Florida's nickname is The Sunshine State, and it was adopted officially by Florida legislature in 1970. Florida is the fourth most-populated state in the country, and it's beautiful sandy beaches and warm climate draw thousands of tourists every year.
Try to to make reservations when possible. Remember, don't over schedule, it is a vacation. Enjoy!
Designed by Fred Couples/Gene Bates, the Kelly Plantation golf course opened in 1998.
During the 16th century, Cape Canaveral was referred to "Canaveral" which refers to canebrake, because the region had a very high production of sugarcane.
Since 1947, Cape Canaveral has been the principal U.S. launching site for long-range missiles, earth satellites, and manned space flights. The area around Cape Canaveral, nicknamed the Space Coast, has attracted many nearby space-related industries.
The distinctive black and white bands of the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse have marked it so since 1873. The Lighthouse is located inside Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and as of July 2012, is open for tours.
Nature wildlife areas include Mosquito Lagoon: a group of small islands that provide important nesting areas for birds. Indian River, a waterway that forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge located next to the space center, and Canaveral National Seashore, a barrier island park. Access to the last two parks may be restricted during launch-related activities at the Kennedy Space Center.
Annual Events in Cape Canaveral
Fall Fest & Annual Chili Cook Off
Spring Festival
Friday Fest
Lobster Fest
Space Coast Music Festival
Key West is popular destination for fun-seekers. Visitors can fill their time shopping, visiting restaurants and bars, watching entertainment and more recreational fun, like swimming, fishing, and boating. But that is not all. There are one or more festivals held in Key West every month!
Annual Events in Key West Florida include (but are not limited to):
Food and Wine Festival 
January
Key West Craft Show January
Pigeon Key Art Festival February
Civil War Festival February
Old Island Art Festival February
Conch Shell Blowing Contest March
Keys Ocean Festival March
Conch Republic Independence Days April
Taste of Key West April
Original Songwriters Festival
May
Pridefest June
Underwater Music Festival July
Hemingway Look-Alike Contest July
Key West LobsterFest August
Key West Brew Fest August/September
Key West WomenFest September
Key West Poker Run, Since 1972, September
Florida Keys Birding & Wildlife Festival
Goombay Festival - October
Conchtoberfest October
Fantasty Fest - October
Pirates in Paradise November
Key West Film Festival November/December
Harbor Walk December
Holiday Boat Parade December
Panama City Beach is a popular vacation destination for people living in nearby southern states. It is also a popular destination by college students during Spring Break.
Panama City Beach Florida has an average of 320 days of sunshine per year, the weather is sub-tropical, with a year-round temperature averaging 74 degrees
Panama City Beach is known for it's fine white sandy beaches which stretch 27 miles. These beaches are bordered on either side by State Parks: St. Andrews and Camp Helen
Visitors to Panama City Beach will find family friendly activities, along with an exciting nightlife, spa getaways, and sports fishing.
The city is also known as the Wreck Capital of the South due to the large number of historic wrecks for scuba divers to explore. The area boasts one of the highest concentrations of bottlenose dolphins in the world, one of the many reasons Panama City Beach is so popular with visitors.
Panama City Beach is home to the only deepwater diving museum in the U.S., the Museum of Man in the Sea. A community-coordinated project with Panama City Marine Institute led to the development of 50 artificial reefs off Panama City Beach. The natural reefs range in depth from 80 to 100 feet and are just a few miles offshore. These reefs range in height from three to eight feet and are teeming with sea life, including small corals and colorful sponges.
Panama City Beaches
Destin can be found on Florida's Emerald Coast, known for it's pure white sandy beaches and rich emerald green waters.
The region was originally an island, but hurricanes and dropping sea levels eventually connected the island to the mainland. The construction of the Choctawhatchee - West Bay Canal in the 1940's technically turned Destin back into an island.
Destin is named after Captain Leonard Destin, a New London, Connecticut fishing master who settled in the area around 1850.
Originally a fishing village, Destin has become a popular vacation destination, with 3.5 million visitors arriving each year.
Despite it's popularity for tourism, Destin is also known as "Worlds Luckiest Fishing Village" and locals still maintain a large fishing fleet.
Several Popular Events take place each year in Destin:
Locally famous Mexican restaurant.
The Historic Capitol, built in 1845 is an architecturally and historically significant building, having been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The state capitol building is located at the intersection of Apalachee Parkway and Monroe Street in historic downtown Tallahassee.
Lining the streets of this historic town are Live Oaks. These oaks are a large spreading tree that grow in sandy soil. Their limbs go out horizontally for long distances without breaking off, creating a huge canopy. Live Oaks often support other plants, like Spanish Moss, which hangs down and gives the trees a striking appearance. Back in the day, when there were dirt roads and horse drawn carriages, the locals realized the temperature was about 25 degrees hotter in the sun, so they planted these trees along the main roads which are now tiny 2-lane paved roads. You can drive under these beautiful trees in the shade for miles on end. It's a unique feature to the area.
