Also see Specific Destinations, Travel and Location Humor.

Page Toppers

• Daytona Nights
• Down Beside Old Tampa Bay
• Florida, the Moon and You
• In Daytona
• In Dear Old Florida
• In the Mission of St. Augustine
• Moon Over Miami
• My Florida Home
• On Biscayne Bay
• On Miami Shore
• Rainy Florida Afternoon
• Where the Summer Spends the Winter
• While Miami Dreams

Quotes

• Florida has its own rhythm, too. People go to work, they watch their children learn and grow and start families of their own. They play in the sun and pass their lives enjoying the out-sized blessings that make our state unique. (Jeb Bush)
• Florida has tons of entertainment opportunities because Walt Disney World and Universal Studios are there. (Kevin Richardson)
• Florida is a place of unparalleled diversity of backgrounds, experiences and vision. It makes our culture unique, but it can also make it difficult to define a common identity and create a sense of community that reaches beyond our neighborhoods to all corners of our state. (Jeb Bush)
• A lot of people stop short. They don't actually die but they say, 'Right I'm old, and I'm going to retire,' and then they dwindle into nothing. They go off to Florida and become jolly boring. (Mary Wesley)
• Miami Beach is where neon goes to die. (Lenny Bruce)
• My parents didn't want to move to Florida, but they turned sixty and that's the law. (Jerry Seinfeld)
• Two things Florida can teach the other 49 states: how to make a good margarita and how to deal with the aftermath of a hurricane. (Tom Feeney)
• The wealth of south Florida, but even more important, the meaning and significance of south Florida lies in the black muck of the Everglades and the inevitable development of this country to be the great tropic agricultural center of the world. (Marjory Stoneman Douglas)

Page Idea

Use a palm tree die-cut or sticker in place of the 'l' in the word 'Florida' in a page title.

Florida Symbols

• Nicknames: Sunshine State; Everglade State; Gulf State; The Land of Flowers; Alligator State; Orange State; Peninsula state
• Motto: In God We Trust
• Litter Control Slogan: Keep Florida Beautiful
• Song: Suwannee River (words and music by Stephen Foster--sometimes spelled "Swanee River")
• Former Song: Florida, My Florida
• Welcome Song: Florida
• Folk Dance: Square Dance
• Band: The St. Johns River City Band
• Animal: Florida Panther
• Marine Mammal: West Indian Manatee
• Saltwater Mammal: Bottlenose Dolphin
• Reptile: American Alligator
• Bird: Northern Mockingbird
• Freshwater Fish: Florida Largemouth Bass
• Saltwater Fish: Atlantic Sailfish
• Butterfly: Zebra Longwing
• Tree: Sabal Palmetto Palm (Cabbage Palm)
• Flower: Orange Blossom
• Wildflower: Coreopsis
• Shell: Horse Conch
• Gemstone: Moonstone (not naturally occurring in FL)
• Rock: Agatized Coral
• Beverage: Orange Juice
• Pie: Key Lime Pie
• Fruit: Orange
• Rodeo: Silver Spurs Rodeo (Osceola Co.)
• Pro Sports Teams: Miami Heat, Orlando Magic (men's basketball); Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (football); FL Marlins (baseball); FL Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning (hockey)

Facts About Florida

• Capital: Tallahassee
• Residents: Floridians
• State Name Origin: from a Spanish word meaning "abounding in flowers"
• Admitted to Statehood: 3 Mar 1845
• Order of Admission: 27th state
• Coastline/Shoreline: 580/3,331 miles
• Length: 500 miles
• Width: 160 miles
• Area: 65,755 square miles
• Size Rank: 22
• Number of Counties: 67
• Streams and Rivers: 51,858 miles
• Geographic Center: 12 miles NNW of Brooksville in Hernando Co.
• Mean Elevation: 100 feet
• Highest Point: Britton Hill (in Walton Co.), 345 feet
• Lowest Point: Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, sea level
• Agricultural Products: food products, citrus fruit, vegetables, livestock
• Commercial Products: tourism, electronic and transportation equipment, industrial machinery, printing and publishing, phosphates, fish
• Average Annual Rainfall: 49.9 inches
• Average Winter Low Temperature: 40 degrees
• Record Low Temperature: -2 degrees (13 Feb 1899 Tallahassee)
• Average Summer High Temperature: 70-85 degrees
• Key West has the highest average temperature in the United States
• Record High Temperature: 109 degrees (29 Jun 1931 Monticello)
• Official Language: English
• More information about Florida

