Places to explore from your Florida home or during your holidays in Florida
Whether you are living permanently in your Florida home or just enjoying your holidays in Florida, you are sure to want to get out and about and to discover other parts of this state. Aptly named the ´Sunshine State´, Florida is always ready to be explored and can offer a range of destination to suit all tastes. From the small farm towns of the Panhandle via the cobbled streets of St Augustine to mega, mega- trendy Miami Beach, and from the sweating mangroves of the Everglades to the engineering excellence of the sea bridges leading to Key West, there is plenty to explore. And that’s before you even glimpse the list of Orlando theme parks!
Keep heading south for Key West
Stretching from south of Miami down towards Cuba, the Keys are a pearl-like string of 800 islands surrounded by 220 miles of coral reef. They are the haunt of millionaires, windsurfers, bikers and bladers, and they are made easily accessible by Route 1, a 90mile-long series of bridges and causeways. Driving this highway, surrounded by beautiful deep blue waters on both sides, is an amazing and memorable experience. At its southern most tip is Key West, the cosmopolitan party capital of the Keys with a distinctly laid back, Caribbean atmosphere.
Key West has a sizeable artistic community, some pretty good shops and excellent restaurants, and a raft of activities catering unashamedly to tourists on their holidays in Florida. These can range from swimming with dolphin to a lantern-led ghost tour of the Old Town or a sunset sail on a tall ship. Key West´s most pristine reefs are located some miles from the island’s beaches and can be visited with professional dive and snorkel charter companies, but snorkelling is also available from Key West Marine Park on the south side of the island.
St Augustine – the oldest European city in the States
This small city on the Atlantic coast was founded and named by Don Pedro Menendez on behalf of Spain in 1565. This was more than 40 years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia and more than 50 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. As such, St Augustine is the oldest permanent European settlement in the whole of North America and tourists flock here on their holidays in Florida. Many of the old houses remain to create an authentic old town filled with quaint individual shops, dozens of small museums (including the distinctly eccentric Lightner Museum), ancient monuments and a strong sense of charm. Home made food is served in the quaint restaurants and cafes, horse drawn carriages trawl the narrow streets, and many of the locals choose to dress in period costume.
The Panhandle – where American snowbirds buy their Florida home
Few people take their holidays in Florida’s Panhandle, the name given to the strip of land that extends westward from the top of the state’s peninsula. Apart from Panama City, which is invaded by students in March), it is the most unspoilt and least tourist-oriented part of Florida. Few Europeans seek their Florida home here, but it draws many permanent and seasonal residents (Snowbirds) from elsewhere in the US. If you want to escape the commercialism of other parts of Florida, this is the area to head for. The coast road (Highway 98), which leads you from Pensacola to just south of Tallahassee, the state capital, is linked by a spectacular network of bridges. The ‘Old Southern America’ is apparent in the slow tempo of folks from the Panhandle’s small inland farming towns who are warm and friendly. As well as experiencing a slice of rural Florida, you should aim also for the region’s under-publicised coast which has beautiful white sandy beaches and shallow warm waters.
The Everglades National Park – Florida’s home for extraordinary wildlife
This 1.5million acres of subtropical wilderness covers almost the entire southern tip of the peninsula and should be a mandatory visit on any holiday in Florida. The national park incorporates open prairies, tropical jungle and mangrove forests, with both salt and freshwater areas, and is home to about 2000 species of plants, over 200 species of birds and more than 160 animal species. A sanctuary for dolphins, manatees, panthers, bald eagles, turtles, herons snakes and hordes of insects, it is also the only place you will ever see both alligators and crocodiles.
A number of choices exist for touring the park. Trails come in all shapes and sizes from a few hundred metres of gravel track to a paved 15-mile road so everyone’s level of fitness can be accommodated. There are canoes and bikes (which can be hired), boats, trams and, of course, your own two feet. Absolutely fascinating, whichever mode of transport you choose!Miami – Florida’s home to the fashionable, rich and beautiful
The state´s biggest city, Miami, is a colourful, brash playground that oozes with vitality. It is hard to believe this was a sleepy vacation spot until the 1920s. Today, it is a Mecca for tourists on their holidays in Florida, a must-stop port for all East Coast cruises, the undoubted gateway to Central and Southern America, and a magnet for posers and those who want to gawp at extravagant vanity. While it is definitely not a retiring kind of place, Miami is also, strangely, an incredibly popular location for retirees to buy their Florida home.
While the superficial atmosphere is not for everyone, Miami is a unique destination worthy of a detour on your holidays in Florida. There is no obligation to get scantily clad and rollerblade alongside all the other bronzed exhibitionists (although it’s up to you!) because the vast city has plenty of other diversions. The Art Deco legacy of South Beach and the lively Latin Quarter are perhaps the most compelling, but there is also fabulous shopping, outstanding nightlife, sophisticated dining, mile upon mile of white sandy beaches, and a number of excellent museums, galleries and monuments.
Get hands on at Florida’s home for sick turtles
Founded by Florida resident Eleanor Fletcher, affectionately known as ‘the Turtle Lady’, the Marine Life Center on the oceanfront at Loggerhead Park, Juno Beach, monitors turtles along the Gold Coast. Entrance is free to the centre () which is essentially a hospital for sick and injured turtles. It cares for 50-60 full-grown turtles and over 1000 hatchlings each year. Visitors to the centre, which is currently being extended, can learn about the life of turtles and other marine animals, enjoy a ‘touching tank’, and see these wonderful creatures close up. They are also invited to watch turtles being returned to the sea when they have recovered. Guided walks are offered on summer evenings.
Orlando theme parks – the Brits most popular holidays in Florida
It is hard to believe that less than 40 years ago, the areas now taken over by Orlando’s theme parks made up a sleepy rural backwater. Then Disney began to develop its new Florida home. The region is now a tourist magnet. About 1.5million Brits now take holidays in Florida as a result, with most of them bound for Disney World and one or more of the other Orlando theme parks: SeaWorld, Universal Studios and Wet ‘n’ Wild.
