Photos: Victor Block
At age 458 - founded during the Spanish empire by Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés - St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States. There’s a lot to recommend a city that old, including charming colonial architecture and a lot of history - not just stretching back centuries but also including its beginnings as a tourism mecca during the Victorian era, the early 20th century, and even the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. And of cours
Attracting more than 120 million holidaymakers annually, the Sunshine State is famously home to many beautiful beaches on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and is known for its bright sunshine, tall palm trees, crystal clear turquoise waters, expansive beaches, theme parks; and resorts. And here's our list of picks (obviously by no means exhaustive) of a dozen of the best resorts - from very affordable to very exclusive, and intimate to enormous - across
Did you known that Jacksonville (population around 904,000) is the Sunshine State's most populous city? It also happens to be one of the state's most attractive. This clean, progressive, and modern metropolis on northeastern Florida's St. John's River is a great place to visit, and a great place to live, from its amenities to its surprisingly low cost of living and excellent job availability. However, beyond beyond its lifestyle, a city with little to keep you occupied during your free time sti
Founded on Florida's Gulf coast in 1888 - and, yes, named after the famed Russian city (on a whim of one of the city's founders, who actually flipped a coin to decide the matter with his co-founder) - "St. Pete" has fairly little in common with its larger Slavic namesake. But one major exception is that in both you could spend days on end exploring a wealth of fascinating museums. In addition to the classic Florida sun and nearby beaches that it's known for, the ever growing arts scene and art
Tucked away in tranquility overlooking the serene saltwater tidal estuary of St. Andrew's Bay flanked by Florida's most popular State Park and 7 mile barrier Shell Island in the distance, Sheraton Bay Point Resort is also just a shuttle bus away from the bustling beach front strip of Panama City Beach, on northwest Florida's panhandle.
Originally built and operated under different brands, Sheraton took over the Bay Point Resort in 2015 with a $30 million overhaul ,redeveloping this quintessenti
With a name like PGA National Resort & Spa, home of the annual Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, you'd be right to assume that golf is big here, with five onsite championship golf courses including one that's brand new and Tom Fazio-designed. But even for travelers who haven't swung a club and never plan on it, PGA National's wide array of other award-winning amenities make it a premier go-to Florida escape.
You know you've arrived once you're standing in their expansive
Shops fashionable and funky line Key West’s Duval Street ; photo by Dreamstime
Key West, Florida is more than a place. It's a spirit, a funky energy that enters your soul and takes residence in your worldview as well as your inner vision. A state of mind more than a city; a way of life more than a place to live. It’s a lifestyle as much as a destination. All expressed in the absurdist poetry that is Key west, a language not spoken anywhere else in the country.
But even recognizing all this, I di
It all began when Alex Voss moved from Florida to Hawaii in the summer of 2012 to work on a landscaping project at a new Courtyard by Marriott on Maui. Hoping to experience the island beyond the duration of his assignment, Alex applied for a distillers apprenticeship on Craigslist at Haleakalā Distillers. After following up, he was hired on the spot and worked his way up to distiller in two short years, learning rum production using indigenous molasses. Thinking back to his roots in southwest
Recently tthis month, even as we head toward the end of the year marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, I found myself visiting America's oldest continuously occupied city, St. Augustine, for the first time since a long-ago trip with my family as a kid. I expected to find some of the same things - the massive old Castillo San Marcos fort and the historic downtown, of course, plus a whole raft of new amenities and attractions. And that I certainly did. But I also found somethin
by Judy Antell
Theme parks are a natural fit for Halloween festivities: On a certain level, you might say it's always a Halloween party at theme parks - plus, most of the rides are already designed to scare the living daylights out of you. In October (and sometimes even earlier), some of theme parks have gently scary daytime Halloween events for kids as well as night terrors for teens and adults. Here's a (non-exhaustive) sampling from across the world (and keep in mind, for
