Florida Trip

[profwebs]

Was thinking about going to the Gulf coast, but looked at things more and I'm pretty set on Deerfield Beach. Cheaper and no bus..

I've read that the transportation in this area of FL is pretty good so I'm assuming I'll have no trouble getting to the Comfort Inn Oceanside. I found this post in an older thread saying that there is a bus from the station to the hotel. Anyone know for sure if this is still the case?

I'm planning on checking out the museum that is at the station, but have no other plans(assuming I book this trip).

Any other suggestions on a different hotel or area and things to do in the area would be great. Planning on doing a lot of relaxing, but don't want to be a vegetable the whole time either.

 

[VentureForth]

Personally, I'd endure the bus for the trip to Clearwater. WAY nicer beaches on the left side of the state, in my humble opinion. But Flagler did have a pretty good thing going down the right coast, so I'm sure there's something to be had.

 

[Shotgun7]

Unless you plan on coming here to the Deerfield area during the heart of rush hour (which you're not), Broward County Transit mixed w/ Tri-Rail may look absolutely convenient for getting anywhere, but it reality, it's simply a joke. You'll spend longer trying to get anywhere with connections in Broward than you would on the direct and far more comfortable bus connection to Clearwater. The Deerfield station area is not served by Amtrak or Tri-Rail shuttles, only city buses that operate on an hourly basis at the time you get in. They either terminate or turn around once they get within about a mile of the beach.

Just to let you know, the beaches in the Clearwater/Tampa/Sarasota area are far less crowded and far nicer to anything here on the east coast. In fact in Deerfield, you're lookin at a pretty crappy beach setup altogether, I'm not gonna lie.

And the "museum" at the Deerfield station is in actuality a model train club that opens during limited hours on Wednesday evenings.

Moral of the story.... I think you'll be a little disappointed if you decide to head to the east coast, for whatever it's worth.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Unless they've changed the bus routes and schedules, my wife and I did indeed take the municipal bus out to the beach, and it did have a stop not much more than about 75 feet from that hote, which I believe is one block from the beach. Clearwater beach is a lot farther from the Tampa station than the Deerfield Beach station is from the beach there. That said, we do also prefer the Gulf beaches, and there is a long string of nice beach from Clearwater south through St. Pete beach. I don't know that I would take a bus, though, to Clearwater, I'd rent a car. Just take a look at the distances looking with Google Maps or Google Earth. The water in the Gulf is much calmer than the Atlantic Ocean beaches, generally speaking. Although during hurricane season, planning far ahead is iffy for either coast..... We live in the Orlando area.

 

[profwebs]

Any other moderately priced areas on the east coast? I kinda want to stay on the east coast now that I have a trip planned for less than $1,000, train and beachside hotel. (9-20 through 9-25)

Too bad Amtrak or light rail doesn't connect to the St. Pete area.. It does look wonderful..

Amtrak's fare to STP is only $50 more and I suppose I could stay at a hotel on the bay or inland to save some dough, but I dunno if I want to ride 2 hours on a bus... Not up for renting a car either, so I guess I need to make a choice :unsure:

 

[Rail Freak]

Any other moderately priced areas on the east coast? I kinda want to stay on the east coast now that I have a trip planned for less than $1,000, train and beachside hotel. (9-20 through 9-25)
Too bad Amtrak or light rail doesn't connect to the St. Pete area.. It does look wonderful..

Amtrak's fare to STP is only $50 more and I suppose I could stay at a hotel on the bay or inland to save some dough, but I dunno if I want to ride 2 hours on a bus... Not up for renting a car either, so I guess I need to make a choice :unsure:

If you take the Silver Star to Tampa, the bus ride to St Pete is about 20-30 minutes. But, the beaches are probably a $50 cab ride from the St Pete Amtrak Bus Station!

RF

 

[VentureForth]

What bus takes two hours? The bus from Tampa to St. Pete is only 40 minutes and costs $6 more and is part of the Amtrak throughway system. Getting to the beach does seem to be a pain in the behind, though, and probably easier from Tampa than St. Pete.

You probably made a wise decision...

 

[Shotgun7]

Doesn't the AMTK bus also stop in Sarasota?

 

[profwebs]

Any other moderately priced areas on the east coast? I kinda want to stay on the east coast now that I have a trip planned for less than $1,000, train and beachside hotel. (9-20 through 9-25)
Too bad Amtrak or light rail doesn't connect to the St. Pete area.. It does look wonderful..

