Florida

Welcome to the Sunshine State! Florida is Home of Disney World and the theme park capital of the United States, Orlando. Situated mostly on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straights of Florida the state offers some excellent beaches on both the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The state is bordered by Alabama and Georgia – to the west of south Florida in the Atlantic Ocean is the Bahamas and Cuba is to the south in the Caribbean.

Major cities in Florida include Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. Tallahassee is the capital city of Florida, located in the panhandle. Don’t forget there is also Key West and other great destinations including Daytona Beach on the Atlantic and Clearwater on the Gulf. Cape Canaveral where the United States Space Shuttle launches is a short drive east of Orlando on the Atlantic. Space Shuttle Launches are a spectacular sight, especially at night.

Terrain here is mainly flat and the state has several preserves, parks, memorials, and monuments under control by the National Park Service including:

Big Cypress National Preserve – Near Lake Okeechobee

Biscayne National Park – Near Key Biscayne

Canaveral National Seashore – Near Titusville

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument – In St. Augustine

De Soto National Memorial – In Bradenton

Dry Tortugas National Park – In Key West

Everglades National Park – Southwest Florida

Fort Caroline National Memorial – In Jacksonville

Fort Matanzas National Monument – In St. Augustine

Gulf Islands National Seashore – Near Gulf Breeze

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve - In Jacksonville

The climate in Florida is mostly warm and humid during the summer and moderate and cool during the winter with a few exceptions. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in Florida, especially during the summer. Typically it will rain a bit and then the skies will clear.

Getting to Florida

By Automobile, I-75 enters the state near Lake City and continues south through Gainesville, Ocala, Tampa, Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, and Naples. I-95 enters the state near Jacksonville and continues along the Atlantic Coast through Daytona Beach, Titusville, Melbourne, Palm Bay, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and then terminates in Miami. I-10 runs east-west, traversing the panhandle connecting Jacksonville, Lake City, Tallahassee, and Pensacola. Within the state, I-4 runs from Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, and out to the east coast.

To arrive by air, there are several major international airports in Florida, including Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL), Miami International Airport (MIA), Orlando International Airport (MCO), and Tampa International Airport (TPA). Each of these airports have international service to Europe and Miami has international service to South America as well.

There are a number of secondary airports including Jacksonville International Airport (JAX), West Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), and Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Meyers.