So we wanted to go to America. I had the idea for a long holiday back in the autumn of 2013. Unfortunately my boyfriend, Darren, was having health issues so instead of going in September we postponed it until the following year. I’d been to the States before but Darren hadn’t. I knew I wanted to take him to New York and Florida. When I had been in the past I flew in to New York, stayed the weekend then flew down to Florida then back to New York for the journey home. One year I managed to cram in Memphis and New Orleans with Atlanta being the main airport.

There were lots of places I wanted to see like the Outer Banks in North Carolina after falling in love with them watching the film Nights in Rodanthe. We’d also met a couple of guys in a pub one night and while chatting over dinner one of them told us that North and South Carolina are beautiful and we should explore. And the seed was sown. I looked at the map. I checked the drive time from New York to Florida and saw it was about 18 hours. Hmm. A road trip!

I anxiously emailed my boss asking for 3 weeks holiday thinking he’d never agree to it but I think I had the answer within 12 hours. YES! I was ecstatic! So now to the planning. I looked at flights to New York and returning from there thinking we’d have to fly back at the end of the holiday. Hang on. Why not fly back from Miami? I knew I wanted to fly Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy and Miami was one of their airports. I booked the flight out for Friday 23rd May landing about 6pm US time so we would have the whole weekend in NY. We would fly home from Miami on Friday 13th June.

I work for Discovery Channel so know lots of Americans and started asking them questions on where to visit. I had a long list from one of the ladies I work with but if wed stopped everywhere she suggested it would’ve left a day in each place! I didn’t want to be upping sticks every day, three or 4 days in some places would be good. I spent hours looking at the map, working out drive times, investigating hotels and places to visit. I eventually came up with an itinerary which looked like this:

New York 23rd to 27th May

Nags Head, Outer Banks 28th to 31st May

Myrtle Beach 31st – 1st June

2nd June open – Southern Carolina or Florida

Orlando, Florida 3rd – 4th June

Boynton Beach 5th & 6th June

Miami 7th – 8th June

Key Largo 9th – 11th June

Key Largo or Miami 12th June the night before we flew home

So we’re home. The tans already seem to be fading and the cases need to be unpacked but what a holiday! 

We started in New York and drove all the way to Key West stopping at various places on the way. New York was mad and amazing, seeing the sights from Top of the Rock, seeing some lovely old friends and meeting new ones, cycled in Central Park and cruised around Manhattan. 

We left after 4 days and spent 10 hours driving down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, stopping for lunch at Philadelphia on the way. Stayed in a motel on the beach, explored the islands and took a biplane ride and relaxed! Next stop was Myrtle Beach which was busy and commercial and just what we expected from a seaside town. Went on a little wooden roller coaster which scared Darren to death and bruised his arm. Shopped in tacky shops and ate at a roadside bar while watching the mad vehicles go by. 

The next bit of the journey was a relatively short one with a 2 hour hop to Charleston. Spent some time driving and walking around the city then back in the car for the drive to Savannah. The hotel in Savannah was on the river and seemed to date back to times when they produced cotton there. Had dinner in a local pub and toured the city the following morning.

From Savannah we drove to Orlando arriving early evening and settling in to our hotel. We had a bit too much to drink and ordered pizza to be delivered about 11.30pm!

We did Island of Adventures and Seaworld before driving town to Boynton Beach to catch up with family and friends.

We then headed to Miami and partied too hard and met a lovely group of people from America and Chelmsford UK. The next day we suffered and stayed in bed most of the day!

The rest of the trip was spend in Key Largo and Key West, again making new friends and enjoying life. I will go in to more detail of the journey in this blog.