Amtrak's fare to STP is only $50 more and I suppose I could stay at a hotel on the bay or inland to save some dough, but I dunno if I want to ride 2 hours on a bus... Not up for renting a car either, so I guess I need to make a choice :unsure:

If you take the Silver Star to Tampa, the bus ride to St Pete is about 20-30 minutes. But, the beaches are probably a $50 cab ride from the St Pete Amtrak Bus Station!

RF

Guess I need to do some more playing around.... I didn't realize the Star went to Tampa. I also assumed that the Capitol Ltd. pulled into DC after the Star did... now that you said that, I looked at the schedule and see the Star gets into DC at 3PM. So why isn't the system giving me the option of riding the star?

 

[profwebs]

Hmmm... won't even price out the trip if I do a multi city trip including the star :blink:

 

[profwebs]

What bus takes two hours? The bus from Tampa to St. Pete is only 40 minutes and costs $6 more and is part of the Amtrak throughway system. Getting to the beach does seem to be a pain in the behind, though, and probably easier from Tampa than St. Pete.
You probably made a wise decision...

The connecting bus in Orlando from The Silver Meteor...

 

[Rail Freak]

Doesn't the AMTK bus also stop in Sarasota?

Yes, Orlando, Lakeland, Tampa, Bradenton(?), Sarasota, Port Charlotte & Ft Meyers!

Nice buses also, very nice. The bus ride is actually enjoyable, unless you sit close to "Motor Mouth"!!!

RF

 

[AudenHoggart]

Hmmm... won't even price out the trip if I do a multi city trip including the star :blink:

We were considering a trip from Florida to the Midwest, connecting in WAS from the Silver Star to the CL. I guess Amtrak thinks the Star is late too often to allow the connection.

I've found in trying other multi-city trips that the system won't allow it if it would be too close a connection. The alternative is two separate bookings, but then you don't have any protection for a missed connection.

I believe Amtrak has taken account of improved ontime performance of some trains and allowed connections it hadn't in recent years. Any change of this happening for the Silver Star to Capitol Limited connection?

 

[profwebs]

Any other moderately priced areas on the east coast? I kinda want to stay on the east coast now that I have a trip planned for less than $1,000, train and beachside hotel. (9-20 through 9-25)
Too bad Amtrak or light rail doesn't connect to the St. Pete area.. It does look wonderful..

Amtrak's fare to STP is only $50 more and I suppose I could stay at a hotel on the bay or inland to save some dough, but I dunno if I want to ride 2 hours on a bus... Not up for renting a car either, so I guess I need to make a choice :unsure:

If you take the Silver Star to Tampa, the bus ride to St Pete is about 20-30 minutes. But, the beaches are probably a $50 cab ride from the St Pete Amtrak Bus Station!

RF

Wow... 2 bux a mile :blink: Found a nice hotel(and cheap) on St. Pete beach too...

Bayview Plaza Waterfront Resort

This would still keep me under a grand for the train and hotel.. I was looking at the trolley and it would take 2 hours from the bus station to St. Pete beach... I'm kinda leaning towards this now... would love more input when u have time

 

[AlanB]

Hmmm... won't even price out the trip if I do a multi city trip including the star :blink:

We were considering a trip from Florida to the Midwest, connecting in WAS from the Silver Star to the CL. I guess Amtrak thinks the Star is late too often to allow the connection.

I've found in trying other multi-city trips that the system won't allow it if it would be too close a connection. The alternative is two separate bookings, but then you don't have any protection for a missed connection.

I believe Amtrak has taken account of improved ontime performance of some trains and allowed connections it hadn't in recent years. Any change of this happening for the Silver Star to Capitol Limited connection?

Correct, the Capitol Limited is too often so late as to miss the connection to the Star, so Amtrak will not allow you to book that connection. The only way to book it is to make two seperate reservations and if you miss the Star, too bad. Amtrak will only exchange your Star ticket's value towards the current bucket price for the Meteor assuming that room is available. If the Meteor is sold out, you are out of luck. You'll spend the night in DC on your own dime and have to try for a seat on the next day's train.

 

[profwebs]

RF or any other Tampa/St. Pete residents, what do you feel about PSTA for getting from TPA to St. Pete Beach? Here is the route and time for the trip. An hour and a half isn't too bad and I don't mind taking public transit when available. Of course, the thruway bus would need to be as on time as possible or I'll be calling a cab. I just wonder about taking a suitcase and carryon with me on the psta busses.

