My wife is going over to Jacksonville, Florida for a training session with her head office next week and she wants to do some sightseeing while she’s over there (Miami, Key largo, alligators, maybe the space centre etc.). However while the missis is a gentle soul, albeit one who’s done a fair bit of travelling on her own (round Europe, Moscow, Kiev, Korea…), my impression of Florida has been influenced a lot by Miami Vice, Scarface and cop bodycam videos…
Would you say that Miami and Jacksonville are generally safe for a single woman doing some sightseeing? I think she’s going to arrange a tourgide for the day trips outside Miami but I’d prefer it if she just flew in, did the training and flew back….
Regardless of the unfamiliar sightseeing locale, it’s always a good idea for a single female to be part of a group or accompanied by at least another person. Not intended to be a sexist comment, but rather an observation out of an abundance of caution.
I’m inclined to agree! Some other friends have said it’s best to be careful, avoid looking like a tourist etc whether you’re a man or woman…. I think she’ll be ok if she’s with a guide or a colleague though
Like most locations, there are good places and some not so good places. If it looks iffy stay away. Since she has traveled on her own around the world this is not any different. My wife travels to Jacksonville by herself often and hasn’t had any trouble. Been to Miami and Fort Lauderdale several times and no trouble. Just watch your surroundings. If she is driving down I-95 from Jacksonville to Miami, the traffic is a little crazy.
The bright side about Florida in general is that it’s pretty obvious if you’re in a good area or not. I wouldn’t recommend exploring down town Jax much, mainly because there’s not much to see (not to mention the safety aspect). Jacksonville Beach, Amelia Island, Fernandina are the better (and safer) exploration choices. St. Augustine is the go to place, however. Lots of history and, they’re getting ready to start the “Nights of Lights” celebration where they cover just about every square inch of the city in Christmas lights. You could easily spend a few days in St. Augustine and still not see all it has to offer (although I HIGHLY recommend having lunch or dinner at the Conch House. Try the conch fritters while you’re there).
Miami is a hell of a drive from Jax, I should add. You’re looking at about 7 hours one way. It’s a neat trip to take over a couple of days because there are A LOT of neat things to see between the two places. Daytona, Jupiter Inlet, Ft. Lauderdale and more all are almost their own little worlds (if you go through Lauderdale, stop in at the famous Mai Kai and have some tiki drinks).
Then you get to Miami which is Florida but mostly New Jersey with tan.
Personally, I prefer to take the beltway around Miami and go right to the Keys.
Downtown Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando Metro are probably the worst places for a solo traveler, much less a female one with Tampa bringing up the rear (mostly the Ybor city section). The best Florida stuff is away from the big cities.
If you want to message me with more details about the trip and what she likes, I can give better and specific suggestions.
I was going to make a comment that I am glad we don’t have to have that conversation about travelling in Australia, but sadly that is no longer the case.
While it is still largely true, in the last 12 months or so, one of our largest cities and most popular tourist destinations, Melbourne, has become pretty dangerous and I am worried it will just spread.
In our case it is knife and machete attacks, not just gangs but random stabbings, which is pretty unusual here.
We actually have people talking about needing to arm ourselves for protection, in Australia!
The causes are various but there is a common thread which I won’t mention as it tends to upset people.
I am worried that Sydney will be next then I suspect the Gold Coast or certain areas of Brisbane.
All our cities have areas which are rougher and a bit dodgy, but there are not many I would describe as no-go zones.
There are places out West where you can be at serious risk depending on circumstances; Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, even up the Cape and the Islands, Darwin on pension day etc.
Totally! I lost most of my uniform one night in Bunbury. I think that’s a different kind of story than what you’re talking about though. I would just say, that was the night I found out that Australian women like American accents.
Sydney is pretty safe.
Oxford St and Kings Cross can have their moments, but both are a lot safer than they used to be and that was usually random drunks wanting to punch on.
Even Redfern which was pretty chancey is a lot safer now.
Oh yeah, great song. There is a pre-programmed drum rhythm on the Casio keyboard I’ve had since the 80s (CT-630) that always reminded me of it. I’d use that way before any of the “rock” rhythms.
We hit up Geelong (pretty close to Melbourne) and Sydney on our way around the south side of the continent. Sydney was really cool, I got a tattoo in King’s cross, but I think my favorite of the 3 was Geelong. It is (or was 25 years ago) a big college town, lots of those like American accent types there.
Hey thanks for the guide @mr.crispy ! I’ll pass it along to m’lady…
AFAIK, she’s planning to fly to Miami and stay for a couple of days to see the architecture and use it as a hub for daytrips, then fly to Jacksonville, do the work training, then back to Miami for a couple of days before flying back.