Florida Caverns State Park, This is one of the few state parks with dry (air-filled) caves and is the only state park in Florida to offer cave tours to the public.
Guided Tours and Ghost Tours, Ride or walk while learning the history of Tallahassee. Ghost Hunters will be interested in the Historic Ghost Tour, held annually in October, and available year round with advanced booking. Tallahassee has a number of allegedly haunted houses and sights that can be visited independently. This includes the Old City Cemetery on North Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, which contains many 19th century graves, including the resting place of an alleged witch named Elizabeth Budd Graham.
Downtown Tallahassee's Lively Building is another spooky locale that used to be home to a rough, late 19th century watering hole called The Leon Bar. Rumor holds that former cowboy customers still haunt the building, located at the corner of Monroe Street and College Avenue. For a Ghost Tour in nearby Monticello, The Big Bend Ghost Trackers offers a Cemetery Tour with Ghost Hunt.
Historic Neighborhoods, A handful of historic districts are within walking distance of the State Capitol. Adams Street is one of the main streets running north/south through downtown Tallahassee. Years ago a portion of the street next to the Florida Capitol complex was developed into an area known as the Adams Street Commons. There are numerous restaurants and shops located on the winding street and special events such as street dances and festivals are held here. Other sites of interest include, Gallie's Hall, The Park Avenue Historic District, The Knott House Museum and Tallahassee's oldest building, The William "Money" Williams Mansion.
Tallahassee is the state capital of Florida and home to many universities and colleges. The beach nearby offers endless stretches of fine sandy beaches, with hardly another person in sight. Destin, Panama City Beach and St George Island are quiet resort towns. St. George Island has a reputation of having one of the best State Park Beaches in Florida. It is the favorite destination of the local residents who live nearby.
Jacksonville is centered on the banks of the St. Johns River, and it's beaches are all located on an unnamed barrier island. Jacksonville is also an international seaport, handling millions of tons of cargo every year. On nearby Anastasia Island is historic St Augustine Beach, with nearly 5 million visitors arriving there every year. Farther north is Amelia Island, which has has over 13 miles of beautiful sandy beaches.
Daytona Beach is a popular "Spring Break" destination, usually during the first 2 weeks in March. Annual NASCAR events at the Daytona racetrack means visitors come all year round. Nicknamed the Space Coast, Cape Canaveral is where U.S. spacecraft are regularly launched. Other local attractions include New Symrna Beach, and Titusville. Over 8,000,000 tourists come each year to Daytona Beach, it is one of the few places in the world where it is permitted for one to drive a car on the ocean beach.
Orlando is best known for theme parks, over 51 million visitors come each year to Orlando, making Orlando one of America's most visited cities. Nearby Kissimmee is known for baseball, hosting spring training for the Houston Astros, and other amateur sporting events. Haines City and Lakeland have beautiful historic districts, with Lakeland having the largest on-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the world.
Tampa Bay is well known by sporting fans due to it's many sporting complexes and arenas, but it's Gulf beaches are some of the most popular destinations for travelers from all around the world. These beaches are world famous with pure white sand and gentle surf, they are also some of the best kept beaches in the United States. The Gulf side beaches stretch miles down the gulf coast from Clearwater, to St Pete, then Anna Maria Island, down to Sarasota. Nearby Sarasota is Siesta Key, which has a reputation of having one of the best beaches in the world.
Fort Myers was originally established in the 1800's along the Caloosahatchee River. Visitors to Fort Myers historic downtown enjoy waterfront dining and entertainment. Sanibel and Captiva are both barrier islands. Captiva Island was split off from Sanibel Island by a hurricane nearly one hundred years ago. These two islands are reknown for their beautiful beaches, abundant shells and wildlife refuges that cover half of Sanibel Island. Nearby Marco Island is the largest barrier island within the Ten Thousand Island chain along Florida's southwestern coast.
Miami was originally inhabited by native American Indians for more than a thousand years. Today it is home to International Banking, and the most western edges of the city extend into the Everglades, a subtropical marshland that include cypress swamps, and the mangrove forests of the Ten Thousand Islands. Miami Beach is a combination of both man made and natural barrier islands and has been known as a resort hotel destination since the late 1900's. North of Miami is Ft Lauderdale, nicknamed the "Venice of America," it is a major yachting center, with thousands of restaurants and nightclubs.
The Florida Keys were created from ancient coral reefs that begin about 15 miles south of Miami and extend in an arc westward to Key West, and the uninhabited Dry Tortugas Islands. Key West travel on the Seven Mile Bridge. On the east end of the Seven Mile Bridge is Marathon, a major sports fishing destination, it's bountiful reefs around Marathon make it popular for diving, snorkeling, and spearfishing.