Also, I said "trolley" in an earlier post, before I had done any thorough research. I'm kinda liking the deal I can get on this hotel and won't spend much more than Deerfield if I bus it to the hotel.

 

[AudenHoggart]

Hmmm... won't even price out the trip if I do a multi city trip including the star :blink:

We were considering a trip from Florida to the Midwest, connecting in WAS from the Silver Star to the CL. I guess Amtrak thinks the Star is late too often to allow the connection.

I've found in trying other multi-city trips that the system won't allow it if it would be too close a connection. The alternative is two separate bookings, but then you don't have any protection for a missed connection.

I believe Amtrak has taken account of improved ontime performance of some trains and allowed connections it hadn't in recent years. Any change of this happening for the Silver Star to Capitol Limited connection?

Correct, the Capitol Limited is too often so late as to miss the connection to the Star, so Amtrak will not allow you to book that connection. The only way to book it is to make two seperate reservations and if you miss the Star, too bad. Amtrak will only exchange your Star ticket's value towards the current bucket price for the Meteor assuming that room is available. If the Meteor is sold out, you are out of luck. You'll spend the night in DC on your own dime and have to try for a seat on the next day's train.

My question was the other way round - wanting to connect from the Star to the CL. That also doesn't seem to work on Amtrak reservations. In looking at Amtrak delays for the past four weeks (which only had 11 reported timings into WAS), we would have made the connection 8 times and missed it 3 times.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Like the OP said,Amtrak cant make good the connection,there is only a 45 minute window before the Stars arrival and the CLs departure which isnt much!If youre lucky you can book it seperately but if you miss the connection youll have to overniught in WAS or ride a Regional North to NYP or BOS(66 is THE overnight train for this!)which is not what you want to do IMHO!

 

[AlanB]

As a general rule, although there are a few exceptions, if the scheduled connection time is less than one hour Amtrak will not allow it.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Was thinking I've read that the transportation in this area of FL is pretty good so I'm assuming I'll have no trouble getting to the Comfort Inn Oceanside.

I stayed at that Comfort Inn once. I suggest you don't make the same mistake. I've seen brothels with less action. I mean unless you like that sort of thing. In which case you will probably find it the sort of thing you like. But I think not.

 

[TampAGS]

RF or any other Tampa/St. Pete residents, what do you feel about PSTA for getting from TPA to St. Pete Beach? Here is the route and time for the trip. An hour and a half isn't too bad and I don't mind taking public transit when available. Of course, the thruway bus would need to be as on time as possible or I'll be calling a cab. I just wonder about taking a suitcase and carryon with me on the psta busses.

That's a shame that you are having to take the Meteor instead of the Star. If I were you, I might consider only taking the Meteor as far as Winter Park, staying there for the one night, then boarding the Star for Tampa the next morning. But then I'm not a big beach person. If you are trying to get in as much beach time as possible, then my idea would be lousy. :blush:

 

Though the Thruway connection from the Meteor in Orlando over to Tampa isn't too bad, really. I've taken it a few times, and it should not experience any significant delays, other than whatever time deficit it inherits from the Meteor. For your return trip, though... definitely try catching the Silver Star if your schedule allows. Regardless of how nice the Thruway buses are, they still aren't trains.

 

Good luck with the local transit. I have no experience with PSTA, so no insight to offer you. I will say that this area is not known for having the most effective or convenient public transit, so don't set your expectations too high.

 

Otherwise, I hope you have a very relaxing, rewarding time here in the Bay area. If you can swing it and if you have an interest, definitely check out the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Pete! It has the largest collection of his works outside Europe, including 7 of his 18 masterwork pieces.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

If you are looking for a beachside hotel on the coast from Clearwater south through St. Pete beach, be sure you do a google maps or google earth look at it. "Bayview" in the name may be a strong hint that it is NOT on the Gulf of Mexico beach, but rather on the other side. And if you do get a hotel which actually IS on the Gulf beach, try to get a room that is on the west side of the building and has an actual view of the Gulf. Sunsets can be spectacular, and just sitting on the room's balcony porch (almost all have one) with a cup of java in the morning is a wonderful way to bleed away the stress. Quite a few Clearwater "Beach" hotels are not actually on the Gulf - they are on the cut between the Gulf and the Intracoastal. Yes they have a beach, but no, it's not really a gulf beach.

