Historical Traveler's Guide to Florida

Book excerpt: From Fort Pickens in the Panhandle to Fort Jefferson in the ocean 40 miles beyond Key West, historical travelers will find many adventures waiting for them in Florida. In this new updated edition the author presents 74 of his favorites—17 of them are new to this edition, and the rest have been completely updated. Along the Gulf Coast, see Henry Plant's Moorish jewel of a hotel in Tampa; John Ringling's home and art and circus museums in Sarasota; and the humble homes of Cuban and Italian cigar workers in legendary Ybor City. Up in north Florida visit Civil War battlefields; stroll the University of Florida campus; and see buffalo and wild Spanish horses on Paynes Prairie. In central Florida explore Eatonville, home of writer Zora Neale Hurston, and listen to carillon music as you stroll the gardens around Bok Tower. Down in the keys find the 250-year-old wreck of the San Pedro, a "living museum in the sea" and the Key West home of famous author Ernest Hemingway.