from Florida, My Florida

(by Rev Dr. C. V. Waugh
to the tune of Maryland, My Maryland)

Land of my birth, bright sunkissed land,
Florida, my Florida.
Laded by the Gulf and Ocean grand,
Florida, my Florida.

Of all the States in East or West,
Unto my heart thou art the best
Here may I live, here may I rest
Florida, my Florida.

Items of Interest

• Pelican Island, established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903, was the first federal wildlife refuge in the U.S.
• More passenger ships pass through Miami's port than any other city in the U. S.
• Greater Miami is the only metropolitan area in the United States whose borders encompass two national parks--Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park.
• Saint Augustine is the oldest European settlement in North America.
• Orlando attracts more visitors than any other amusement park destination in the U.S.
• Cape Canaveral is America's launch pad for space flights.
• Florida is not the southernmost state in the United States. Hawaii is farther south.
• A museum in Sanibel is the only museum devoted solely to mollusks.
• The United States city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater.
• Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where the drink was first developed.
• Tony Jannus made history on January 1, 1914 when he flew the world's first scheduled passenger service airline flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa.
• Miami Beach pharmacist, Benjamin Green, invented the first suntan cream in 1944 by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot.
• Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine especially for rollerbladers.
• Plant City holds the Guinness record for the world's largest strawberry shortcake. The 827 square-foot, 6,000 pound cake was made on Feb. 19, 1999 in McCall Park.
• Nearly eighty percent of the states intake of sweet Atlantic white shrimp is harvested in Amelia Island waters. Two million pounds of shrimp are delivered to Fernandina docks annually.
• DeFuniak Springs is home to one of the two naturally round lakes in the world.
• The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens at Delray Beach is the only museum in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the living culture of Japan.
• Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because the city has 185 miles of local waterways.
• During the 1991 Gulf War the military moved more supplies and people through Jacksonville than any other port in the country.
• When completed in 1989 the Dame Point Bridge was the longest cable-stayed span in the U.S., the longest concrete span of its type in the Western Hemisphere, and the third longest cable-stayed bridge in the world.
• The longest river sailboat race in the world is the Annual Mug Race. The event runs 42 miles from Palatka to Jacksonville along the St. Johns River.
• The Florida Museum of Hispanic and Latin American Art in Coral Gables, is the only museum in the U.S. dedicated to the preservation, diffusion, and promotion of Hispanic and Latin American Art.
• Florida is the only state that has two rivers both with the same name. There is a Withlacoochee in north central Florida (Madison County) and a Withlacoochee in central Florida. They have nothing in common except the name.

Notable Natives

Some of these were born here, others just lived a while in the state.

