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St. Louis to Florida. Shortest path to best beach.

T

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Gf and I are taking a vacation next month and we're most likely going to drive somewhere in Florida to spend a week on the beach. We basically want a break from the St. Louis area.

1) I'd like to find the shortest drive possible. She likes Destin, and that's about half the drive from St. Louis as would be driving to Key West.

2) We'd like to stay on the beach, so I'd like to avoid a 'high end' resort area. A basic 3 or 4 star hotel with a patio or balcony overlooking the beach would be fine. Condo would be ok too.

3) We're considering going to two different places and staying about 3 days per place. So we're open to multiple ideas.

4) We want a nice beach that isn't rocky or loaded with shells.

Thoughts?
 
i've been to the keys, miami, cocoa beach, st. petersburg, and clearwater.

miami is cool but it is the higher end stuff that is more uppity. if you want to party, go to south beach.

st. petersburg was very nice and very relaxing. it was not crowded by any means and had a great beach. clearwater was just as nice, but definitely more crowded.

cocoa beach the water isn't even clear. in fact i'd stick to the gulf side in general.

the keys own. i'd go there over any of the places mentioned, however there isn't much actual beach area in the keys, so if it's an actual beach you want with long stretches of sand, then don't go to the keys.
 
Ya it kinda depends on what you're looking for - peace and quiet or lots of activities/night life. I'm not looking to party, so the beaches on the Gulf are better for me. Given that you're driving, I'd stick to Anna Maria Island around Tampa or possibly Sanibel Island a couple hours south. Both have beautiful beaches and will be relatively quiet (Sanibel being somewhat more lively).

You can find the odd sandy beach in the Keys here and there, but that's an additional 5 hours or so to your trip.
 
Jeeebus said:
Ya it kinda depends on what you're looking for - peace and quiet or lots of activities/night life. I'm not looking to party, so the beaches on the Gulf are better for me. Given that you're driving, I'd stick to Anna Maria Island around Tampa or possibly Sanibel Island a couple hours south. Both have beautiful beaches and will be relatively quiet (Sanibel being somewhat more lively).

You can find the odd sandy beach in the Keys here and there, but that's an additional 5 hours or so to your trip.
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Much of that much further south than we want to go.

Looking around the area between Pensacola and Panama City
 
TechBoyJK said:
Much of that much further south than we want to go.

Looking around the area between Pensacola and Panama City
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Destin and PCB can be pretty party heavy, but spring break is over and school is back in, so it may not be too crazy.

I've always preferred Navarre personally, but I like my beach trips to be relaxing. Anywhere on Santa Rosa Island is nice.
 
Mexico Beach is east of PCB, on the other side of Tyndall AFB, has beautiful white sand beaches and isn't that populated or overused. in the evening you can watch the F-22s fly over the beach to land at the AFB.
 
Come to Jupiter and stay at the Jupiter Beach Resort. Fairly cheap for what you get and amazing south florida beach. Second Favorite beach would be Amelia island. That place is beautiful.

Both are quiet places. Def not for parties.
 
Siesta Key is very nice and lots of rentals on AirBnB. Anna Maria island as well. These can get crowded.
Madeira Beach/Indian Rocks has beach hotels and is also very nice. Sand isn't as fine as Siesta Key though. Quieter.
 
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If you're only staying a few nights, you'll likely want to do the hotel thing. Staying in condos usually incurs a cleaning fee (sometimes like $50+/stay). Just make sure you read all the fine print so you don't get surcharged to death if doing rentals.

If staying in a hotel, start looking for good rates now and see what you can find...check a few weeks and then a few days before you leave. Make sure you only stay in resorts with a good cancellation policy so you can switch hotels if you find a better deal down the beach the day you get there. Marriott and some of the others will let you cancel up to 6pm the day of check-in.
 
Panama City / Destin area will be fine.

If you want a shorter trip you could do Orange Beach / Gulf Shores, AL or Pensacola, FL. (I'm assuming this would be shorter... Google Maps could prove me wrong.)
 
Since you are from STL I will ask, have you ever been to the ski resort? When I went to Six Flags last month I saw it on google maps close by. I would like to go if it was worthwhile
 
Jeeebus said:
Ya it kinda depends on what you're looking for - peace and quiet or lots of activities/night life. I'm not looking to party, so the beaches on the Gulf are better for me. Given that you're driving, I'd stick to Anna Maria Island around Tampa or possibly Sanibel Island a couple hours south. Both have beautiful beaches and will be relatively quiet (Sanibel being somewhat more lively).

You can find the odd sandy beach in the Keys here and there, but that's an additional 5 hours or so to your trip.
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+1


overst33r said:
Siesta Key is very nice and lots of rentals on AirBnB. Anna Maria island as well. These can get crowded.
Madeira Beach/Indian Rocks has beach hotels and is also very nice. Sand isn't as fine as Siesta Key though. Quieter.
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Sanibel is a bit pricey, but very nice.
 
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West Coast and Panhandle def have the white sand beaches. East coast is completely different I would look at photos of what you want. Pensacola is awesome if you want the short drive. I would take that over Destin.

Sanibel and Venice are consistently popular.
 
LevelSea said:
Destin and PCB can be pretty party heavy, but spring break is over and school is back in, so it may not be too crazy.

I've always preferred Navarre personally, but I like my beach trips to be relaxing. Anywhere on Santa Rosa Island is nice.
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I like Navarre as well as it's quieter and less developed than Destin. I can't stand PCB and I only go to Destin if I'm staying for free. I prefer the Forgotten Coast area with my favorite being Cape San Blas. Beaches there are not crowded and sometimes you can walk for miles before you see someone else.
 
Destin isn't terrible if you don't mind military members. Pensacola is not bad either. Personally, I'd only go to either if you knew people there (I do, so I've been quite a bit).

You might want to look more East than South. I don't know how much difference in drive time it would be to go to North Carolina.

You could also do the smart thing and go north to a big lake.
 
SAWYER said:
Since you are from STL I will ask, have you ever been to the ski resort? When I went to Six Flags last month I saw it on google maps close by. I would like to go if it was worthwhile
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What ski resort are you talking about? There are not really any worthwhile anywhere near St. Louis.
 
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