Tag: Florida

It’s hard to beat a sunrise over the ocean, and at Three Waters Resort and Marina, they are truly a spectacle. The sprawling oceanfront property sits in Islamorada, a quiet Florida Keys community whose moniker translates to “purple island” in Spanish (likely due to those glorious morning displays).

For more than 30 years, the arrival of spring in Orlando has been heralded with an explosion of flowers, color, and trademark Disney magic. A topiary of Figment, the brightly hued dragon that serves as a park mascot, welcomes visitors to the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, taking place March 4 through June 1.

Today, Palm Beach’s affluence and fame combine with South Florida’s irrepressible subtropical kitsch, making it eternally fascinating for people of all walks of life. So ditch your winter coat (the temps rarely dip below 70) and pack your Chanel tweed: We’ve curated your Palm Beach itinerary so you can experience the best this legendarily wealthy, wild, and wonderful destination has to offer.

I am not a painter. The most complex thing I’ve drawn is a stick figure, but I didn’t let this stop me from accepting an invitation to the Bob Ross Art Workshop & Gallery in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The beloved PBS star of The Joy of Painting once said, “I think there’s an artist hidden at the bottom of every single one of us.” If there is an artist inside me, she’s in deep hibernation because I haven’t located her yet.

The thunderous roar of fighter jets is nothing unusual in Pensacola, Florida, known as the “Cradle of Aviation.” Founded in 1914, Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola was the first of its kind in the United States, marking the beginning of formal schooling for aviators.

Founded in 1967, Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, has been the launch site of numerous missions, including Apollo 11, which first put humans on the moon. Today it’s both a working research center and a popular tourist attraction. There is always at least one astronaut on site, meeting visitors and leading them on a journey.

Within minutes of stepping into Orlando’s My Beer Spa, I’m sporting a waffle-weave cotton robe and holding a cold pint of blonde ale. Down the hall, my husband and I step into a darkened room, soft lights glowing gold like the drink in my hand. Classical music and the hum from the bubbling Jacuzzi tubs float in the warm air. As harried, overcommitted, working parents of a spirited toddler, it was everything we could hope for on a Friday afternoon.

If walking along Worth Avenue—Palm Beach’s most famous strip—evokes feelings of being in Europe, that’s by design. Innovative architect Addison Mizner spent the early 1900s designing a picture-perfect downtown that feels plucked from a movie set.

It’s been more than 25 years since a new theme park opened in Orlando—which, coincidentally, is about how long it’s been since I moved from Central Florida to Atlanta. A roller-coaster lover by birth (growing up, we always had Florida-resident season passes to the parks), now a travel writer by trade, I was more than a little excited to check out Universal Epic Universe before it opens to the public May 22. Now that I’m back, I’ve compiled 5 things you need to know.