Redland dreams... - Orchid Board

bethmarie · #1 03-24-2014, 11:50 PM

The drive is 830 miles. 13 hours on the road--one way. The gas would be dear. My car is 14 years old and has known issues.

It's not stopping me from thinking every day how I might pull the trip off in May, though.

I think flying might be cheaper than driving, but how would I get all those plants on a plane?

Have any of you been? Is it worth it? Or is anyone going this year? I'd love to hear your stories.

plumania · #2 03-25-2014, 12:03 AM

I have seen Redland show only once,too far for me to drive but for you it is much longer drive.Show has a lot of vendors from everywhere and huge variety is available.I would say it is worth attending if you can afford. If you Fly,you can stash plants in your cabin bag.
Driving sounds really tedious.

TOMMYMIAMI · #3 03-25-2014, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bethmarie

The drive is 830 miles. 13 hours on the road--one way. The gas would be dear. My car is 14 years old and has known issues.

It's not stopping me from thinking every day how I might pull the trip off in May, though.

I think flying might be cheaper than driving, but how would I get all those plants on a plane?

Have any of you been? Is it worth it? Or is anyone going this year? I'd love to hear your stories.

Never been but going this year, I heard only superlatives for this show, all my favorite vendors are gonna be there, many new ones too, but I have it only hour to drive, so yeah:-))) I hope you can make it somehow. What about car rental, the small size cars are not so pricy for the week, and reliable for sure? I would try to find some FRIENDS that want to go to and share expenses maybe.

vjo · #4 03-25-2014, 07:11 AM

Plants on the plane?...take an extra EMPTY suitcase....Jean

tucker85 · #5 03-25-2014, 11:19 AM

I go every year. It's a very large show. It's outdoors on a big piece of property. I think the reason it's become so popular is that vendors come from South America, Taiwan, Hawaii and California, as well as all over Florida. No other show has that kind of diversity. It's not the kind of place you want to go to buy a couple orchids. The only reason I could see, for traveling a long distance, would be to just experience what it's like. If you wanted to do that, I would recommend staying for two or three days. Even the locals don't try to do it all in one day. It can be exhausting. If you wanted to spend a few hours each day, you could go to some classes and some presentations. You could browse the AOS judging tent to see what's been awarded and you can visit with various vendors that you've probably heard of or seen online. By the way, the South American vendors usually have no blooming plants so you need to know exactly what you're looking for. It would be expensive. Transportation down here, a couple nights in a hotel and a few hundred dollars for orchids, it could all add up. Before spending all the time and money to come down here, I would recommend taking a trip to somewhere closer like Carter and Holmes in South Carolina or you have a place in North Carolina called Seagrove Orchids. The famous phalaenopsis breeder, H.P. Norton also has a place called Orchidview in South Carolina. After you get tired doing all the walking and looking at one of those places, just imagine doing the same thing with 50 vendors. I'm not trying to discourage you. The show is a lot of fun for an orchid enthusiast. I'm just saying that I think you should only try making that long trip if you have plenty of time and money to do it right. That's just my personal opinion.

Paul · #6 03-25-2014, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vjo

Plants on the plane?...take an extra EMPTY suitcase....Jean

Or forget the "Extra" and just take one large suitcase with your old beat up clothes ("grubbies" as we call them in my family). As the bag fills up with plants, the clothes get pitched.

tucker85 · #7 03-25-2014, 11:31 AM

Flying down is always an option but there's also Amtrack and Greyhound. If you're going to do that, you'll either need to rent a car or look for a hotel that's close enough to just take a taxi to the event.

Leafmite · #8 03-25-2014, 01:45 PM

Does your orchid society go? You could initiate a trip if they don't. A group from my OS has mentioned trips down to the Redlands show. They make leaving plenty of space for orchids a priority and even take shipping boxes to mail orchids home. This seems like a fun thing to do with a group of people who love orchids (I would NEVER take my family...fifty vendors and thousands of orchids? They would still be done in ten minutes!).

Paul · #9 03-25-2014, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leafmite

(I would NEVER take my family...fifty vendors and thousands of orchids? They would still be done in ten minutes!).

I hear that. Add most of my friends to that as well.

katrina · #10 03-25-2014, 02:31 PM

I have yet to make it down but a couple of fellow OS members go down every year and they always do major damage to the check book. What they do it use UPS or Fedex and ship their plants to their home. You could also use USPS, if you wanted.

The day before they are due to fly back, they package and ship their plants to their home address. Easy! They fly home and then the plants arrive a day or two later.