There are a lot of beach municipalities along the Gulf west of St. Pete - Redington Beach, North Redington Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, etc. Wendy and I spent this past Thurs. and Fri. nites at the Doubletree on the Gulf beach in North Redington beach. We had a Gulf view room (higher cost than "Bayview"), and was a very nice hotel, but a little pricier than we'd have liked. But a great stay. Entire hotel was non-smoking rooms. It was SO nice to stay in a room that didn't stink, literally.

If you are a reader, a visit to Haslam's Used Bookstore in St. Pete is a must.

We didn't use the train this trip - we live near Orlando and it was about a two hour drive from home to the hotel on the beach.

 

[profwebs]

Thanks for the replies.

That's a shame that you are having to take the Meteor instead of the Star. If I were you, I might consider only taking the Meteor as far as Winter Park, staying there for the one night, then boarding the Star for Tampa the next morning. But then I'm not a big beach person. If you are trying to get in as much beach time as possible, then my idea would be lousy.

It's not that I need the beach time, but I need this trip(if it happens now) to clear my head and relax. Trying to take the Silver Star is complicating things too much, not to mention round trip on it from DC cost as much as round trip on the Meteor from Pittsburgh.

If you are looking for a beachside hotel on the coast from Clearwater south through St. Pete beach, be sure you do a google maps or google earth look at it. "Bayview" in the name may be a strong hint that it is NOT on the Gulf of Mexico beach, but rather on the other side. And if you do get a hotel which actually IS on the Gulf beach, try to get a room that is on the west side of the building and has an actual view of the Gulf. Sunsets can be spectacular, and just sitting on the room's balcony porch (almost all have one) with a cup of java in the morning is a wonderful way to bleed away the stress. Quite a few Clearwater "Beach" hotels are not actually on the Gulf - they are on the cut between the Gulf and the Intracoastal. Yes they have a beach, but no, it's not really a gulf beach.

Good advice, although I'm not too worried about my room facing the ocean. Would be great if I could afford it, but....

I did find The Bayview Plaza which is part of a 3 hotel chain, 1 of the is right on the gulf with a private beach. Stay at 1 and have access to all. Looks very nice and is very affordable.

If I end up making the trip, I'll check out the museum and the bookstore... if I'm not sleeping on the beach the whole time

 

[Rail Freak]

RF or any other Tampa/St. Pete residents, what do you feel about PSTA for getting from TPA to St. Pete Beach? Here is the route and time for the trip. An hour and a half isn't too bad and I don't mind taking public transit when available. Of course, the thruway bus would need to be as on time as possible or I'll be calling a cab. I just wonder about taking a suitcase and carryon with me on the psta busses.
Also, I said "trolley" in an earlier post, before I had done any thorough research. I'm kinda liking the deal I can get on this hotel and won't spend much more than Deerfield if I bus it to the hotel.

I'm beginning to think that I may be a lot older than you :lol: ! It would be much easier to catch the cab to the hotel. If you take PSTA, you'll be transferring to other buses, lugging luggage! The trolley is from downtown Clearwater to & thru the Beaches (Nice, but do that after you're settled into your hotel!!!) Unfortunately I don't drive or I would drive you myself!!!

RF

PS: Don't worry about the Thruway Bus, whether it's from Orlando or Tampa, it's enjoyable, relaxing and convenient!!!! Go For It!

 

[profwebs]

RF or any other Tampa/St. Pete residents, what do you feel about PSTA for getting from TPA to St. Pete Beach? Here is the route and time for the trip. An hour and a half isn't too bad and I don't mind taking public transit when available. Of course, the thruway bus would need to be as on time as possible or I'll be calling a cab. I just wonder about taking a suitcase and carryon with me on the psta busses.
Also, I said "trolley" in an earlier post, before I had done any thorough research. I'm kinda liking the deal I can get on this hotel and won't spend much more than Deerfield if I bus it to the hotel.

I'm beginning to think that I may be a lot older than you :lol: ! It would be much easier to catch the cab to the hotel. If you take PSTA, you'll be transferring to other buses, lugging luggage! The trolley is from downtown Clearwater to & thru the Beaches (Nice, but do that after you're settled into your hotel!!! Unfortunately I don't drive or I would drive you myself!!!

RF

Lol, You probably are older, but I am feeling my age.. I don't mind lugging my luggage, but if I take this trip that might change... LOL I may email www.supershuttle.com and see if they can grab me from STP... A cab would be much easier, but the cost...