FLORIDA REPORT: Here is what I just saw

[Collin Hays]

Took a little time to visit a few spots in Florida with my wife.  I realize we are just going into spring break for many, but anyway...I was pretty amazed how light the crowds were.  Car rentals were cheap, hotels were cheap, no waits at good restaurants, and I bought two grounds passes for the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with ease, straight from the tournament, 10 minutes before we entered.

St. Augustine...stayed at the Beach House boutique hotel.  Directly on the beach, large room, breakfast.  $325 per night.  Seems awfully cheap to me to be right on the ocean.  We ate in Old Town and only had to wait one time for a table.  

Orlando/Kissimmee...we stayed at very nice, quite new "vacation club" time share there.  1,100 square feet for me and my wife.  Two very large bedrooms and baths, living, dining, kitchen, laundry room.  We stayed here three nights and paid $465 TOTAL including the tax. I have no idea how they make the numbers work on that.

WDW...we were there on Saturday and the crowds were light. We ate at a sit-down restaurant in "Italy" without a reservation. The wait was about 10 minutes.  

In summary, Florida seemed sluggish. With oil breaching $100 a barrel, the next few months could be a challenge.  

[Andrew Steffens]

Here is my tape chart for primarily Tampa area Feb 17-Apr 1.  The traffic is god awful on the gulf coast.  My wife wants to go to the beach so I calculated its easier for me to fly to Bahamas than to go the normal 1 hour for me to go to Clearwater Beach (now takes 3 unless I want to leave at 6am).