Really Florida!

In this 5th post of Florida vacation ideas, we’ll talk about feeding your mind with museums, historical sites and other ways of getting to know Florida.

Get a Little History

Granted, Florida doesn’t quite have the history that other states do — heck, Orlando’s orginal name was “Mosquito”, if that gives you a clue what it was like, pre-tourism.

Still, we do have history here; you just have to look in different places. For example, the Castillio de San Marcos in St. Augustine harkens back to when Spain and France were trying to decide who should get “La Florida”. If you’ve never been, it’s a must-see.

There are sugar mill ruins, old plantations, treasure museums and more. There’s history here, and part of the fun is finding it.

Be Amused in a Museum

If you think life is a circus, why not check out the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota?  I know, it’s more common to see a State Fair than a circus tent these days, but this museum will help you remember the wonder and excitment of the Big Top.

While it’s also part attraction, the Kennedy Space Center houses a lot of fascinating information on the early days of space travel.  Not to mention there are still launches of various types on a fairly frequent basis.

If you’re near the Gainesville area, check out the Florida Museum of Natural History.  It’s housed at the University of Florida, and it’s a fabulous walk though time.  The displays and themes are always changing, so there’s no telling what you’ll find!

In the Florida Panhandle, check out the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola.  Not only is there an air museum with 150 restored aircraft, but also there’s artifacts, flight simulators and an IMAX theater.

Any More Ideas?

So, how has that been, for some Florida vacation ideas?

Do you have some you’d like to share? Post a comment and tell us about them!

Do you need some Florida vacation ideas?  Maybe you’re curious about the state.  Maybe you’re a resident and want to explore…but don’t want to use a lot of gas doing it.  Maybe you’re visiting Florida for the first time and are eager to learn all you can.

You’ve got the time off — now what do you do?  In this and the next few posts, let’s explore Florida vacation ideas, from around the state.

Attractions are Everywhere (Almost)

Yes, Florida is a tourist state, and so we have lots and lots of attractions, large and small.  Of course you know about the big three (Disney, Universal and SeaWorld), but they’re in Orlando and if you’re not, it could be a long drive for you.

Not to worry, there are very few places in Florida that are more than two or three hours from some sort of destination, and most often times much closer. 

For example, St. Augustine in NE Florida is loaded with all sorts of places to see.  From the Fountain of Youth, through Ripley’s Museum; trolley tours and ghost tours.  Most all of it is in one area, so you can roam from one to the next.

The Nature Coast has Weeki Wachee Springs; Tampa has Busch Gardens.

Orlando…well, enough said there!  Enough attractions to sink a ship.

Spacecoast has Kennedy Space Center; West Palm Beach has Lion Country Safari.

Florida vacation ideas involving attractions are certainly one of the first things a visitor (and often a resident) considers.  And while there is the occasional “dud”, most attractions are worth visiting.

Here’s a listing of some Florida attractions, by regions of the state — that should get the vacation ideas flowing!

This is part 1 of Florida vacation ideas; keep on the lookout for parts 2 through 5!

Most everyone has heard of the Florida Everglades, but not nearly as many have heard about Shark Valley. Despite its name, Shark Valley is in the middle part of the Everglades, and nowhere near any water.

Nevertheless, Shark Valley is a definite “must see” if you are anywhere in South Florida. It’s a part of wild Florida that seems to be diminishing, but here, at least is a stronghold.

Alligators were once on the endangered list, but came back so well that they were taken off. And if you want to see gators, come on over to Shark Valley! Practically everywhere you looked there was one not too terribly far away.

In fact, I came waaaay too close to one, just by not paying enough attention to where I was walking. I never thought that there would be an alligator shuffling along the middle of a trail path, so I wasn’t exactly on the alert for them.

Whoops! David grabbed me back before I could take a step closer, as I was already in the danger zone as it was. Fortunately, this gator was sleepy and didn’t pay attention to me — I got lucky.

I’ve lived in Florida all my life, and in South Florida for about 20 years, and it wasn’t until 2007 that I ever went to Shark Valley. I should have gone much sooner, because it’s incredible.

Just driving up into the park from the Tamiami Trail was amazing — there were all kinds of people, standing by the side of the driveway, cameras in hand. And the animals? It was like they were getting paid to pose! People were taking all kinds of photos; it was practically impossible to not get a great shot.

So what kind of animals are there in Shark Valley? Aside from gators, other animals we saw included turtles, herons of all colors, egrets, roseate spoonbills (my personal favorite), ibises, cormorants and more. There were tons more that were pointed out to us on the tram tour, but I didn’t write them down — I was too busy staring and taking pictures!

Speaking of the Shark Valley tram tour — go on it, as it’s worth every penny, especially if you can get an early morning ride (but we took the noon tram and it was still excellent). The tour takes about 2 hours total, and covers a 15 mile loop. The guides are excellent and told all kinds of interesting stories (like the one about the two-timing cormorant).

