Florida Day Trips & Discoveries
Sometimes, if the journey is pleasant enough, it’s nice to go no place in particular. And while the fishing village of Ozello is certainly someplace in general, the road to Ozello is well worth investigating for its own sake. From US 19 south of Crystal River, take a right turn onto 494 (Ozello Trail) and [...]
“We feel compelled to warn our readers about this crank in Apalachicola who thinks he can make ice as good as the Lord Almighty.” –New York Globe You may not know the name John Gorrie, but you’ve no doubt given thanks for the product of his imagination time and again this summer: every time you [...]
GAINESVILLE, FL — For a short hike with guaranteed wildlife sightings, you can’t beat the La Chua Trail at Paynes Prairie State Preserve south of Gainesville. This trail (3 miles round trip) is just teeming with critters: dozens of alligators, a myriad of birds, even an occasional herd of wild bison or Spanish horses. The [...]
Florida is full of caves. But unless you’ve got scuba equipment, special certification, and what some might call a death wish, you’ll never get to see most of them. Since Florida’s water table is so close to the surface, few of its caves are dry. Florida Caverns State Park (with an elevation of 180 feet) [...]
Marjorie Rawlings’ Cross Creek home remains a page out of one of her novels. From the veranda of her rambling Cracker house she wrote such classic Florida stories as The Yearling and Cross Creek.
DAYTONA, FL — Florida’s tallest nightlight has aided sailors for more than a century. These days, the 175-foot lighthouse and museum at Ponce de Leon Inlet, just south of Daytona, put the spotlight on Florida’s rich maritime history. Visitors are welcome to hike 203 steps up a spiral staircase to the top the lighthouse, if [...]
CHIPLEY, FL — For a state with as little topography as Florida, a 67-foot waterfall is truly unique. What’s even more strange, it originates at ground level. It begins as a small, rather ordinary stream that winds through a forest of white oak, magnolia, beech and dogwood. The drama comes when the stream hits an [...]
The earliest review of Blue Spring gave the place an 18th-century version of thumbs down. Naturalist John Bartram visited Blue Spring in January of 1766, and found a “surprising fountain … the colour of the sea, [that] smelled like bilge water, tasting sweetish and loathsome.” Fortunately for modern travelers, the chemistry of the spring has changed [...]
If you’ve got trouble in Carrabelle, Florida, just dial 3691. That’s the number for a blue phone booth on the main drag that is the world’s smallest police station. The phone booth is shaded by a shiny berry tree, and there’s a park bench in front where policemen can keep an eye on the town [...]