Real Florida

As a native Floridian I have always been one to seek real Florida.  I love Historic Micanopy and the Cross Creek area.  The Florida Cracker style food including the fried catfish and gator and cold beer is a genuine treat at The Yearling Restaurant. 

The nearby home of  Pulitzer winning author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings is not to be missed.  Talk about eco living -- this is the real thing.  

 The rural 1930's rustic home in the middle of an old orange grove on Lake Lochloosa with chickens running around and a real garden growing veggies and roses and the sunsets over the lake completes a scene more beautiful than any painting or picture. It is not to be missed if you are in that part of the state.  

Growing up in Tampa in a family of 6, our family vacations when I was a child were always camping vacations.  My father was a true outdoorsman and started us young. We camped everywhere from the Florida Keys to the Florida Caverns and hit the highlights of everything in between.

We even camped right on Ft. Myers Beach with our tent in the sand not far from the waves back in the ’60s, and on Honeymoon Island.   He had oyster tongs that he had made from 2 garden rakes, and he knew where to find oyster beds, so sometimes we had oysters steamed open over a camp fire.  

For breakfast, my mother was genius at making hash from potatoes, onions and canned corn beef that she served with eggs cooked to order -- everything tastes better outdoors.  

We camped in the Everglades, Ocala National Forest, and Myakka State Park -- all among Florida's most beautiful natural settings with plenty of cool shade.

 My absolute favorite trips were to any of Florida’s natural springs. There is great camping at Silver Springs still today! We found primative camping at Homasassa Springs and Little Manatee springs in North Florida.

Now I live in Pensacola. The Gulf beaches here are among the most beautiful beaches in the world. The sugar white sand is so gorgeous it looks fake. The water is so turquoise and clear you just cannot take your eyes off of it.

The waterfront and the fresh seafood are amazingly ACCESSIBLE here compared with other coastal regions of Florida.  It is very easy to have dinner with a view of the water at so many restaurants. And to park at the beach is no trouble at all -- parking is more than ample and free!  You certainly don't find that at most Florida beaches.

Margaritaville is a delightful and fabulous newly built hotel on Pensacola Beach that I am sure you would love. 

 And for peace and quiet, even if you don’t camp, you need to see Ft. Pickens (near the hotel). It is part of the National Seashore Park system and is just unbelievably beautiful with its endless white sand dunes, and long shoreline of crashing waves -- and seemingly almost empty everytime I go. Great campgrounds too; the bathhouses have wonderfully steaming hot showers and are very clean.  The camp site areas are cute and lively with campers and often full, so if you DO want to camp, make reservations.  

Can't wait for you to see real Florida at least once, because you may know only the commercialized version of Florida built for tourists!