The Sunshine State! What a surprise 20 year stay it was. For instance, you needed to go North to go South “ya’ll,” the state has great road system and parks, gets hilly as you travel on I-75 north of Tampa and is quite a pleasant land to visit and live in, which was not my first impression of Florida visiting here from the north. The summers are a bit hot and humid but, each place has it’s pluses and minuses. I’ll trade that for sunshine and gray skies and long winters, any day.
Let me share some of the places, that are not as well known that we’ve have had the pleasure of visited during our twenty year stay.
State Park System. The state has 175 award-winning state parks, trails and historic sites. Living in Sarasota we had access to the nearby Myakka River and the Oscar Scherer State Parks, the county itself has numerous well kept parks and trails. Myakka was our favorite not only for natural beauty but, the river, lake, gators and bird diversity. Take a Airboat tour or rent a canoe and explore. Want to get away from it all, get there early and walk out to the bird walk and let the breeze on your face cleanse your soul.
Natural Springs. You may relegate the idea of a spring to a stream in the mountains, but in Florida, they come out of the ground and form rivers and lakes, especially in the Ocala and Gainesville areas. Florida sits on a bed of Limestone and has more than 700 springs, the largest collection on earth. An estimated eight billion gallons of water flow from Florida’s springs each day at a constant 72-degrees. On the Gulf coast, about mid-state, you have Crystal River and a hotel that claims that Elvis stayed there once. Really a neat area with plenty to do and see, including a native animal reserve that you take a river boat to. Rainbow River near Dunnellon is a real gem. We took a 2-3 hour kayak down this crystal clear river, where you can see the limestone bottom. The tall trees along the journey and of course sunshine – ah nature at its best.
Air-boat Rides. Although there are quite a number of places you can experience an air boat ride through swampy areas, you may want to check out ones in and around the Everglades with their wide open spaces. for instance, the one at Port Everglades. Its remoteness and the drive there take you back not only in time but the setting is as you’d imagine it would be in the Everglades.
The Florida Keys. Although Key West is a well known destination, the 120 stretch of road over bridges and islands that make up the keys, stretch from Key Largo, the self-proclaimed Dive Capital of the world, in the north to Key West, the home of Duval Street and Margaritaville. Key West is also the southern most point in the US. On the drive south you come across islands such as Marathon or Islamorada that offer great getaways.
Out of The Way Places. If you just want to get away, Pine Island, near Cape Coral takes you back to Old Florida. Great fishing, kayaking and check out the Inn, just before the bridge, that is built atop pylons over the water. Great to just sit on the porch and dangle your feet towards the water. As long as you’re in that area checkout the Edison Museum in Ft. Meyers and have lunch Fisherman’s Village, which sits over the water in Port Charlotte.
Around The Local Area. As mentioned earlier, we lived in the Sarasota area and there’s plenty to do and see around there, especially near the water. There’s the City Isle park DT Sarasota by Marina Jacks, the jetty in Venice,where you can watch dolphins, as the tide is going out. Turtle Beach on Siesta Key, if you want to get away from the crowds on Siesta Beach. Longboat Key for the quiet and Casey Key, where the 1% have their second or third homes. Another neat place is Boca Grande a bit further away but a nice drive.
Wrap-up. As you may have guessed that there’s much more than Orlando and the theme parks to Florida. We moved there from Colorado where it was high and dry, Florida is low and wet, meaning a lot of water but, there’s a lot to explore.
