UPDATE:  Here's an abreviate AAR on our trip from NorTex to FL and back.  Everywhere the Help Wanted sign was out.  

ALERT!  This is how people in their mid-60s party and travel once they retire.

1st stop was Nachitoches, LA, an old river town.  It was a good stop for the night.  Traffic is bad for a small town.  Not bicycle friendly because of poor road system.  Nonetheless, it was a nice break and the walk along the river was cool.  Bought a tee shirt.

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2nd stop was Mobile.  Stayed downtown in a shabby chic old hotel.  Went to the BB Alabama (big inside and out) and the sub Drum (holy fuck they are small on the inside.  Dining in Mobile was fine.  Bought a hat.

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3rd was Gulf Shores.  We stayed on the beach with some close friends.  Road our bikes on the nature trails.  You go to GS for the sand, sun, and partying.  Dining was mostly "bar food."  Did go dancing at a C&W joint north of the beach and at a popular beach eating drinking place..  Band at the first place could be generously the Grateful Near Dead.  Band at the second place was good.  Bought a hat and tee shirt.

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4th was Apalachacola.  Much smaller than expected.  End up in the local bar on bingo night.  Locals talking trash to each other.  Had a grouper Ruben.  Quiet, picturesque, and relaxing.  Good stop.  Had a blast.  Bought a tee shirt.

5th was St. Augustine.  It was a childhood dream of mine to go to St. A.  It wasn't what I was expecting, but it did not disappoint. We rode our bikes all over including to the fort, Ripley's, over the draw bridge, and the area around the Ancient City.  Bought a tee shirt. Almost got caught in a bar fight.  Bought a hat and a shirt.

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6th was Key West.  The entire drive and the Keys were not what I was expecting.  Had a great time.  We rode our bikes completely around the island and through the historic area for a total of about 10 miles.  Duval is a zoo. The Key was crowded.  The butterfly conservatory was incredible.  The Coast Guard cutter was super cool.  Fort Zach was underwhelming but still worth it.  The food was great.  The nice South African girl running Key West BnB quit the day after we left.  She gave them 30 days notice.  After 7 years of working around the clock, she was burned out and couldn't face another summer.  Florida really never slowed down except for a few weeks.  April was the lodging industry's biggest month on record.  Bought 3 shirts as they were cheap.

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7th was Amelia Island.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  Fernandina Beach was incredible fun.  We stayed on the beach in a BnB.  We rode our bikes from one side of the island to the other and out to Fort Clinch.  I was able to find fossilized shark's teeth on the beach.  We put about 10 miles on our bikes there, too.  The sunset at FB was glorious.  Bought a hat and a tee shirt.

Took 2 days to get home.  Spent a night in Clinton, MS.  Jackson, MS, looks like Mogadishu in some places.

Rankings:

Amelia Island  
St. Augustine
Key West
Apalachicola

Would gladly go back to Amelia.  Would go back to St. A if more of the museums and Flagler College was open.  Key West was a once in the lifetime.  Apalachicola would be worth spending a night.

All told we put 3300 miles on the Santa Fe and 50 miles on the bikes.  Had a great, great time.

I would gladly do something like it again next spring.  We didn't get to see all we wanted.  Two weeks isn't enough.  

BTW, FL is going to be a nightmare starting Memorial Day weekend.  The tourists are going to flood the State.  Good luck to all.

Thanks to all the nice Floridians.  Good luck this summer.


OP:

We are planning a trip from Dallas to Key West via Hyundai.  This is what we know so far.

First leg will be Dallas to Houston to see my son.
Next leg will be Houston to Mobile to see the Alabama.
3rd leg will be Mobile to Gulf Shores to meet up with friends.

Now, it gets fuzzy.

We want to go to St. Augustine, but that’s a 6 hour drive from Gulf Shores.  She wants to save Pensacola for the return trip.  What is there between GS and St. A to see for a day?

After St. A, we will be headed toward Key West.  We need a couple of good places to stop for the night or more on the way down.  I do not want to see the Happiest Fucking Place on Earth.  We want to stick to the Atlantic side of FL.

We are not on a tight schedule.  We are retired.  We have not pets, house plants, or anything to worry about.  If this takes 2-3 weeks, then so be it.

What are some great places that two people in their 60s might enjoy?  We will have our ebikes with us.

We will also be going to Savanah and Charleston on this adventure.

Come on to the Alachua/Gilchrist county area and enjoy some of our springs.

Blue Springs, Gilchrist co.   (there are several "Blue Springs" in the state, reference by county)
Poe Springs
Ginnie Springs
Itchetucknee river
Manatee Springs

Kennedy Space Center is a one of a kind stop, if the  topic tickles your fancy

I warn you, if you travel down the west coast of FL until you reach Manatee & Sarasota counties you may never leave.
Sand like sugar with wide clean beaches that are not over run with spring break or biker types. If that is your choice I'm
sorry. But if you're looking for fine dining to simple great fresh seafood well Sir this is your place. I have lived in the area
since 1967 and I haven't found any place better in FL.

