North Central Florida

Owing much to its southern neighbours of Georgia and Alabama, North Central Florida has the slow pace of life and traditional hospitality associated with the American Deep South.

Containing the town of Tallahassee, home to Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Florida’s state capital. How the latter came about is told in a popular folk tale. When East and West Florida territories combined into one state, travellers were sent from the former capitals of St. Augustine and Pensacola. The backwoods spot where they met became the new political centre.

The New Capitol building rises at the centre of Tallahassee’s downtown as a sleek modern structure, juxtaposed next to the Old Capitol, built in the more classic domed style. A gallery atop the 22-story New Capitol provides a sweeping view of the hilly city and its tree-lined streets.

Around the capitol complex, a 10-block historic district spreads, preserving the town’s gracious old homes along a linear park and holding a historic inn, bars and restaurants patronized by Senators and sophomores alike. With no shortage of culture, downtown also offers museums, theatre and art galleries. Artists have turned the old warehouses of Downtown Industrial Park into the studios and cafes of Railroad Square. The Museum of Florida History, nearby, is highly acclaimed for its scan of the state’s past, and The Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science, along with changing art exhibits, brings learning to a kid’s level with hands-on exhibits.

Tallahassee Museum of History & Natural Science, another great place for kids, combines a natural-habitat zoo for native animals with a collection of historic structures including a 19th-century farm, one-room schoolhouse, and plantation mansion. Cotton plantations dictated much of Tallahassee’s history, and lovely neo-classic gems preserve the era.

However, if nature is your interest, you might like to try the Live Oak and Lake City area just to the east of Tallahassee. Home of the famous Suwannee River, the area has much to contribute in the way of water springs, beautiful countryside and nature parks.