The many beautiful faces of Florida

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/09/2019 (2351 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As September ends and Manitobans stop going to the lake — that generic description for our dozens of prime cottage country and camping destinations — people start thinking about winter vacations in Florida, with its similarly vast selection of sunspots.

This week’s column will detail many of the best Florida options, to help you select the areas that best match your vacation style.

While beaches and beautiful waterfronts are abundant throughout Florida, many visitors never put a foot in ocean waters because of the prime theme park attractions in Orlando.

Disney, Universal and the wide array of family options in Orlando steal travellers away from some of the most beautiful regions of Florida.

They are well worth visiting, but Florida offers some of the best water and leisure activity options you can find anywhere.

The Gulf Coast

While many prefer the blue waters and soft sand beaches of the Atlantic Coast, my wife and I have preferred the quieter destinations on the Gulf side.

One of my first — and most memorable — vacations was in Marco Island on the southern Gulf side. It was not as developed then as it is now. While it is much more expensive, when we visited a couple of years ago, we found it still has a peacefulness many vacationers enjoy.

We spent a number of years going to nearby Naples — still expensive but not in the price range of the island. It is a small city with exceptional restaurants and an enjoyable downtown.

Not much farther north is Fort Myers, much more of an urban centre and with many more tourist options to visit and explore.

Our time spent at the Edison and Ford winter estates was very satisfying, and they are worth visiting.

Almost everywhere on the Gulf side of Florida is less hectic than the Atlantic. If seclusion is what you desire, stay on Sanibel Island — a short causeway drive from Fort Myers.

Only one two-lane road takes you around the island and the slow speed limits add to the peaceful pace.

Cape Coral is known as a waterfront wonderland, and its many canals are home to large numbers of manatee and various bird populations.

While searching for shells along the southern Gulf Coast is a popular daytime activity, the beaches of Sarasota tend to feature much more of the fine sand you would find here in Manitoba at Grand Beach.

Tampa is a big city that tries to compete with Orlando in many ways, by offering themed attractions such as Busch Gardens.

The Atlantic Coast

Daytona Beach gained its reputation as an auto racing destination, featuring the Daytona 500 NASCAR race each February. Because of its hard-packed sand, it’s also one of the few places in the United States that allows beach driving.

West Palm Beach and Boca Raton are the wealthier areas of Florida, where the rich and famous spend their time. They are beautiful areas with some less expensive options, but overall, prices for just about everything are on the higher end.

For many, this is the best reason to holiday there.

Accommodation pricing is lower in Fort Lauderdale, which is the embarkation point for many of the cruise ships that sail around the Caribbean and Mexico. It is also an interesting city in its own right.

It offers beautiful, wide beaches with lots of home-sharing accommodation options along its canals. Its beaches are of the fine, sandy variety sunspot travellers are often seeking.

Its strip meanders along oceanfront Highway A1A. As its promotional literature states, the strip “is a promenade lined with upscale outdoor restaurants, bars, boutiques and hotels” — a far cry from its days as one of the spring break capitals of Florida, when the wail of police sirens drowned out the sounds of the waves lapping on the beach.

Fort Lauderdale is also the home of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Miami Beach is a very large city, and its South Beach continues to attract thousands of visitors each year. It’s a quaint place where fit, athletic types can always be seen running along the beach. Spell trendy and you have the perfect description of the area. Watch out for roller-skaters as you wander the streets. If you like a nightlife that starts early and goes long, this is your place.

It still holds onto its art deco architecture, and if you like seafood while dining on the beach, this is your heaven.

There are also quieter areas in the city. My wife and I spent a week in the Doral area and were pleasantly surprised with the restaurants, location and reasonably priced accommodations.

The Florida Keys and Key West

Key West is the largest city near the farthest tip of the Keys. It offers every kind of activity you might hope to find. It has a well-deserved reputation as the fun and action part of the Keys.

The rest of the Keys are quieter by nature. With one main road in and out, and not much room for smaller communities to become big, the area is about escaping from a busier world.

Marathon, Islamorada and Key Largo are linked by only a few kilometres of highway. Deep-sea fishing and other water sports are the highlights of a vacation here. Fresh fish is on just about every menu, and there are a number of interesting sites to pass some of the daytime hours during a relaxing stay.

During my last stay, I rode on the original African Queen from the Humphrey Bogart movie and visited a turtle hospital, whose singular goal is to save turtles and other sea life that have been injured by boat motors and collisions.

They are brought back to health, tagged and, in most cases, released successfully back into the waters from which they came.

I hope to return to Florida soon.

I just don’t know yet which Florida I will be visiting.

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pradinukr@shaw.ca