Here is more information and more photos about Everglades Shark Valley.

The last photos were of Bahia Honda and the Dry Tortugas. In this post, the Florida Keys pictures will be for Islamorada. Not just what it looks like, but also what you can actually do there!

Islamorada marks the end of the Upper Keys and the beginning of the Middle Keys. It’s not widely known for much — more of a “drive through” to get between Key Largo and Key West.

Except for one thing — Islamorada is known world-wide for one particular sport — offshore fishing. It’s one of those places that enthusiasts dream of going. Marlin? You bet. Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) — definitely. Snapper, grouper, cobia, kingfish, tuna and more all come through the Islamorada area.

This photo? It was the catch for a charter that my husband and our neighbor went on, Summer of 2007. They caught more fish than what’s shown, and as of this writing, we still have fish in the freezer from this catch!

But you know, Islamorada deserves to have more of a following than from just fishing fans. It’s a lovely island, less crowded than the other three major Keys cities. The sunsets are just as pretty as those in Key West, and the ocean just as warm and inviting.

Ok, actually one other group of people make Islamorada a destination — divers. There are reef clusters nearby that make great dives, and they aren’t as crowded as the ones closer to Key Largo.

There is one attraction in town that is very much worth seeing — Theater of the Sea. Don’t expect something like Sea World (it’s not that big or fancy), but it is a great time. I like to visit whenever we’re in town for more than a day — it’s just fun. Any you won’t believe what happens on the bottom-less boat ride! (And no, it’s not that you sink.)

Check out more information about Islamorada in the Florida Keys.

Hope you’ve enjoyed these Florida Keys pictures, and there are still more to come!

Are you a scuba fan(atic)? Do you wish you could stay underwater for more than just a couple of hours or so?

Why not stay at Jules’ Undersea Lodge, the famous underwater hotel in the Florida Keys?

This is one cool place, but just so you know, you must be dive-certified to stay here — because the entrance is underwater, too (21 feet deep, to be exact)!

The lodge has two bedrooms, a bath area, and a common room (TV, mini-kitchen, etc.). Because this underwater fantasy is rented by the person, if you have less than four in your party, you may end up rooming with others.

The bedrooms each have two bunks, one upper and one lower. There’s also a 42″ window so you can easily watch the parade of sealife wander by.

Your check-in is at 1:00 in the afternoon, and your checkout time is 10:00 AM the following morning. That gives you a good amount of time to explore the waters around the habitat. And in theory (assuming you had the money), you could spend days underwater without surfacing!

Now the cost — at the time of this writing it’s $475 per person, per night. But that also includes a gourmet dinner and breakfast, plus all your dive gear.

The Jules’ Undersea Lodge is located in Key Largo, the gateway to the Florida Keys, at MM 103.2.

You guessed it — more Lion Country Safari photos — this time of the giraffes.

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

This photo was from the drive-through safari section of the South Florida theme park. There was a group of mostly adult (or at least big) giraffes, plus a little one. Not sure how old it was, but it was pretty small compared to the adults, which can grow up to 17 feet tall.

In the amusement park section of Lion Country Safari, there is a giraffe feeding station. You walk up a ramp to a covered platform about 10 to 12 feet high. Once at the top, you can buy trinkets or the most popular purchase.

Sweet potato slices. Used to feed the giraffe. As in hold out the treat and the giraffe is happy to take it from your hand. And yes, I can report that this animal does have a blue tongue!

There were quite a few visitors who opted to buy some of the sweet potatoes and feed this very tall creature. But everyone was warned not to try and pet it. Guess it may look docile, but it’s still a wild animal. We decided to leave, however, when the giraffe got a little to excited about being fed — he was salivating and the wind was blowing it into the crowd! (Ick.)

Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee is a rather interesting place. Part zoo, part theme park. In any case, it revolves around what fascinates us — the animals.

There were quite a few feathered friends at Lion Country Safari in Florida. Here are some that we saw on our trip to this South Florida attraction.

(You can click on any of the photos to enlarge them.)

The ostriches were the first we saw, just as we drove into the safari section. I thought this would make for an interesting photo, with both birds’ heads down, but in opposite directions. There were quite a few all around the safari section of the park.

While there were a few other birds in the safari tour section of the park, most were too far away or moving too fast to catch a good photo. That changed when we got to the amusement park part of Lion Country Safari.

There were quite a few birds that we could see quite close in the amusement park. This wood stork was perched right on the fence beside the walkway. There were two, but I decided to get the closeup of the one. He/she was remarkably unaffected by the passer-bys and just did his/her stork thing.

Next, and right near the wood stork was the marabou stork (at least that’s what I think it’s called). It’s a funny-looking bird with a pouch or bladder (or something) below its beak. I’m thinking an air bladder of some sort.

