Brochure images of tanning flesh and Mickey Mouse
give an inaccurate and incomplete picture of FLORIDA
. Although the aptly nicknamed "Sunshine State" is indeed
devoted to the tourist trade, it's also among the least-understood
parts of the US. Away from its overexposed resorts lie forests
and rivers, deserted strands filled with wildlife, vibrant cities
and primeval swamps.
In many respects Florida is still evolving. Seven
hundred people a day move to the state, now the fourth most populous
in the nation. Changing demographics are eroding the traditional
Deep South conservatism: the new Floridians tend to be a younger,
more energetic breed, while Spanish-speaking enclaves provide
close ties to Latin America and the Caribbean - links as influential
in creating wealth as the recent arrival of the movie industry
in central Florida, fresh from Hollywood.
The essential stop is cosmopolitan, half-Latin Miami
, from where a simple journey south brings you to the Florida
Keys , a hundred-mile string of islands known for sports
fishing, coral-reef diving, and the sultry town of Key
West , legendary for its sunsets and anything-goes attitude.
North from Miami, much of the east coast is disappointingly
urbanized, albeit with miles of unbroken beaches flowing alongside.
The residential stranglehold is lessened further north, where
communities such as Daytona Beach have become
subservient to the local sands. Farther along, historical St
Augustine stands as the longest continuous settlement
in the US.
In central Florida the terrain
turns green, though it's no rural idyll: this is where you'll
find Orlando and Walt Disney World
, one of the world's leading tourist destinations. From here it's
just a skip north to the forests of the Panhandle
, Florida's link with the Deep South, or to the towns and beaches
of the west coast . To the south, and also easily
accessible from Miami, stretches the Everglades
, a swampy sawgrass plain filled with camera-friendly (but otherwise
unfriendly) alligators.
In at least one way it makes little difference when
you visit : warm sunshine and blue skies are almost always
a fact of life. Florida does, however, split into two climatic
zones : subtropical in the south and warm temperate in
the north. Orlando and points south have very mild winters (October
to April), with warm temperatures and low humidity. This is the
peak tourist season, when prices are at their highest. The southern
summer (May to September), on the other hand, brings high humidity
and afternoon storms - the rewards for braving the mugginess are
lower prices and fewer tourists. Winter is the off-peak period
north of Orlando; while snow has been known to fall in the Panhandle,
daytime temperatures are generally comfortably warm. During the
northern Florida summer, the crowds arrive, and the days - and
the nights - get hot and sticky. Also, there is a potentially
ominous time of the year - the " hurricane season
" - June to November.
Finally, although Florida has struggled with its
reputation for crimes against (and even murders
of) tourists, the state's been very successful in reducing such
attacks. It's definitely no longer the den of "Miami Vice"
it once was, but, as when visiting all big cities, it pays to
be wary.
