Sights in Florida
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Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
This handsome museum, Jacksonville's premier cultural space, has a genuinely excellent collection of American and European paintings, Asian decorative art and antiquities. Look out for works of local interest, including Thomas Moran's 'Ponce de León in Florida' painting, and Winslow Homer's portrait of the St John's River. The garden, draped with wisteria and shaded by a massive, mossy oak so large it needs supports for its limbs, is a grand place to unwind after absorbing all the beauty inside. Both the museum and gardens are impressively accessible, including a number of Braille and audio guides.
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Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park is America's most inaccessible national park. Reachable only by boat, it rewards you for your effort in getting there with amazing snorkeling, diving, bird-watching and star-gazing.
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Key West Aquarium
Gaze at marine life.
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10,000 Islands
One of the best ways to experience the serenity of the Everglades - somehow desolate yet lush, tropical and foreboding - is by paddling the network of waterways that skirt the northwest portion of the park. The 10,000 Islands consist of many (but not really 10,000) tiny islands and a mangrove swamp that hugs the southwestern-most border of Florida.
The Wilderness Waterway, a 99-mile path between Everglades City and Flamingo, is the longest canoe trail in the area, but there are shorter trails near Flamingo.Most islands are fringed by narrow beaches with sugar-white sand, but note that the water is brackish, and very shallow most of the time. It's not Tahiti, but it's…
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Ringling Museum Complex
The 66-acre winter estate of railroad, real-estate and circus baron John Ringling and his wife, Mable, is one of the Gulf Coast's premier attractions. Indeed, this excellent museum complex has a lot to see, and several ways to see it. For the complete experience, plan a full day or several shorter visits. For instance, the landscaped grounds and rose gardens are free to the public during open hours. The art museum (alone) is free Monday, while 5pm till 8pm Thursday both the art and circus museums are discounted (adult/child $10/5). Saturday from 1pm till 4pm is 'family day,' with activity carts and family-oriented guides. There are also two cafes and a good gift shop.
In…
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Lincoln Road Mall
Calling Lincoln Rd a mall is like calling Big Ben a clock; it’s technically accurate but misses the point. Yes, you can shop, and shop very well here. But this outdoor pedestrian thoroughfare is really about seeing and being seen, and there are few better places in Greater Miami for both. Morris Lapidus, one of the founders of the loopy, neo-baroque Miami Beach style, designed several buildings on the Mall, including the Lincoln Theatre, Sterling Building and Colony Theater, which looks like the sort of place where gangsters go to watch Hamlet. There’s an excellent farmers market (open 9am-7pm Sun) and an Antiques & Collectibles Market (open 9am-5pm every other Sunday…
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Walt Disney World
This is a self-contained city. Apart from the four main parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom), there are three water parks, a shopping district, 22 hotels, countless eateries, a police force, transport systems, medical centres, even kennels for the pooch. Watch out for the mouse.
In its first year, Disney World saw over 10 million visitors, and it remains one of the world's top tourist destinations, now attracting more than 20 million visitors a year. It's also the world's biggest amusement resort, covering an area twice the size of New York's Manhattan. It would have made Walt very, very happy.
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Animal Park
The first cageless drive-through safari in the country, this incredible animal park puts you in the cage (ie your car) as 800 creatures roam freely, staring at you. Equal parts conservation area and safari, the park’s 500 acres are home to bison, zebra, white rhinos, chimpanzees and, of course, lions. You tour the safari section in your car (unless it’s a convertible; short-term rentals are available), driving slowly, hoping the animals approach the vehicle. The best time to go is when it rains, because the animals are more active when it’s cool.
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Wannado City
It’s worth a short day trip to the nearby City of Sunrise for this kids’ theme park, which asks children, ‘Whatchya wanna do?’ Get it? Never mind. Kids get to experience our crushing day-to-day as something fun and exciting in a series of little villages, costumes and games that lets them act as circus ringmaster, perform surgery, investigate a crime scene and, of course, have mom and dad buy plenty of souvenirs. Daily hours vary by season; call for more info.
