On Monday 29 April, the Guardian will begin Road Trips USA, a series of reader-guided road trips across America. Guardian journalists will pitch up in a part of the country, with no plans, no accommodation and no firm route.
For the first trip, I will be driving the length of Florida. The one thing I will be armed with is my mobile phone, Twitter and GuardianWitness, our new tool that features reader stories in text, photo or video. Until next Friday, I will rely on Twitter tips sent in from you to me (@AdamGabbatt) or through @GuardianUS.
You can use GuardianWitness directly from this post to add your favorite photos of offbeat Florida. Here's how it works.
Hotels and motels will hopefully be selected via tips, as will places to eat. Where is the best place for crab? Should I eat fried alligator? When I get down towards the Everglades National Park tips on which bits to explore will be crucial. Is it environmentally acceptable to get an airboat ride? Should I watch a man wrestle an alligator? All questions that need to be answered.
We will be live blogging the trip every day, with photos, video and good old words as I am guided around the state. There’ll be live video from some of the best places, and a lovely little recap of my day posted every night.
Florida is a pretty big place, so there is a loose travel itinerary: I’ll be in Jacksonville on Monday morning, and from there will head to Daytona Beach, St Petersburg, potentially glide through the Everglades and then onto Miami and finally Key West.
We’re hoping for lesser known tips and sights, so while Disney World does not particularly appeal, pulling off the road into, for example, the Burt Reynolds museum in Jupiter, could be interesting.
The 650-odd mile drive could get lonely and/or boring, so in advance it would be great to get some music tips for a Florida-TwiTrip-playlist. So far I’ve come up with “Miami”, the 1998 single from Will Smith’s debut solo album “Big Willie Style”. A strong start, but it would be good to have other songs too. Can you leave those suggestions in the comments?
I’m also looking for hotel tips in Jacksonville, preferably central. (Here are a few ideas about the area submitted by Guardian readers so far.)
During the trip (and before, and after) I’ll be tweeting @AdamGabbatt, so do follow along and join in. You can also use the hashtag #Roadtriptips on Twitter and tweet your recommendations to @GuardianUS. You can also use GuardianWitness, to submit photos of offbeat Florida. You can download the app on Android or iPhone here.
