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So my wife and I and our at that point roughly 10 month old daughter are going to be in Jacksonville Florida visiting family in November 2019. We live in Australia so want to do a little road trip as the kid will be too young to do Disney world and for Australian standards I reckon a road trip through the south will be cheap and we can take it at our own pace. We will probably have between 7-14 days (that’s an upper limit! 10 is probably best) and would love to go to savannah and New Orleans but everything else I’m not sure. We like food and history and nature but a lot of these towns just seem to be about civil war stuff and I’m not sure if I’m missing anything there. What cities are nice and pretty to walk around with a kid. Also we would return to Jacksonville so one itinerary I had planned a bit was up to Savannah- Atlanta- Birmingham - New Orleans - back through some beach area. I guess this sounds ridiculous but we are spoilt by the beaches here in Australia so that’s not bad but not essential. Also in November not sure what the weather is like. Finally I guess Atlanta am I being naive just wanting to give it a miss? Thanks all!
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Oct 15, 2018 03:54
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:17 |
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Hey y'all, Southerner here. What in tarnation are you planning to do in Jacksonville? That whole city exists just as a sprawl of soulless strip malls and a checkpoint for people driving down I-95 to get to the real attractions of Florida. Anyway, Autumn as it is, only exists for about 3 weeks or so in the South, so maybe you'll get lucky but usually the temperature around November can be anywhere between 40F--80F (between 7C--27C) at any given time or day. As an example, last week in my city, we just had a record high of 91 degrees F (33C) and then we were hit by a Hurricane, and now we're looking at record lows at the end of the week almost below 40F. Central and Southern Florida are tropical pretty much year-round. In short, pack a lot of layers if those kinds of temperature shifts bother you a lot. In November though, overall it should be fairly mild. Speaking of Hurricanes, the Gulf Coast is still recovering from an insanely powerful Hurricane Michael, so some of the areas you'll be driving by will be wiped out and sans electricity. And yeah, not any History around until you're a big American Civil War buff. Savannah is very lovely and you'll be lucky to visit it at time not in the middle of the Summer when the 90% Humidity and 100 degree F Southern Summer days choke the life out of you and mosquitos feast on you like a Biblical plague. Never been to Birmingham, but unless you REALLY like Civil War and Civil Right monuments stay hell away from Alabama. New Orleans is a major culture hub (though not very family friendly) but seedy as hell, with lots of violent crime. Also, all Southern major cities have a lot of violent crime in general, so be pretty drat careful and don't just wander around especially downtown outside of the touristy areas. Atlanta is fun but driving around is a loving nightmare--I cannot possibly overstate how much you really don't want to drive around there--but it's a little more family friendly--cool stuff like the Georgia Aquarium (largest in the Western Hemisphere) and tourist crap like the CNN Center and World of Coca-Cola downtown is fun but I would strongly suggest not driving yourself and keep within the safe parts of the downtown and the northern part of the city. Shiki Dan fucked around with this message at 08:25 on Oct 15, 2018 |
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Oct 15, 2018 08:23
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Shiki Dan posted:Hey y'all, Southerner here. My brother in law was posted to Jacksonville from Melbourne Australia for work so we are visiting. Otherwise we’d probably go somewhere closer like... anywhere else haha. So it’s next year November so hopefully those areas will be better but that sucks re: hurricane. Also re: safety I don’t know how it compares to Australia, but I didn’t think things were that bad? What if we wanted more of a nature kind of road trip. Since from Australia w have to fly via the west coast would it be better to just go JAX-LAX or LAS and road trip out west for that? I’m just not sure if I’m trying to make the south happen for us when really we should just go elsewhere.
