The Florida Explorer

This is starting to become somewhat of a family tradition. I can’t remember how long Zoo Tampa (formerly Lowry Park Zoo) has been doing Creatures of the Night–I think it has been about 5 or 6 years now. But we have gone every year so far.

Here is everything we know about Iron Gwazi so far.

Possibly my favorite state park. 385 acres of land (with 2,400 acres submerged underwater), 4 miles of beach, a 3 mile hiking trail . It is the most visited state park in Florida with over one million visitors per year.

Ybor City is the bar crawl capital of Tampa, but not only that, this little historic Latin neighborhood makes some of the finest cigars in the world, has music filled streets, an eclectic range of restaurants and did I mention bars? Lots and lots of bars. I mean, like a lot of them.

This update is a little late, but that’s because I’ve been super busy.

Simple, not easy–visit every single Florida State Park.

Not too many people outside of Hillsborough County know about this particular swimming hole. Located smack dab in the middle of the county, this quite spring along the Alafia River is popular with the locals who are more than happy to show you around.

Welcome to Edition 2 of Beach Bum Reading.

BG dropped some great news today about valuable bonus perks for pass members and some other stuff too! Let’s dig in.

FLASH DEAL: Get 50% off a vehicle safari at Safari Wilderness Ranch. Must be FL resident.

Have you ever read a Travis McGee novel and thought — Man, McGee is living the life. I wish I could be free like him, not being tied down to a job and being able to travel the world or just being a FL beach bum. Well, it’s getting late…I better drag myself to another day of work, sigh. But, what if “Going McGee” was well within your reach? Because I think it is. Let’s explore.

Every 4th Friday of the month downtown Tampa has a party of free (or pay-as-you-will) admission to local museums, art galleries, and local attractions.

This year’s Smithsonian Museum Day on September 21 includes 88 FL museums.

It’s been said what gets measured gets managed. Well, I decided to keep myself accountable in my quest to explore everything Florida by conducting a monthly report of what I got done, what’s going on in Florida, and what needs to happen next.

Kevin McCarty is an English professor at the University of Florida and has written extensively about the history of Florida. The only book I have read of his is Hillsborough River Guidebook which I read years ago, at the time I didn’t realize the book was written by a prolific Florida author.

What does Earnest Hemingway and Jimmy Buffett have in common? Well, not only have they both lived in Key West, but they each have reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller fiction list and non-fiction list. Maybe there’s something in the water over there.

I first met Travis McGee while I was working on one of those big cruise ships. I just finished a 12 hour shift and was looking for something to take back to my cabin to wind down with. I went to the crew library, a small room with a couple of bookshelves that contained old, beat-up books and board games that were missing pieces.

If I had to pick only one book to hold up as The Great Floridian Novel I would pick Rawlings’ The Yearling, which, incidentally, also won a Pulitzer for fiction in 1939. She made a career writing about the Florida Crackers and also penned South Moon Under and the autobiographical Cross Creek, both very good.

Zora Neale Hurston wrote one of the all-time great Florida books with Their Eyes Were Watching God, not just a Florida classic, but an unsung American classic that should be taught in the schools. The hurricane scene alone is some of the best writing I have ever come across.