Abroad · June 2024
Florida and New York, from mangroves to skyscrapers
A Florida we would never have set foot in without a good family reason. Verdict: pleasantly surprised. A week from the Atlantic coast to the Keys by way of the Everglades, then three days walking New York.
- When
- June 2024
- Stops
- St Augustine · Everglades · Keys · New York
- Highlight
- The mangrove tunnels
- Encounter
- Charlie the alligator
Daytona and St Augustine
The Atlantic coast
A first day of discoveries, following the coast from Daytona and its wide beaches. Then St Augustine: love at first sight. The town is wonderfully charming as soon as you step into the street behind, among balconied houses, shady lanes and the old Spanish fort.
A superb building, built to be a hotel, hides behind its palms and fountain. Honestly? Pleasantly surprised.
Crystal River
Spanish moss and turquoise water
No manatees, but a pretty butterfly instead. We fall in love with the trees draped in Spanish moss around our little bungalow in Crystal River: when we go to Florida, we pick the most unlikely spots.
A dreamy little natural pool of turquoise water, honestly not retouched. The manatees come back in winter, when the ocean gets too cool.
The Gulf coast
Clearwater, Dalí and Siesta Key
A stop in Clearwater, its rows of parasols and a deliciously air-conditioned drink. Then a little culture, on a recommendation: the Dalí Museum in Saint Petersburg. The building alone is worth the detour; you are plunged straight into Dalí's world, and in the cool.
The night on Siesta Key, more touristy than we imagined, but with the first swim of the holiday under the mocking eye of a pelican.
The Everglades
Mangroves, alligators and monsoon
Off to the Everglades: a ride through the mangrove tunnels, simply magical, with the opening at the end before entering the next tunnel, then a second ride across the grassland. Total wonder. Charlie was waiting for us, faithful, a fine male, and his female treated us to a little dance. No desire to jump in there.
For the last buggy ride in the swamps, fifteen minutes of tropical rain on a roofless vehicle: the heavens literally open over our heads. The critters get their soaking too, the vultures dry off on the roof, and straight afterwards thousands of mosquitoes arrive. An evening in an Everglades City empty of tourists, a pretty spot full of character with an impressive City Hall, and a night in a typical motel.
Coral Gables and the Keys
Bougainvillea and flame trees
A quick visit to Coral Gables, a lovely neighbourhood of magnificent tree-lined avenues, green, in bloom and beautifully residential. Then Islamorada, the moon lighting up the evening, and a hotel full of charm far from the modern resorts, with its seafront and its little private harbour where iguanas bask in the morning.
At the Beach Café, a tropical evening and its famous palm tree, with immense luck with the weather. Between bougainvillea and flame trees, the heart hardly hesitates. Christian, on his little jetty, watches the mangrove form and decides we'll have to come back… or think about it.
New York
A first time
New York, a first for Christian, who loved it. We walked, walked a lot, and found corners that aren't all famous but are oh so charming. We went up to the top of the Edge twice, turned back by lightning the first day: that view!
The Manhattan Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, not alone but it could have been worse, and Little Island, a little gem. Near Chelsea, Swiss flags catch our eye: an unlikely bit of Lavaux in the middle of Greenwich Village. Then Ground Zero, the emotion, and a last look at the skyline. In short: we loved it.
