Tons of Fishing
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Amble across the top of the state to Gainesville to eyeball the exotic beauties that populate the new Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Then make tracks for the stunning powdered sugar sands of the Northwest coast. Kids in the car? They'll be the first to spy the enduring recreational lures of Panama City--soon followed by serene towns that have quietly evolved from quaint fishing villages.

Track the sun-sparkled emerald waters to Pensacola, where the National Museum of Naval Aviation at the Pensacola Naval Air Station is a stilting sight with its assemblage of 170 vintage airplanes--plus a Blue Angel flight simulator to sample.

Head southward along Florida's Atlantic-lapped coastline, and you'll find it tempting to simply spread a towel somewhere on the 23 sandy miles of Daytona Beach and stay put. But then you would miss the blast-off excitement of the Space Coast, where a tour of the Kennedy Space Center is a must, and the pulse-pounding motorsports celebrated at Daytona Beach USA, where you can design and video-test your own racecar.

In contrast, the serene state parks of West Volusia and Volusia counties provide peaceful retreats and a taste of the state's heritage. At Blue Spring State Park, the landscape is much as it was when populated by the Timucuan Indians. It's a place for up-close looks at manatees--Florida's gentle giants--November through March from platforms along Blue Spring Run. Open for tours is a restored house built in 1872 for handy access to the St. Johns River--Florida's longest at 310 miles from its origins south of Cape Canaveral to its mouth in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, in DeLeon Springs State Park, you can explore circa-1800s Spring Garden Plantation and its sugar mill powered by spring water.

More treasures await. If you're a horticultural buff, you'll want to linger at Veto Beach in Indian River County, where McKee Botanical Garden spreads 18 acres of waterways and ponds wrapped in subtropical plants and trees.

If it's bird-watching you want, consider Martin County, where you can paddle your own canoe and spy on hawks and great blue herons, ospreys and egrets, spoonbills and brown pelicans. Along the way you can drop anchor for an island picnic, or pull up to a choice restaurant, or stop to shop in the restored downtowns of Stuart and Jensen Beach. (Narrated boat tours are available as well.)

Is diving your dream? Check out the breathtaking barrier reefs and beneath-the-sea citizenry on view in St. Lucie County--Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, and Hutchinson Island--where there are centuries-old shipwrecks to explore. At the St. Lucie County Historical Museum, you'll see Spanish treasure from these vessels, along with a re-created Seminole Indian encampment. The St. Lucie River is a prime spot for paddling a canoe and training binoculars on wide-ranging birdlife and the antics of playful river otters.

Arguably, there's no territory anywhere that sports the entertainment quotient of the state's midsection--home to Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and endless water-themed escapades from swimming with dolphins at Discovery Cove to submerging in a dive cage at SeaWorld.

Kissimmee, only a skip from Walt Disney World, boasts its own array of attractions, from themed dinner theaters to the Monument of States, made of stones collected by residents from every state and numerous foreign countries. Here in the midsection's bastions of "Old Florida," you can not only kayak wild cypress swamps and haul in a prize-winning bass but saddle up for an authentic cattle drive.

One of Florida's oldest (it opened in 1936) and best-known attractions--Cypress Gardens, just south of Orlando in Winter Haven--reopened in late 2004 after being closed for just over a year. Born again as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, the site's signature botanical gardens beckon as much as ever, but today they form a backdrop for a $45-million makeover that includes 38 rides plus concerts, laser and fireworks displays, and a village of shops and eateries. Still prominent in the lineup are the choreographed waterski shows.

To the west, Tampa invites visitors to Busch Gardens to sample its new Cheetah Chase, seventh in the theme park's roster of roller coasters. Considerably more peaceful: Tampa's Florida Aquarium, whose recently launched outdoor aquatic discovery zone for kids features a 24-foot pirate ship.

Small wonder that close-by St. Petersburg lures generations of snowbirds--it sports not only gorgeous beaches but 361 days of yearly sunshine. A don't-miss for art lovers: the Salvador Dali Museum and its knockout collection of art by the Spanish surrealist.

Another intriguing assemblage--this one focused on Florida's Native Americans--is on display at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton. It spotlights aboriginal artifacts of the region such as pottery, shell tools, beads, and metals. The Bradenton area, Anna Maria Island, and Longboat Key abound with outdoor adventures.

Nearby, postcard-pretty Sarasota is a tapestry of cultural attractions with its Ringling Museum of Art complex--a legacy from the 1920s when John Ringling chose the city to be winter quarters for his renowned circus. Under the umbrella are the 18th century Asolo Theatre (imported in its entirety from Asolo, Italy), a circus museum, and the Ringling home, an eye-popping 32-room mansion patterned after the Doge's Palace in Venice.

Along the alabaster sands washed by the gentle rollers of the Gulf, life is serene. Families search for prize specimens in such famously shell-strewn spots as Sanibel Island, and explore the one-time winter estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford at mainland Fort Myers. Naples and Marco Island, south of Fort Myers, abound with posh resorts, smart shops, and great golf courses.

Cross the vast, watery wilderness of Everglades National Park to the East Coast and the pace speeds up as you spin from Palm Beach, with its chic shops and grand mansions, to West Palm Beach, where downtown's Clematis Street is the trendiest place to see and be seen. Next stops: Fort Lauderdale, whose flowering Las Olas Boulevard is action central; and sizzling Miami, where the beat is Latin, the cuisine is "Floribbean," and the pulsating neon vibe of South Beach is hot-hot-hot. On a gentler note, be sure to pay respects to Flipper, the dolphin, and Salty, the sea lion, at Miami Seaquarium, marking its 50th anniversary in 2005.

For a journey to remember, set your sights southward from Biscayne Bay on a 100-mile ribbon of road-plus-bridges known as the Overseas Highway--an amazing feat of engineering. It links a chain of islands lapped by dazzling emerald-turquoise-sapphire waters--each a playground for fishing, water sports, and communing with nature. Start at the top with Key Largo, home to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, where snorkeling and diving are the name of the game. You can make your own splash in the "Dive Capital of the World," or stay dry while taking in the underwater wonders of the reef via the park's glass-bottom catamaran. Islamorada bills itself as the "Fishing Capital of the World."

At the end of the road lies relaxed-to-the-max Key West, a singular island with a free-wheeling style, a burgeoning cultural picture, and a rich-textured maritime history. A haven for famous names the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, and Harry Truman, the one-of-a-kind southernmost outpost is known for its daily celebration of the sunset at Mallory Docks. On hand for the tree show is an uncommon cast of characters and performances ranging from animal acts to jugglers to sword-swallowers. It makes a fine finish for a fun Florida getaway.

Contact: Visit Florida, (888) 7FLA-USA