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East Martello Tower
The East Martello Tower is home to Robert the haunted doll, the inspiration for all those Chucky movies. (He's in a glass case to keep him from making mischief in the rest of the museum.)
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Museum of Discovery & Science
Fronted by the intricate 52ft Great Gravity Clock, Florida's largest kinetic-energy sculpture, this environmentally oriented museum is a treat for kids of all ages, with hands-on exhibits on rocket ships, the Everglades and coral reefs (it's got the world's largest indoor Atlantic coral reef). The on-site IMAX theater (adult/child $9/7) screens nature- and science-oriented documentaries in the morning, and 3D Hollywood blockbusters in the afternoon and evening.
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Key West Lighthouse
You can climb up 88 steps to the top of this lighthouse, built in 1846, for a decent view. But honestly, it's just as enjoyable to gaze up at the tower from the leafy street below.
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Key West Cemetery
A darkly alluring Gothic labyrinth beckons (rather incongruously) at the center of this pastel town. Built in 1847, the cemetery crowns Solares Hill, the highest point on the island (with an elevation of all of 16ft). Some of the oldest families in the Keys rest in peace – and close proximity – here. With body space at a premium, the mausoleums stand practically shoulder to shoulder. Island quirkiness penetrates the gloom: seashells and green macramé adorn headstones with inscriptions like, 'I told you I was sick.' Get chaperoned by a guide from the Historic Florida Keys Foundation, with guided tours for $10 per person at 9:30am on Tuesday and Thursday; departs from…
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Museum of Science & History
Enlightening exhibits about Jacksonville's pre-Columbian history and Spanish, French and US settlements fill this museum, along with a comprehensive natural history of the St John's River system, one of the few rivers in the world that flow north.
Admission is also good for the Brian Gooding Planetarium, which shows your traditional sky and space fare, plus kids' movies and the occasional rock 'n' light show.
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Museum of Contemporary Art
Small, but one of the best cultural offerings in town, the Museum of Contemporary Art focuses on 1960 to the present.
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Pensacola Lighthouse
Just down the street from Fort Barrancas, this 160ft, 1859 lighthouse is rumored to be haunted. So be on the lookout for ghosts of lighthouse keepers past as you climb the 177 steps and poke around the adjacent museum.
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Gatorland
With no fancy roller coasters or drenching water rides, this mom-and-pop park harkens back to Old Florida. It's small, it's silly and it's kitschy with, you guessed it, plenty of gators. Allow time to see all the rather tongue-in-cheek shows, charmingly free of special effects, dramatic music and spectacular light design. At the Jumparoo Show 10ft-long alligators leap almost entirely out of the water to grab whole chickens from the trainer, and after the Gator Wrestling Show you can go on down to get a photo of yourself sitting on a gator. The best is Upclose Encounters, where mysterious boxes hold animals the public has sent to the park. The trainers are too scared to…
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Lake Ella
- Tallahassee, USA
- Sights › Lake
Part of Tallahassee life for well over a century, Lake Ella, east off N Monroe St to the south of W Tharpe St, is a much-loved urban park that's great for a run or blade, or picnic.
Originally known as Bull's Pond, in the 19th century this sylvan, spring-fed pool was renamed by planter Jabez Bull for his daughter. It has long been a swimming hole, baptismal site and picnic spot. It was here, in 1867, that more than 2000 newly freed slaves celebrated Emancipation Day.
