In early December, I traded 35°F in Dallas for 80°F in Florida, and it immediately made the snowbird lifestyle make sense. The goal was simple: cover all three of Florida’s national parks in one trip, which is surprisingly doable since they’re clustered close together in the south.
Everglades: a quick wow, then a lot of swamp
Everglades National Park is huge and wild, and it absolutely delivers on the “Florida swamp” feel. I saw plenty of alligators, but after the first wave of excitement, it started to feel a bit repetitive. The real standout for me was seeing manatees for the first time, which felt genuinely special.
Nothing says Florida quite like an alligator
Biscayne: beautiful, but mostly underwater
Biscayne National Park is gorgeous, but it’s the kind of park where you need to get on the water to really experience it. From above, it can feel like you’re just looking at a protected patch of ocean, and the best parts are down below if you snorkel or boat. It was calm and scenic, just not as immediately “park-like” as the others.
Biscayne National Park entrance
Key West: the quirky tourist destination
The drive down Highway 1 to Key West was a highlight on its own, with nonstop water views and long bridges that feel like they belong in a movie. A few scenes from 2 Fast 2 Furious were filmed in the Florida Keys, so parts of the drive gave me that ‘seen-this-on-screen’ feeling.
Bridges stretching for miles over the sea.
Once there, the free-roaming chickens were impossible to miss - they’re everywhere largely because of Cuban immigrants who kept chickens back in the day, and as Key West developed and food became easy to get, a lot of them were simply left to roam. Over time they turned into a protected local icon that helps keep the Key West vibe unmistakably Key West.
The locals of Key West
I also made the classic stop at the Southernmost Point marker, which is touristy, but still worth seeing once.
It's only 90 miles from this location to Cuba!
Dry Tortugas: the trip that made it
Dry Tortugas National Park sits about 70 miles west of Key West and is famous for Fort Jefferson and incredible clear water. I took a seaplane out, and the views over that bright turquoise water were unreal. The best part was timing: since I was on the last seaplane back, the ferry crowds cleared out and it felt like we had the island almost to ourselves, which made the snorkeling and the whole place feel even more remote and special.
Can't lie! I'm a sucker for these turquoise waters