Florida to Alaska Road Trip Update: Days 1- 4

By Kenin Bassart @Constantramble

After 4 days of travel and covering over 1200 miles, we thought it would be a great time to update everyone on our road trip’s progress so far. We’re having a great time on the road and we’ve got lots of pictures and updates to share. So far, we’ve made it from Key West, FL to Richmond, KY.

Our Route from Key West to Richmond


Our first day began with a somewhat awkward kink in our itinerary. We wanted to start our trip at the Southernmost point in the USA which is located in Key West, FL. In order to accomplish this we had to drive South from Miami and head all the way to Key West, then turn around and drive all the way back! It was a road trip version of a game of tag! It’s a good thing heading through the Keys is always a wonderful time. There are tons of shops and different road side attractions to keep the drive fun. I mean who wouldn’t want to stop by the side of the road and take a picture with a giant lobster?

After a few hours we made it to the southernmost point. It’s a really small marker located at the southeastern end of Key West. We go out and took some photos to mark the official beginning of our trip!

This is what happens when you let a tourist use your camera

In order to keep the drive interesting, and avoid doubling back on the same route, we decided to head to the West coast of FL for our first night. We drove out of the Keys and took one of our favorite routes across the state via Tamiami Trail. Is takes you right through the middle of the Everglades and is awesome for trying to spot wildlife. As always, we hunt for gators while in the glades but they were being uncooperative and we didn’t see any.

Our route eventually turned North and we stopped and and spent our first night in Port Charlotte, FL. After what felt like minutes of sleep, we packed up the next morning to make our way out of Florida. We decided to take I-75 so we could make some good time and get out of Florida. While at a rest stop north of Ocala, we finally had a chance to spot the one and only gator we’ve seen so far. He may be little but he still counts

It finally started to feel like a road trip to us when we crossed the border into GA. One of the first things we did was stop to pick up one of out favorite snacks; Pecan Logs. It’s a roll of chewy nougat rolled in chopped pecans. Absolutely delightful!

Our goal that second day was to, hit Atlanta and then spend the next day enjoying the city. For some odd reason we’ve driven through the city a bunch of times but had never actually spent a day there. We finally arrived and checked into the La Quinta in Marietta at about 8:00PM. We were pretty hungry so we decided to see what we could scrounge up for dinner. We got in the car and just started driving towards the city center, after about 10 minutes we stumbled into a great regional chain called the Tilted Kilt. After dinner and a couple of beers, we decided to hit the hay and rest up for our next day.

The following day we went out into Atlanta to enjoy the city. It has so much to offer and we only had one day, so we chose to hit a few key places instead of trying to see the whole city in one day. We drove over to the Pemberton Park where we visited the mind-blowing Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coke and took a stroll through the Centennial Olympic Park.

For dinner we decided to see what North Atlanta had to offer and took a scenic drive up the famous Peach Tree lane. We found a perfectly swanky restaurant called Southern Arts. The fall weather was crisp and cool, so we enjoyed a couple cocktails and an amazing dinner on the patio.

The following morning we had to reluctantly bid Atlanta farewell and get back on the road. We planned our next stop in the town of Richmond, KY and got back on the road. Our route took us North on I-75 until we hit Chattanooga, TN around lunch time. We stopped for a roadside picnic and then decided we had enough of the interstate and took a scenic drive on Highway 111 through the back-country of Tennessee and Kentucky. Along the way we stopped and let the doggies out to play at this nice little park near the Obey River in KY.

The rest of the drive was absolutely beautiful, and it reminded Lauren and I of all the reasons why we love to road-trip.

We hit our hotel in Richmond, KY and decided to stay in for dinner and just wind down a bit. Here’s a gallery of some of the great pics we took along the way!

Enjoy, and as always, we would love to hear your comments




That’s how they do it in the Keys!


This is my Angry Face :- |

Are you mad at me?





Our Route from Key West to Richmond