either walking their dogs, taking a stroll, or clicking photos on their digital SLRs. And the pets seemed to be loving it.
The streets of WPB are beautiful and clean. We also saw some state workers brooming down the roads. We noticed a certain aesthetic; all buildings and everything else on the roads had an oceanic color palette. Nothing was truly white, rather a warmer sea-pearl shade. We fetched breakfast at an i-Hop five minutes’ drive away where I ordered the Philly cheesesteak burger costing $11. The place was packed but the service was superb, quite worthy of a generous tip. This is where we got dressed for the beach. The weather was phenomenal; windy, but also sunny, and you could wear whatever you wanted and still feel comfortable. I took off my hooded jacket and put on a Hawaiian shirt and a funky pair of shorts. We then went to a Panera five minutes away for our morning coffee.
We were the first people there. We did not waste time at Panera since there were a lot of places that we had planned to go to at WPB. However, we were also tired from the drive. We decided to go to Manatee Lagoon first and decide from there. We found parking in the main parking zone right next to the lagoon at around 11 AM. The place was beautiful, one right out of a travel postcard. The lagoon is popular among people for spotting manatees. The water is clear, and the manatees sometimes come close to the shore and jump for the spectators. People even keep count of how many manatees they spot on a single day. On the other end of this lagoon stands high-rise buildings and cargo. Besides, there is also a manatee museum here, which is especially fun for kids. Inside, there are documentaries on manatees, an aquarium, manatee skeleton and WPB-themed merchandise. It also has a second floor that houses the restrooms and a protruding balcony-kind of space for spotting manatees. We spotted one. The manatees are friendly, and they keep porpoising. Five minutes of manatee spotting is sure to improve anyone’s mental state by loads. Outside the building is a sitting area. The bricks that paved the area have the names of donors, athletes and students etched into them.
We relaxed for some time here. Some of us took a nap. We visited the museum, took some photos, and also did some manatee spotting. We got fresh and at 4 PM we decided that we had already spent too much time here and that we should leave WPB now for Miami.