How about a stop over in lake city can see the springs and the Ichetucknee
Then over to Fernandina Beach there is a fort there like st. Augustine and some good local seafood
From Fernandina can take a day trip to Cumberland Island and see the wild horses
Travel down A1A to St. Augustine then to ....

Thanks to all.

If you can catch a rocket launch at Canaveral it is well worth it.
I am a gulf coaster so I can't say much about the Atlantic coast but there are a shitload of places to see in the Keys. Pennekamp. Turtle rescue place, Robbies Marina (Feed the tarpon!) Look for Key Deer as you close on Key West. Atocha (SP?) Museum, Hemingway house (6 toed cats!) Duval st., Mallory square at sunset, southern most point and about a thousand others.
Miami is a spectacle and traffic there is beyond horrible. The Castro district near south beach is
interesting too.
Avoid the Empire of the Rat (Disney crap). Why on Gawds green earth anyone would ever want to go there is beyond me. I have heard Universal Studios is better for adults but I have never been there.
You could also consider driving down one side and back up the other. Floridas best beaches, some of the best beaches in the USA/World (Looking at you Siesta Key) are here.
Anyway feel free to ask as much as you would like. We hate yankees but we like fellow arfcommers.

@TontoGoldstein

If you don't go to https://boktowergardens.org/ while you are visiting ... we're gonna revoke your tourist card. You'd be a complete FLAMING idiot to miss that place.

If you go anywhere near this place, and they are still taking visitors, make it a point to go. Preferably with a good dedicated camera: https://vizcaya.org/

The 30A area between Miramar Beach and Panama City Beach is on your route and worth checking out

This.

Go see the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, can't take firearms on base though.

If you are going to Key West, I would take the ferry from Fort Meyers, unless you want to drive the bridges and see most all of the Key's. I mean, it is a neat drive, but it can be BS too.

Another vote for Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach. I went there for the first time in 1996 on a corporate retreat. My family spent every Easter there for 20 years before buying our condo in four years ago. It is has the feel of the southeastern Low County and that's what we love about it. Very laid back and relaxing from September to Memorial Day, but VERY busy when Atlanta schools are on summer break.

Sir, i would like to subscribe to your newsletter
can i get some more info from you?  We are nearing retirement age (hopefully early retirement age...) and looking for a place to go.  west coast Florida on the short list.  looking for Florida sun/fun/beaches  without the tourist crowds.  any help would be awesome.  
Dont worry...NOT from new england/new york...

You could stop and see MacClay state park and the Auto Museum in Tallahassee.
I was at the park at night during Christmas a few years ago, it was hard to see much of it but it looked nice.
The museum is a lot more than just car's, it has just about everything and not many people visit, it's right on I-10.
If you like knives that have thousands of Case knives on display and all kinds of machinery, and some guns.
If you want to stay the night in that area I would suggest the StayBridge Suites at the museum exit just NE of I-10.
Plenty of good places to eat at the state park exit, that is West of the museum exit.

I have family in Mobile have have made that trip several times and will will always stop in Tallahassee, I'm in the Tampa area.
It's been a few years since I have been to see the Battleship, my nephew lives just a few miles south on the bay, he took us on a boat ride up the bay right past the all the docks and the Battleship.
We then made a stop at Laps restaurant between Battleship parkway & I-10, just pulled up to the dock and walked in, great place.

...

Base is still closed to civilians, so can’t visit the museum

I really want to go there. Have not been since I was a kid. Long time ago

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/florida-caverns-state-park

I actually really like the drive down to the lower keys. It may not look like a long drive but take 3-4 hours and grab some great food, a few DDD spots. Great sunsets.

Ferdinanda Beach sunset

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Mrs Rabinowitz

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Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip!
Fernandina is still a pretty hidden gem but its growing. You got there at a good time they are doing beach restoration and pumping sand from the bottom bringing up nice shark teeth and some interesting pottery bits from Europe. Next time down try some of the southern Ga beach towns.

Sounds like a fantastic trip!  The Smokin' Tuna in KW is one of my favorite evening clubs on weekends (hope they still have great bands).  We are moving to KW in 6-9 months, looking forward to the next chapter...

I hope your new home comes with dedicated parking spots for all your vehicles.

It was the only part of our trip that was a bit stressful.  We had to park around the corner from our BnB for 3 nights. Worried about it's safety.

Glad you had fun. When you remove the hot spots from the travel plans you will come out of Florida with some amazing memories and pictures. It really is a beautiful place. Even in key west, get off of Duval st and you find some pretty awesome things. I can't wait to return down there. I to was disappointed my first trip there because we didn't research it a whole bunch and we thought it was more of a beach getaway. There are plenty of other keys to do that on though. We made the best of it and enjoyed the trip, since then though we've come around to wanting to do it again knowing what to expect and plan accordingly to see more things while there.

Stop by Islamorada on your way down and say hi

Yep, we are fortunate, off street parking at our house, also, a garage for my '65 Chevy close by...