Southwest Florida Back Roads Road Trip

My goal, as with most road trips, is to completely avoid interstate highways and find the most interesting roads (usually not appearing on maps).

This one day road trip started when I arrived at Orlando airport and Barbara at Avis gave me a free upgrade to a Mustang Convertible. I could not ask for anything more for $195 a week; yes, I found a rental car in Florida in February for under $200 a week (I am a smart traveler after all). And, BONUS, SiriusXM was free for the week.

Satellite radio, convertible, 80-90 degree days. Blissful!

Only one day in Southwest Florida because I was heading over to the southeast side of Florida for more Florida road trip fun.

Leaving MCO, I drove directly south to Boggy Creek Road (highway 530). When 530 splits, I went west, took surface streets, and landed in old town Kissimmee—where I found this:

This odd statue from the 1940s looked particularly magnificent during my visit with that blue sky and also spooky with those big black birds.

From Kissimmee, I followed 17 south, much as I did a few years ago on my Florida Hills road trip.

Well, now that it was early afternoon and I was warmed by the 85 degree temps for an hour (I left home that morning with snow on the ground), I was on the prowl for lunch. Two of my best BBQ experiences were in this area—ribs from a place called something like Fat Boyz in Mt. Dora and a pulled pork sandwich from James Browns in Avon Park.

So, BBQ was on my mind but I screeched to a stop when I spotted this taco trailer near Haines City.

Tacos for $1.50 and an ice cold Mexican soda. Sign me up for this lunch whenever possible!

After the quick and yummy lunch snack, I continued on 17 south, explored a few side roads where you can drive through citrus groves—no picking!

By leaving numbered roads (like 17) I find cool things, like unpaved red clay dirt roads.

At a quick pit stop in Sebring, I had to be careful where I parked.

I even got a chance to drive through Venus.

I was hoping to make it to the beach for sunset pictures but I spent too much time exploring the back roads. Oh, well.

The easy way to get from Naples to Ft. Lauderdale is I-75. I decided, of course, to take a much more scenic, and to me FUN, route.

Driving a series of surface streets and small roads with names like Oil Well Road and County Line Road, I was able to skirt along the northern edge of the western Everglades.

Traversing those small roads was a lot of fun and highly recommended. I ended up in Clewiston, where I hopped on highway 27 south to Alligator Alley (highway 84).

In this area, near Clewiston, are parks with opportunities to view Lake Okeechobee—second largest freshwater lake in the continental US.

I continued driving into southeast Florida where I had more adventures including Opa Locka: Funny Name, Cool Architecture.

See also 6 Sensational Miami Scenic Drives for Fun Florida Road Trips.

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