The roaring '20s saw Lake Ella become a holidaymaker's playground. In 1924 Gilbert Sewell Chandler built the Lakeside Motel (the cottages still line the east shore today, housing boutiques and craft shops),…
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House of Elián Gonzalez
The surreal House of Elián Gonzalez, subject of one of the most bitter international custody battles of the 1990s, is a shrine, a time capsule and an exercise in the creation of public iconography. Since 2001 the house has become a temple to the symbology of the most anti-Castro Cuban exile politics. The little property is scattered with homages to Jesus, American flags and images of Elian himself, who is all but explicitly labeled a little saint of his people. Elián’s great-uncle Delfin bought the house in late 2000 and then froze time inside: Elian’s clothes hang in the closet, the inner tube that saved his life at sea hangs on the wall and his Spiderman pajamas are…
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Fisher Island
One day Carl Fisher purchased this little island and planned on dying here. But as is wont to happen, the millionaire got bored. When William K Vanderbilt II fell in love with the place, Fisher traded the island for Vanderbilt's 250ft yacht and its crew. Things were like that in those days. Vanderbilt proceeded to build a splendiferous Spanish-Mediterranean-style mansion, with guest houses, studios, tennis courts and a golf course.
Today, this exclusive resort is accessible only by air and private ferry. The condominiums that line the mile-long private beach range from $1-million hovels to a $7-million-plus pad President Bill Clinton once borrowed. It's said the sun…
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Casa Elián
The surreal house of Elián Gonzales, subject of one of the most bitter international custody battles of the 1990s, is a shrine, a time capsule and an exercise in the creation of public iconography. Since 2001, the house has become a temple to the symbology of the most anti-Castro Cuban exile politics. The little property is scattered with homages to Jesus, American flags and images of Elian himself, who is all but explicitly labeled a little saint of his people.
Elián's great-uncle Delfin bought the house in late 2000 and then froze time inside: Elian's clothes hang in the closet, the inner tube that saved his life at sea hangs on the wall and his Spiderman pajamas are…
reviewed
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Historic Bok Sanctuary
Edward Bok, editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal from 1888 to 1919, stood at the forefront of modern environmentalism and the promotion of progressive causes. Inspired by his grandmother’s admonishment to ‘make you the world a bit more beautiful and better because you have been in it, ’ he hired Frederick Law Olmstead Jr to design these gardens. In 1929 President Calvin Coolidge dedicated them to the US people. The centerpiece of the 250-acre property is the meticulously carved 205ft stone bell tower, and every afternoon the 60-bell carillon dongs its bells. Children enjoy looking for the iron rubbing posts, each with a different animal to rub onto special paper given…
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Miami Seaquarium
This 38-acre marine-life park excels in preserving, protecting and educating about aquatic creatures, and was one of the country's first places dedicated to sea life. There are dozens of shows and exhibits, including a tropical reef; the Shark Channel, with feeding presentations; and Discovery Bay, a natural mangrove habitat that serves as a refuge for rehabilitating rescued sea turtles. Check out the Pacific white-sided dolphins or West Indian manatees being nursed back to health; some are released. Frequent shows put gorgeous animals on display, including a massive killer whale, some precious dolphins and sea lions. The Seaquarium's newly opened Dolphin Harbor is an…
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Wynwood and Design District Arts Walks
It's hipsters gone wild! Hmm, that doesn't actually sound very fun, so we'll put it another way: It's free wine! And artsy types, and galleries open 'til late, and the eye candy of a club, and the drunken momentum of a pub crawl, and best of all, no red ropes. The Wynwood and Design District Arts Walk (www.artcircuits.com) is, for our money (i.e. none, because it's free) one of the best nightlife experiences in Miami. And we're not (just) being cheapskates.
The experience of strolling from gallery to gallery (That piece is gorgeous. Pour me another), perusing the paintings (No, I don't think there's a bathroom behind the performance artist), delving into the nuances of…
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Botanicas
The storefronts promise to help in matters of love, work and sometimes 'immigration services,' but trust us, there are no marriage counselors or INS guys in these shops. Welcome to the wide world of vodou. As you enter you'll probably get a funny look, but be courteous, curious and respectful and you should be welcomed.
Before you browse, forget your stereotypes about pins and dolls, because vodou is no scarier than wine turning into blood on Communion. Like many traditional religions, vodou recognizes supernatural forces in everyday objects, powers that are both distinct and part of a single overarching deity. Ergo, you'll see shrines to Jesus next to altars to…
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