Ybor City is a historical city built on the ambition and dreams of migrant workers who moved to Tampa seeking a better life. Ybor City's residents created an environment to raise their children, establish businesses, and follow their dreams. Today the ironwork balconies, brick-paved streets, and towering marble and granite social clubs continue to tell [...]
Over the course of visiting farms around Florida, a common thread between all types of farming is the reliance on family. Passed through generations, the pride of caring for the land and the product created is undeniable. On a gloomy day, I visited the Dakin Dairy Farm. The sky may have been gray, but the [...]
Kayaking the cold refreshing spring waters of Weeki Wachee is the perfect escape from the crowded Florida beaches during the scorching months of summer. The crystal clear water made it easy to spot schools of fish and the occasional manatee as we paddled along the miles of winding river. Before setting out on an afternoon [...]
Florida’s Highway 30A was a recent discovery. Planning a trip to this area started with a simple search of Florida State Parks and snowballed into a full-blown weekend beach vacation. Located in the panhandle of Florida, the charm of this 24-mile highway will leave you feeling transported into another world. The landscape along this breathtaking [...]
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be dropped off on a private island where all of your needs would be tended to? On my recent trip to the island, I was impressed by the number of facilities available. Caladesi Island State Park comes pretty close to providing all the beach essentials [...]
Honeymoon Island is one of Florida’s most popular State Parks. The white sand beaches softly blending into turquoise water are just like the advertisements for Visit Florida. The shore is sprinkled with sun-bleached shells ripe for the picking to take home as a souvenir. It’s easy to see why many people chose Honeymoon Island as [...]
Hunsader Farms is like an amusement park loaded with farm activities. The humble beginnings of the Hunsader Farm started with an eighty-acre crop of tomatoes. Over the decades, the farm has grown to add additional buildings to the property, including a barn to house produce for the farmer's market, an ice cream shop, and a [...]
Tarpon Springs is known for two things; Greek food and sponges. The two may seem like an unlikely pairing; however, the relationship started in the early 1900s, when Greek sponge divers settled in Tarpon Springs and created a thriving industry selling natural sponges harvested from the Gulf of Mexico. Today, Tarpon Springs relies mainly on [...]
Sunsational Farms is an hour North of Orlando in Umatilla, Florida. I knew I had arrived when I was greeted by the enormous glowing orange perched on the front lawn. This overgrow orange has acted as a roadside attraction in many towns across Florida since the 70s. After being abandoned in a field, it was [...]
Amid stop-and-go traffic on searing blacktop pavement lies a tropical roadside oasis. St. Petersburg's Sunken Gardens is one of Florida’s last roadside attractions. Its humble beginnings started as a hobby for the landowner who drained this land of its marshy water and created the tropical garden we continue to enjoy over a hundred years later. [...]