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Oct 15, 2018 08:55
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Oh sorry, didn't notice you said 2019. And yeah, there isn't really that much "nature" around the Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle except swamps and trees and rednecks. The Savannah and Edisto Island areas are kind of nice (for swamplands) and shouldn't be too bad outside of Summer. Some Gulf Coast beaches can be decent--you'll be visiting at a time of year where there's an ebb of tourism outside of South Florida, so it shouldn't be too crowded teacup posted:So it’s next year November so hopefully those areas will be better but that sucks re: hurricane. Also re: safety I don’t know how it compares to Australia, but I didn’t think things were that bad? This is exactly the kind of thinking that makes foreign tourists end up in our news cycle after being shot by police, the ghetto, or Florida Man. Just use common sense, stick to the nice and bright tourist areas when you're in a major city, don't approach police or anyone on the street randomly. Shiki Dan fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Oct 15, 2018 |
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Oct 15, 2018 17:14
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Shiki Dan posted:Oh sorry, didn't notice you said 2019. Fair enough! I might rethink where I’m going on this. Might fly into an east coast city and drive down to Jacksonville to meet up family instead...
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Oct 15, 2018 21:28
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I can get the "stay the hell out of Alabama" sentiment from someone who's never spent much time here, or even someone who has, but my state has some things to recommend it. Birmingham is actually really good in a lot of ways. The most recent James Beard Award for Best Restaurant in the country resides in Birmingham, at Highlands Bar & Grill. There are other places to eat in town that are worth your time, too, if that's something you're into. Bham consistently gets high marks for its food scene. Saw's Soul Kitchen is amazing. The Pizitz Food Hall is fun, and there's lots of different smaller restaurants operating there. Some of them are pop-ups, too, so the variety is always changing. The Red Mountain Museum of Natural History at least seemed cool when I was a kid. I'm sure it still is. And the Civil Rights Institute is maybe more relevant to an American than to an Australian, but it's very worthwhile. Sloss Furnace is a neat place to explore and take pictures. I haven't stayed at the Elyton Hotel yet, but it looks really loving nice. All the above are also in Bham. Mobile, architecturally and historically, is a lot like New Orleans. Both are old colonial cities. Mobile is cheaper than New Orleans, and of course it's less exciting, but I've always enjoyed my times there. I could do a better job if I wasn't late for a meeting, and maybe I'll come back and fix it up a little bit after. Just...don't be scared of Alabama, there are some good things here if you know where to look! edit: Also, if you're going through the eastern part of the state and can swing the side trip, you should definitely head to the little town of Seale and check out Butch Anthony and his Museum of Wonder. I just ran into him yesterday and was reminded of what a wonderful guy he is. Here's a link to an NYT profile on him: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/garden/08doonanny.html And here's part of a documentary the late Les Blank never got to finish about him. https://youtu.be/UQFqScFOFfs jonboy8871 fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Oct 24, 2018 |
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Oct 23, 2018 23:59
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St. Augustine is an hour from Jacksonville. Can’t get much more historic than that in the US.
