The Florida Explorer

Busch Gardens is Florida’s roller coaster kind with 8 major coasters, 1 medium coaster and 1 children’s coaster. Let’s take a look.

Given Florida’s warm year-round weather and great jumping conditions, it’s only natural that skydiving would reign supreme. Add this adrenaline rush to your next Florida trip and I guarantee it’ll be a trip you’ll always remember.

Stephen King’s Duma Key is full of the dark, psychologically creepy story line that we have come to expect from the horror master. It’s eerie, spooky, and takes place in Florida. In short, the novel is great fun.

I come across a real gem every once in a while. This time it was in the form of a book, Ghost Towns of Florida by James R. Warnke. But what makes this special isn’t necessarily the content of the book, but the spirit of the book.

Meet Travis McGee—beach bum, knight errant, philosopher, lady’s man. Living life aboard the Busted Flush in Bahia Mar in Ft. Lauderdale. Taking retirement in installments when he’s got the dough and going to work when he’s running low. He is without a doubt Florida’s greatest pulp hero.

Take a look at Florida Google Maps. Do you see all those thin strips of land off the coast, which consequently contain our most famous beaches? Yup, those are barrier islands. Without them Florida would be a very different place. So, how did they come to be?

Blue Spring State Park is located in Orange City and is a popular tourist destination. Activities include swimming, canoeing, camping, hiking, boat tours, and SCUBA diving. Yes, that’s right—SCUBA diving. And it’s only 40 minutes from Daytona Beach. Read along as I describe my swim upriver to the spring.

Florida has beaches, springs, space shuttles, and Disney World—there is an overabundance of places to see and explore. Yet, despite this there has been one object that has risen above the rest to symbolize Florida: The Pink Flamingo.

There are anywhere from 1-2 million alligators in Florida. And since 1948, there have been over 300 recorded alligator bites, 22 of them ending in death. The chances of you getting attacked are slim, but it is best to be prepared. Because if you’re like me; you love exploring every inch of Florida, including swampy, alligator-heavy backlands.

Here’s a great shot of Florida from NASA, taken on Shuttle Mission STS-95, October 31, 1998.

Originally, Orlando was called Jernigan. It was named after a prosperous cattleman and planter who moved into the area from Georgia, and who later fell out of grace. So, the handful of citizens in town wanted a new name…and that’s where the mystery begins.

When I’m exploring I like to go-go-go! but that’s not always going to be the case while being a father. Several months ago we visited the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs on Dodecanese Avenue.