• Wallace Amos (1936- ) - founder of Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Corporation (Tallahassee)
• Julian "Cannonball" Adderley - jazz saxophonist (Tampa)
• John James Audubon - ornithologist
• Pat Boone - singer (Jacksonville)
• Fernando Bujones (1955- ) - ballet dancer (Miami)
• Steve "Lefty" Carlton - baseball pitcher (Miami)
• Jacqueline Cochran (1910-1980) - WWII pilot (Pensacola)
• George Barron Collier - businessman, land promoter
• Howie Dorough - singer (Orlando)
• Fay Dunaway - actress (Bascom)
• William P. Du Val - first territorial governor
• Gloria Estefan (1957-) - singer, songwriter (raised in Miami)
• Stepin Fetchit - comedian (Key West)
• Henry Morrison Flagler - capitalist, land promoter
• Dwight Gooden (1964- ) - baseball pitcher (Tampa)
• Dr. John Gorrie - invented mechanical refrigeration in 1851
• Zora Neale Hurston - author (Eatonville)
• James Weldon Johnson - author, educator (Jacksonville)
• Francis Langford - singer (Lakeland)
• A. J. McLean - singer (West Palm Beach)
• Alexander McGillivray - Indian leader
• Butterfly McQueen - actress (Tampa)
• Pedro de Auiles Menendez - founder of st. Augustine
• Harry T. Moore (1905-1951) - civil rights worker (Houston)
• Jim Morrison (1943-1971) - rock singer, leader of The Doors (Melbourne)
• Osceola (ca 1800-1838) - Seminole leader
• Denson Claude Pepper - politician
• Henry Bradley Plant - railroad baron
• Sydney Poitier (1927- ) - first African-American actor to win an Oscar (Miami)
• A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979) - labor leader (Crescent City)
• Marjorie K. Rawlings - Pulitzer Prize-winning author (lived in Cross Creek, wrote The Yearling
• Janet Reno (1938-) - first female U.S. Attorney General (Miami)
• Burt Reynolds (1936) - actor (Jupiter)
• Little Richard - rock and roll singer
• Charles (1864-1926) and John (1866-1936) Ringling - co-founders of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
• David Robinson (1965- ) - basketball player (Key West)
• Joseph W. Stilwell - army general (Palatka)
• Don Sutton - baseball player (Pensacola)
• Norman E. Thargard - astronaut
• Clarence Thomas - supreme court justice
• Julie DeForest Sturtevant Tuttle (1848-1898) - known as the "mother of Miami", promoted the settling of Miami
• Ben Vereen - actor, dancer (Miami)
• David Levy Yulee - U.S. senator

The Florida State Flag
The flag has two diagonal red bars going from corner to corner on a white background. In the center is the State Seal. The Seal has a Native American Seminole woman scattering flowers, a cabbage palmetto tree, a steamboat and a bright sun on a blue background. This indicates that Florida has a lot of sunshine, flowers, palm trees, rivers and lakes. The flag was adopted in 1899.

The Good Life of Florida

Bless this house, oh Lord, we cry.
Please keep it cool in mid-July.
Bless the walls where termites dine,
While ants and roaches march in time.

Bless our yard where spiders pass
Fire ant castles in the grass.
Bless the garage, a home to please
Carpenter beetles, ticks and fleas.

Bless the love bugs, two by two,
The gnats and mosquitoes that feed on you.
Millions of creatures that fly or crawl,
In Florida, Lord, you've put them all!!

