On the East Coast, Florida is the home of spring training baseball: major league teams come to towns all over the state to participate in “Grapefruit League” practice sessions. Heading south from historic St. Augustine along coastal Hwy-A1A, you can watch the Washington Nationals (in Viera, near the Kennedy Space Center complex), the Los Angeles Dodgers (in Vero Beach), the New York Mets (near Fort Pierce), the St. Louis Cardinals (near ritzy Palm Beach), and the Baltimore Orioles (in Fort Lauderdale). Inland, in between visits to Walt Disney World and the delights of Orlando, you can catch an Atlanta Braves game or two.
If you keep heading south past Miami Beach and Everglades National Park, you will eventually run out of land and end up on the Overseas Highway, an amazing series of bridges and causeways connecting island to island. Quirky towns, coral reefs, and plush resorts line the road, along with piers and beaches catering to the region’s two main industries: sportfishing and sunbathing. End of the Road: Key West, the welcoming home of Ernest Hemingway, Jimmy Buffett cover bands, and an easy-going crowd of sailors and sun worshippers. Days here end with sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, as you gaze out toward Cuba with a cool one in-hand.
Other roads to drive:
Out west, spring training takes place in southern Arizona, where the Cactus League centers on the twin cities of Phoenix and Tucson. Baseball fans add to the annual influx of golfers and sun-tanners drawn here by the reliable warmth and dry desert air, but despite the peak season prices, it’s still a great time to come. Once you’ve had your fill of hot dogs or resort life, head out into the surrounding deserts, which in March, are aflame with wildflowers, wildflowers, and more wildflowers. From Phoenix, head east into the Superstition Mountains, or north to the bird-watching mecca, Hassayampa River Preserve. From Tucson, you have even more options: The two halves of Saguaro National Park sit at the city limits, while historic sites like Mission San Xavier, Tumacacori, and Wild West Tombstone offer a blend of natural and cultural pleasures.
March means more than baseball, so before or after a spring training road trip make a stop or two along the coast of Georgia, which is an amazingly beautiful, mostly unspoiled part of the country. The offshore barrier islands here have been kept out of the hands of commercial developers (Cumberland Island is a National Seashore, and Sapelo Island is preserved by the state), so visitors can see what things were like before the invention of golf courses and vacation homes. Even the “developed” coastal lands are charming: For a taste of how the DuPonts and Rockefellers spent springtime in the Roaring 1920s, head to Tybee Island, now a Georgia state park. And if you’re here in the middle of March (or any time of year for that matter), make your way to delightful Savannah, a historic beauty that is also home to one of the largest and most enjoyable St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the US.