This is a pretty big bird — I’d say around 3 feet tall. Another bird who didn’t seem to notice the crowds.

We wandered around the Lion Country Safari amusement park for awhile when we saw the Lorikeet Feeding area. You could buy little containers of nectar, hold it in your hand and the ‘keet would sit on your hand and eagerly guzzle down the nectar.

The lorikeets are pretty birds, very brightly colored and sociable. In a way, they make me thing about beach-goers in Florida — wearing bright colors that you’d not normally wear any other place but at the beach. The lorys are farily small birds — bigger than a cockatiel but smaller than a small parrot.

The one bird found just about everywhere at Lion Country is the white ibis. I hear that this bird is endangered, but you’d never guess by the number you see roaming the park. For that matter, the number roaming all around South Florida! I didn’t get any pictures of the ibises — they were too busy searching the ground for bird food or other food scraps and didn’t stand still long enough for a photo.

Lion Country Safari in South Florida doesn’t have just lions, or zebras. There are rhinos on the safari drive, too. We got lucky, in that the rhinos decided to graze pretty close to the side of the road as we were driving by.

(By the way, you can click on the photos to see a larger image.)

Naturally, after my post about the zebras, I decided to hunt for ways that the rhino homeland is like South Florida. Do these big beasts find it sufficiently homey here? Or are they in a foreign environment where they aren’t comfortable? So it’s off to the internet to search!

As usual, Wikipedia gave me the most information. Based on the info, I’m guessing that the rhinos at Lion Country Safari are white rhinos (but they don’t exactly look white, do they?). First, they are the most plentiful species and second…the photo on this page most closely resembles the white rhino on Wikipedia.

So what about comparing South Florida to where these animals really come from? Savannas and scrubland seem to be the favored habitats of the white, and as I’ve mentioned before, here in South Florida (at least in Palm Beach County) we do have the scrub.

I’m guessing that we are more humid, not to mention wetter, than Africa where the white rhino calls home. Winters here are probably pretty nice for these creatures, though — less humid and milder temperatures, for the most part.

So there you are — the white rhinoceros, courtesy of Lion Country Safari!

Ahh, here are some pictures of zebras from our day at Lion Country Safari.

I started thinking…I wonder if zebras like living in Florida? I mean, is it close to what their environment is like in Africa? This was on of those ideas that didn’t want to go away, so I went on a little hunt for information.

And boy was it ever tough! I went to the search engines and ruled out anything to to with wireless products, 2nd grade class projects, questions that had no answers — you get the idea.

In the end, I discovered that this fashionably-dressed animal lives in several regions: scrub lands, savannas, costal hills, mountains and woodlands. Covers a lot or territory, wouldn’t you say?

OK, so South Florida is flat as a pancake, so we rule out the mountains and coastal hills. The South Florida version of savannas is called the Everglades, which would be tough on the zebra’s hooves. Not much for woodland around here, either.

But scrub land — that we have in South Florida! And plenty of it, too. Well, plenty where the developers haven’t taken over at any rate.

So, after much going and coming and searching, Wikipedia gave me the most concrete information about these unusual-looking relatives of horses. But it still didn’t tell me what I really, really wanted to know.

Are zebra’s stripes black on a white animal or white on a black animal?

I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I’ve lived within shouting distance (almost literally) of Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee (West Palm Beach, Florida area) for 16 years, and I had never managed to visit. Kind of like living in Central Florida and not visiting Disney World.

So, what’s Lion Country Safari like? Well, it wasn’t what I expected, but David and I had a good time.

If you’re not quite sure what Lion Country Safari is supposed to be about, it’s a drive-though zoo, modeled after the plains of Africa. The animals roam free, and they can get close to the road, or even cross it while you’re driving along. There’s also an amusement park that’s included in the admission.

When you first drive in (and it’s $26 a person), you’re given a brochure and a cassette or CD. The brochure is to help identify the animals you see, and the cassette/CD is to narrate the journey in your car.

One thing about the cassette — it seems that they don’t rewind them (or they missed ours) because it started out in the middle of something. So we never were quite sure if we were listening to something we just passed or hadn’t approached.

And FYI — you will have to return the cassette/CD at the end of your safari, along with the case it came with.

The animals were great! Many of them were close to the road, so we had excellent views. Lots of antelope and zebras, plus water buffalo, rhinos, lions, elephants…these and more. All kinds of creatures. The lions were a bit far away, but still easy to see.

The drive took about an hour, what with stopping at points to look at the animals. And aside from the narrated tour being a little mixed up (we eventually just quit listening), we had fun.

Then there was the theme/amusement park. Hmmm, I think I’ll leave that part for another post. And I’ll also dig all the photos I took out from the recesses of my computer and share a few, for your enjoyment.