We have visited quite a few places and found a technique that has proved to be both fun and useful. That’s the notion of staying off site. There have been times that we have wanted to go to a festival or visit a point of interest and found that the lodgings in the area are a bit above our pricepoint.
Our First Clue
Back in the olden days when we used to go to the major theme parks, it became apparent that the further we got from the front gate, the more reasonable the rates. That trend continues to this day.
Most recently we took a little trip to Dade City for their annual Kumquat Festival. Our hope had been to stay in one of their quaint local lodging facilities. However, by the time we started looking, the rooms had been booked for weeks and at a premium rate.
Instead, we went up to Brooksville and found a great Microtel room at a fraction of the cost. This also happened when we went to St. Augustine to see the Christmas lights. Instead of paying their seasonal rates, we set up just down the road at Palm Coast. Ditto our stay in New Smyrna when we attended seaside Easter Sunrise services, There, we stayed up in Ormond Beach.
There are Many Benefits
The drive in always has been pleasant and the amount of gas to and from our destination has been a fraction of the difference in the hotel room prices. Moreover, the choices that we had between the two communities doubled our options both in dining and in shopping.
Even at 20-30 minutes away, staying off site gives you plenty of time to get to a destination or festival as an early bird. You then have the option to depart and decide, do we want to see something around here or do we want to go back around our lodging facility and knock about in that community.
We plan to do this again very soon. A trip to the seashore (or Gulfshore) is in our future. Should we not find a lodging facility that meets our pricepoint, we’ll be looking for a community that’s a bit inland to find a place to stay.
In fact, our experience has been that the farther we are from the water’s edge, the more reasonable the pricepoint. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, but it seems to apply more often than not.
 Let us know your experiences with staying off site at floridafuntravel@yahoo.com
