With great pleasure I present West Volusia Tourism as my guest blog for June, 2021. Their motto: Old Florida. New Vibe. Let’s go soon . . . It’s a Summer to Remember in West Volusia County By David Swanberg, Marketing…
DeLand Delivers Good Vibrations
Pop quiz: Name the first municipality in the state of Florida to become a Monarch City USA. Tick tock. Tick tock. Got it yet? Hint: Check out the photograph below. And the answer is DeLand, Florida. Yeah for DeLand! This…
Go Fly a Kite
Go fly a kite. Well, why not? When my boys were in grade school in Gainesville, Florida they became infected with a bout of kite fever. As a result we constructed diamond-shaped kites using the color Sunday comics from the…
Appreciate Art at the Appleton & More Museums
Been a while since you visited the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala? Pencil in a visit soon. Things have changed. There is a hushed reverence in the exhibit rooms. Walls are painted with themed colors and room displays unfold gracefully.
Lake Eola Park hosts Farmers Market
Every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando becomes the place to be. Tents of all sizes line both sides of the park’s winding sidewalks for the weekly Orlando Farmers Market. Music, ethnic food,…
Andy Warhol Inspires Selby Gardens
Andy Warhol. Just saying his name conjures up pop art images like Campbell’s Soup Cans and the Marilyn Diptych with Marilyn flashing her famous come hither smile. But did you know the Pope of Pop had a love affair with…
Winter Park Walk can be a Treasure Hunt
Like treasure hunts? Then a walk on Park Avenue in Winter Park is your kind of adventure. For starters, stepping into the Spice and Tea Exchange is an aromatic treat. Try to find your favorite spice smell – there are…
Grab flip flops, Let’s Go Visit Hollywood, Florida
Let’s go to Hollywood. No, not that one in California, instead grab your flip-flops and let’s go to Hollywood, Florida. The city of Hollywood sits on the Atlantic Ocean. It is conveniently located north of Miami and south of Fort…
Flutter with the Butterflies in Fort Myers
Coming to this conservatory is a game changer. No doubt about it. What happens here with butterflies is both intense and beautiful. The Florida Native Butterfly Society Conservatory in Fort Myers opened in 2009. Unlike most facilities, it is allowed…
Naples Loves Outdoor Farmers Markets
Naples on the West Coast of Florida has a hot and heavy love affair going on with outdoor Farmers Markets. Seven different Farmers Markets, yes seven, strut their stuff on different days of the week during the season (November through…
Backstage Tours at Sarasota Opera House & More Places
Backstage tours. Something different! Take a Sarasota Opera House tour around the building and backstage – the tour pulls back the curtain to reveal the hands and hours it takes to produce an opera. Singers fill out a multi-page costume…
Dade City Celebrates with a Kumquat Festival
Got kumquats? Dade City does. Thousands of kumquats will gather together in downtown Dade City on Saturday, January 30 from 9 to 5. The occasion? The annual Kumquat Festival I confess it is not easy to love a kumquat. A…
Florida Art Museums are Cool – Let’s Visit
September in Florida can be cruel. An early morning breeze caresses our cheeks like a lover’s touch and then bam! An hour later the thrill of fall is gone, replaced by yet another hot day and humid night – enough…
Four Travel Journalists Find Great Food on the Open Road
Lunch in a river outside Puerto Vallarta By Lucy Beebe Tobias Our bright yellow 4×4 grinds higher up into the Sierra Madre Mountains. The high peaks rise like jagged green jewels above Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. Under a canvas canopy…
Discover Downtown St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, Florida has 360 days a year of sunshine AND cars stop to let you go across the crosswalk. What’s not to like? My friend Barbara Trow, a recent transplant to St. Petersburg, laughs as she reels off those…
Antiques Fair Well in Arcadia
“You really must go to Arcadia the fourth Saturday of the month,” she said, her husband nodding assent as they stood at my table during a book signing. I perked up. “Why the fourth Saturday?” I asked. “Oh, because all…
Discover Sea Grass Jungles in Florida
Florida shorelines are underwater jungles teaming with young fish and marine live finding food and shelter in mangrove roots and sea grasses. Their predators come and go with the tides. It is a world of eat and be eaten, just…
Venice is a Vision Worth Visiting
“So, what you like about living in Venice?” I asked my dinner companion. “Everything.” Wow. That is not something you hear every day. But are we in the same zip code? My dinner companion was not talking about THAT Venice,…
Winter Park Puts a Smile in Your Step
Want to put a smile in your step? Spend a Saturday in Winter Park. Yep. Saturday. Why? Because it is Farmer’s Market Day. Every Saturday an encampment of tents fan out in a tight cluster around the old train station…
Water Tours Offer Unique View of Florida
“That house on the right sold for seven million last year,” says Harold Bubil, Real Estate Editor of the Sarasota Herald Tribune. All eyes swivel starboard. We look at the elevated waterfront home with patio, pool and a dock. Impressive.…
Flower Power Blooms in Florida
Wait for it. Coming. Coming. Zing! The calendar page turns and voila, March arrives today – yeah! Flower power in Florida starts in January and goes through April, This is much different than “up North” but then Florida is tropical.…
Florida Sunsets are Free and Fabulous
Another day. Another sunset. The ritual begins. We drift onto the beach, each headed to a personal place. There are no signs saying “Park here” or “Reserved for Lucy” but we know where we belong. I go for a flat…
Aviation History soars in Florida
Tucked away in a folder called “Places in Florida I haven’t been yet (but want to go)” are scraps of paper with scribbled notes, flyers, cards and brochures. The DeLand Naval Air Station sits in that folder. Think about it. …
Fishing and Fall are Big Lures in Florida
Ah fall. Crisp air, cool mornings. And fish are calling your name. Seriously. Fishermen hear these things. Redfish, mullet, shark, croppie, trout, grouper . . . listen to the siren call. “What kind of fish you catch depends on the…
Manatees and a Children’s Book
In another life I was a “go to” newspaper reporter writing about Florida environmental issues including Florida manatees. Every year, count on it, editors wanted a story when manatee mortality figures were released – the whys, who or what shared…