But this is home, and here we'll stay,
So thank you Lord, for insect spray

Jacksonville's New Resident Guide

• You must learn to say the city name correctly. It is usually referred to as "Jax".
• You must be a Jaguar fan. It is a requirement for citizenship. Also, you are either a Gator or a Nole. There are no other schools. It's better to learn that sooner than later.
• Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. No one pays attention to them here. Merging, yielding, and right-of-way are completely foreign terms.
• To find anything in Jax it is required that you know where Regency Square is. It is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end.
• Directions to anywhere may, and usually do, make a reference to "the old Pic and Save".
• The morning rush hour is from 6am to 10 a.m. The evening rush hour is from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.
• If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out, and possibly shot.
• East Rd. meets West Rd. on Beach Blvd, but they both run North and South.
• Normandy Boulevard, State Road 228, Cecil Field Road, Maxville Road, and Post Street are all the same road.
• On the southeast side of town, Hartley Road, Shad Road, and Hood Road are all the same road. Hartley Road is the western part of the road, and Shad Road is the eastern part of the road. Now don't be confused about this Hood Road. This is the West-East part that is in between Hartley and Shad, not the North-South part that starts out as Old Kings Road South, changes into Hood Road South, and ends at Losco Road. Got it?
• Construction is a permanent fixture in Jax. The barrels are moved around in the middle of the night to make the next day's driving a bit more exciting.
• Watch very carefully for road hazards such as deer, skunks, dogs, barrels, cones, cows, horses, pot holes, cats, pieces of other cars, single shoes, opossum, truck tires, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, crows or vultures feeding on any of these items.
• The minimum acceptable speed on J Turner Butler Blvd is 75 MPH. Anything less is considered downright sissy. This is Jacksonville's version of NASCAR.
• Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously.
• If you are in the left lane, and only going 70 in a 55 zone, you are considered a road hazard and will be "flipped off" accordingly.
• Ground clearance of at least 12 inches is recommended for city driving.
• If it's 100 degrees, Thanksgiving must be next weekend.
• There are really only two seasons here: Summer and January.
• Ponte Vedra is to Middleburg as oceanfront is to double-wide.
• If you choose to live in Orange Park, or, God forbid, Middleburg, plan to leave for work at 4 a.m. and return home around 11 p.m. Otherwise you may get caught in what can only be described as "the world's longest left-turn lane".
• Don't get here late and expect something to eat. after 9 p.m., your choices are Famous Amos and Village Inn.
• You can buy a million-dollar condo downtown on the river, but you have to drive ten miles for a loaf of bread, and never after dark.
• The Landing is an interesting place. Every time you visit, there will be a whole new set of restaurants, fewer stores, and less parking. Hooters, however, is a permanent fixture.
• All city council decisions must be signed off on by First Baptist Church.
• You can't drink alcohol and see topless girls at the same time. But, if you agree to drink Diet Coke, you can see them fully nude.
• North Philips highway. Don't go there. Ever. Unless, of course, you are looking for motels that charge by the hour.
• Learn all of the lyrics to every Lynyrd Skynyrd song. Trust me on this one.
• If you like southern-style barbecue, you've come to the right place. There's a restaurant on every corner. But, they all close at 9 p.m.
• Convenience stores are literally EVERYWHERE, unless you live in a million-dollar condo downtown.

You know you are in Florida in the summer when:

• The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
• Hot water now comes out of both taps.
• You can make sun tea instantly.
• You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
• The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
• You discover that in July it only takes two fingers to steer your car.
• You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
• You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
• You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
• Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
• You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
• The birds have to use pot holders to pull worms out of the ground.
• The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt, and pepper.
• Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
• The cows are giving evaporated milk.
• The trees are whistling for the dogs.

You know you live in Florida when:

• You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.
• All purchases include a coupon of some kind--even houses and cars.
• Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist.
• Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
• Cars in front of you are often driven by headless people.
• Every person's doctor is "The Biggest" in his field.

Songs about Florida

• Deep Down in Florida - Muddy Waters (1979)
• Going Back to Florida - Lightnin' Hopkins (1959)
• My Florida Sunshine - The Blue Grass Boys (1976)
• Rainy Florida Afternoon - Bobby Braddock (1980)
• Seminole Wind - John Anderson (1991)

Songs about Florida Cities

• Jacksonville Blues - Stefan Grossman and Duck Baker (1997)
• Key Largo - Bertie Higgins (1982)
• Key West - Village People (1978)
• Miami Beach Rumba - Graham Dalby (1996)
• Okeefenokee Two-Step - Larry Verne (1960)
• Poinciana - David Rose and His Orchestra (1944)
• Tallahassee - Country Gazette (1987)
• Tallahassee Lassie - Freddy Cannon (1959)

Songs about Daytona

• Cold Day in Daytona - Michael White (2002)
• Daytona Drag - The Fireballs (1964)
• Daytona Nights - Hank Williams, Jr. (1995)
• It's a Long Way to Daytona - Mel Tillis (1982)

Songs about Miami

• Miami - Will Smith (1998)
• Miami, My Amy - Keith Whitley (1986)
• Miami Rain Storms - Umphrey Jackson (2004)
• Miami Vice Theme - Jan Hammer (1985)
• Tammy From Miami - What Price Glory (2007)