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Oct 31, 2018 21:33
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teacup posted:What cities are nice and pretty to walk around with a kid. Also we would return to Jacksonville so one itinerary I had planned a bit was up to Savannah- Atlanta- Birmingham - New Orleans - back through some beach area. I guess this sounds ridiculous but we are spoilt by the beaches here in Australia so that’s not bad but not essential. Also in November not sure what the weather is like. savannah is a nice city. i would recommend wandering around and exploring. charleston, south carolina is similar where the core old downtown area would be interesting to see, but mostly you're going to be looking at old colonial houses and buildings and stuff with associated tourist industry attachments like gift shops and restaurants. either one of those cities is fine, they're pretty similar. fort pulaski might be an interesting diversion for an hour (it's a civil war fort in a swamp) and definitely get some local seafood while you're around, like a lowcountry boil or something it's fine to skip atlanta. there's some touristy stuff here but it's not a very walkable city and not very interesting for an international tourist unless there's some specific thing you want to see, like martin luther king's tomb or something. if you do visit atlanta i wouldn't spend more than an afternoon, especially with a kid - you'll run out of stuff to do. there's plenty of entertainments but not a whole lot that would be different from what you get at home. atlanta is a fine city to live in but there's not really any big draws to attract tourists, and it's not a very cohesive city so you mostly navigate it with a car i dont know much about birmingham. it's a pretty boring and standard industrial town without much of a tourist focus. like atlanta it's fine for locals i'm sure but without any real wow factor for visitors. both atlanta and birmingham have proximity to the lower reaches of the appalachian mountains, which are good for outdoor activity. november is typically the peak of the leaf-turning season, with a lot of fall related tourist attractions and activities like corn mazes and orchard festivals and the like. if you child is old enough and game for a walk in the woods, i would recommend spending a day in north georgia or alabama. something like, amicalola falls and then a visit to blue ridge, georgia or chattanooga or something like that. if you are going to get away from the coast you might as well check out the smaller towns in the hills instead of atlanta/birmingham new orleans is a fun but dirty city. i'd keep an eye out after dark but unlike some of the more dire warnings of personal safety you don't have much to worry about in the united states so long as you don't wander too far. don't give anyone on the street any money. the french quarter is beautiful, and you can also get a bit off the path with neighboring districts like marigny and treme to an extend, but maybe just a walk up esplanade and back. new orleans is a food town, just go nuts as it's one of the culinary centers of america. go to parkway and get a po boy for sure. some of the best beaches in this part of the us are on the panhandle but i think they'd be pretty equivalent to australia. i'd suggest mexico beach except it got crushed by a hurricane. maybe seaside would be an interesting town to visit? most of that stretch of the panhandle is just tourist as hell, it's called the redneck riviera and is skippable regarding weather, the continental us sees some pretty drastic shifts in temperature this time of year. so the weather could be anywhere between 0c-20c, a slight chance of snow, and a half chance as if it is raining or not. bring a decent coat or just buy some for cheap while you're here and donate them when you leave or something. the weather along the coast will be warmer and more certain to be pleasant. florida is called the sunshine state for a reason. there's also the possibility of a hurricane so be ready to scrap a few days of your itinerary to just go somewhere else if it seems threatening if you want to see natural america, check out the state park system of whatever states you're visiting. the us federal government maintains wilderness and parkland, but each state also has its own system of state parks, which often host some interesting little landmark or ecosystem. if you have the time, avoid the interstate highways and check out the smaller, numbered federal or even state highways - you'll pass through more small towns and see more of interest, and don't be afraid to stop in some little hole in the wall if it looks interesting. when you're driving in america, it's easy to blow right past some small town charm at 100kmh if you stick to the interstates tldr - the only cities you mention that are really worth visiting are new orleans and maybe savannah. if you want a nature focus, definitely consider driving to the appalachian mountains and spending some time hiking or just walking around small towns. research the small towns you plan to visit because some are interesting but most are just stiflingly boring. keep an eye out for any state parks that might catch your interest e: somehow i missed that your kid will be an infant. 8 hours in a car is a big ask for a child that age, so really i'd say your best bet is just to go to new orleans, spend a few days there, and gorge like a starving animal. then drive back to jacksonville, as that's the best way to get from nola -> savannah, and either take the interstate if you don't have time or take state roads if you want to see the countryside. then head to savannah for a couple days for another orgy of feasting Mr. Fall Down Terror fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Dec 8, 2018 |
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Dec 8, 2018 20:45
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OP the whole south sucks in the US. I suggest catching a plane out of JAX and going somewhere that deals with a lot of tourism already. NYC, LA, etc. Savannah is trash and only masturbated over by people who think the antebellum south is a good thing. Birmingham will probably get you killed. Atlanta might too. Same with parts of NOLA. The crime is high, the temperatures are brutal, and the people suck. I say this as a born and bred southerner. Don't do it. You want pretty outdoor scenery and you're just boners for the south? Cloudland Canyon is pretty in GA. Fall Creek Falls in TN is also nice. Anywhere with 5 stars in the great smoky mountains. Rock City is one of those weird goddamn americanisms that I like to send people to because it's literally Just A Bunch Of Rocks but people were nuts for it for a long time for ???? reasons.
