JJ

It’s hard not to smile when you pull into Niceville. The town sign feels like an understatement. Sitting on the north shore of Choctawhatchee Bay, this Panhandle community lives up to its name with water views, shady oaks, and people…

Drive east from Bradenton until the traffic thins and the palmettos take over, and you’ll find Lake Manatee State Park – a quiet stretch of pine forest wrapped around a man-made lake that feels older than it is. The water…

South of Daytona and a world apart in spirit, New Smyrna Beach feels like a gentle mix of salt air and artistic hum. The beach is broad and bright, the waves steady enough for surfers and soft enough for families.…

South of St. Pete Beach, between the city’s hum and the Gulf’s horizon, lies a small piece of Florida that has managed to stay wild. Shell Key Preserve is a 1,800-acre island of dunes, mangrove, and shifting sandbars — a…

Along the upper curve of Pinellas County, where the Gulf of Mexico folds into marsh and mangrove, Tarpon Springs gleams with salt and sunlight.It’s a place where Greek music drifts through the air, fishing boats line the docks, and loaves…

East of Orlando, where the suburbs fade into open pasture and the land begins to breathe again, lies Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area — 30,000 acres of true Florida wilderness along the St. Johns River. It’s not polished or packaged. There…

If you drive south from Orlando long enough, the flatness begins to ripple. The land folds gently, the horizon starts to roll, and suddenly Florida feels older, higher, and almost hill country. That’s Lake Wales, perched on the spine of…

There is a particular shade of blue you only find in Florida’s springs — a color so clean it looks invented. Fanning Springs State Park, perched on the east bank of the Suwannee River, holds that color like a secret.…

If you drive the Indian River Lagoon south from Cocoa, you’ll notice something shift. The pace slows. The houses spread out beneath old oaks. The river narrows and brightens. This is Rockledge, Florida’s oldest city on the Space Coast, and…

There are places in Florida that still move by river time. Hontoon Island State Park, near DeLand, is one of them. You reach it not by road but by ferry, a short crossing over the St. Johns River that feels…