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Dec 9, 2018 15:00
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I grew up in the south too and agree to skip it although less apocalyptically than the previous poster. Fly out west somewhere and do a road trip there instead. You have to head that way anyway to get back to Australia, and it looks like JAX flies directly to Las Vegas (but not LAX or SFO). So, IMO fly to JAX, rent a car, do a roadtrip through Red Rock Canyon, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, spend a couple days in LA, then take the direct back to Sydney. November 2019 can be nice in the south, but it might also be lovely weather and post-fall and everything is dead and brown and unappealing. The countryside in the south is IMO pretty un-spectacular unless you get there at the right time and get the fall colors in the Smokies, in which case the Smokies can be awesome but nowhere near 10-14 days worth. It's cool to go off the beaten tourist path (at least as far as foreign tourists go—the south is not really on anyone's itinerary outside of Orlando, Miami, and New Orleans), but the parks of the American West are really pretty spectacular and far more unique than the farmland of the south.
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Dec 9, 2018 18:24
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Atlantic Beach in Jacksonville is nice, there's a little bookstore next to a coffee and wine bar. Me and this girl used to hang out there, then when it closed, we grabbed a bottle of wine and got drunk on the beach all night. Can't really recommend anything else to do there.
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Dec 10, 2018 04:40
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Saladman posted:November 2019 can be nice in the south, but it might also be lovely weather and post-fall and everything is dead and brown and unappealing. The countryside in the south is IMO pretty un-spectacular unless you get there at the right time and get the fall colors in the Smokies, in which case the Smokies can be awesome but nowhere near 10-14 days worth. eh usually it's not until december that everything gets dead and wintery, the big problem with the small fall season the southeast gets is that it's also usually rainy
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Dec 11, 2018 22:06
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luxury handset posted:eh usually it's not until december that everything gets dead and wintery, the big problem with the small fall season the southeast gets is that it's also usually rainy lol at anywhere except the mountains having real fall in the South. Or being wintery for that matter.
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Dec 22, 2018 00:56
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The guys making GBS threads on New Orleans above, yeah, it's dangerous in parts and a mess, but it is legitimately a Goddamn world treasure culturally. Take a poo poo on Charleston, Atlanta - whatever - but don't discourage people on New Orleans, it's completely worth it. Just don't spend the entire time in the Quarter.
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Dec 22, 2018 17:35
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Hey Guys! We are bailing on this idea (kid is born, realised we don't necessarily need to take a 21 hour flight to east coast USA, especially at that time, and my brother in law is visiting us so yay!) He's living in JAX for a few years at least so I will be using some of these tips to look at a seperate trip in a few years time when our baby is a bit older and can actually be in places a bit better. I'll admit I'm still surprised from the crime aspects but I'm not sure if I'm being a naive Australian or Americans just advise that of any city not their own but I'll keep it in mind.
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Jan 5, 2019 11:01
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:17 |
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teacup posted:Hey Guys! I'm from Jacksonville. It's fine. Don't worry. You are spoiled on the beaches, I really wouldn't bother but the best ones are in the Florida panhandle, like Destin or Pensacola Beach. Here's my big suggestion though. Check out the springs of north Florida. They are the favorite part of my state and unless you've been to the Yucatan of Mexico, you haven't seen anything like them. They are crystal clear artesian pools that bubble up from the aquifer. Just google the following: Gilchrist Blue Springs, Alexander Spring, Ginnie Springs, Cypress Spring, Ichetucknee Springs (you can go tubing on the river formed by this one!). These are some of the best but there are a lot more. I hope you like to swim.
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Feb 2, 2019 03:34
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