The professional sports industry has made a significant impact on Florida. Countless pro athletes annually migrate to Florida each year--the harbinger of Spring Training season. Florida's climate makes it the perfect early season environment. Florida also boasts at least a dozen of its own very popular sports teams. Ironically enough one popular team, the Florida Panthers, was named for the state's signature animal, the Florida panther. The species once moved in large numbers between sub-tropical forest and marshland, their preferred environments. But now the panther is seriously endangered in the state, mostly due to over-development and over-population.
Other things you may not have known about your future retirement state: The phrase "cool as a cucumber" originated in Florida. On a hot Florida day, the pulp of a cucumber can be up to 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding air. The Seminole Tribe of Florida was a pioneer in Indian gaming, opening the country's first large-stakes bingo hall on the Hollywood Reservation in 1979. Tallahassee, Florida's capitol city, was the only southern capitol east of the Mississippi River to remain in southern hands for the duration of the Civil War. Santa Rosa County's Blackwater River State Forest area offers over a million acres of protected wilderness with miles of hiking trails and canoeing routes, dubbed the "Canoe Capitol of Florida."
In Cape Coral: it is against the city ordinance to hang your clothes outside on a clothesline - It is illegal to park a pick-up truck in your driveway or in front of your house on the street - A $50 fine will be levied on anyone who allows a couch to sit in their carport. In Daytona Beach: molestation of trash cans is banned. Maintaining a car on your property which is no longer in use is prohibited. Owning a flower pot with water in it that isn't capable of draining is considered a public nuisance.
Neil Smith and his brother of Montverde developed the first Snapper riding lawn mower Key West has the highest average temperature in the United States. The Saint John's River is one of the few rivers that flows north instead of south. The largest lake in Florida is Lake Okeechobee. May 20, 1970 Florida lawmakers passed and sent to the Governor a bill adopting the moonstone as the official state gem, yet the moonstone is not found naturally in Florida...nor was it found on the moon. In 1987 the Florida legislature designated the American alligator as the official state reptile. Long an unofficial symbol of the state, the alligator originally symbolized Florida's extensive untamed wilderness and swamps.
The Hawthorne Trail in Gainesville is a part of Florida's Rails to Trails program and attracts many outdoor enthusiasts to walk, cycle, or ride horseback through its 17-mile length Just north of Haines City is the Baseball City Stadium, the spring training home of the Kansas City Royals. Haines City is known as The Heart of Florida. The city of Hypoluxo's name comes from the Seminole expression "water all 'round - no way out."
In Florida, the shopping options are many and varied, ranging from upscale shops in ritzy South Beach, Miami and beautiful St. Armand's Circle near Sarasota to popular outlets in Ellenton (near Tampa), St. Augustine, Naples, Florida City, and Orlando. You'll also find everything in between at the many malls that dot the Florida landscape. Many would claim theme parks their number one reason for vacationing in Florida. Theme park fanatics, most especially Disney fans, often head to The Sunshine State every year to get their dose of fun. Orlando, of course, is at the center of the theme park kingdom, with the four parks of the Walt Disney World complex, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, and SeaWorld Orlando. But don't forget about Tampa's Busch Gardens Africa, which is also an excellent amusement park, almost always landing on annual top-10 lists for theme park enthusiasts. Florida. It's not just a destination. It's a whole new way of life. Come join the fun in the sun.
Other things you may not have known about your future retirement state: The phrase "cool as a cucumber" originated in Florida. On a hot Florida day, the pulp of a cucumber can be up to 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding air. The Seminole Tribe of Florida was a pioneer in Indian gaming, opening the country's first large-stakes bingo hall on the Hollywood Reservation in 1979. Tallahassee, Florida's capitol city, was the only southern capitol east of the Mississippi River to remain in southern hands for the duration of the Civil War. Santa Rosa County's Blackwater River State Forest area offers over a million acres of protected wilderness with miles of hiking trails and canoeing routes, dubbed the "Canoe Capitol of Florida."
In Cape Coral: it is against the city ordinance to hang your clothes outside on a clothesline - It is illegal to park a pick-up truck in your driveway or in front of your house on the street - A $50 fine will be levied on anyone who allows a couch to sit in their carport. In Daytona Beach: molestation of trash cans is banned. Maintaining a car on your property which is no longer in use is prohibited. Owning a flower pot with water in it that isn't capable of draining is considered a public nuisance.
Neil Smith and his brother of Montverde developed the first Snapper riding lawn mower Key West has the highest average temperature in the United States. The Saint John's River is one of the few rivers that flows north instead of south. The largest lake in Florida is Lake Okeechobee. May 20, 1970 Florida lawmakers passed and sent to the Governor a bill adopting the moonstone as the official state gem, yet the moonstone is not found naturally in Florida...nor was it found on the moon. In 1987 the Florida legislature designated the American alligator as the official state reptile. Long an unofficial symbol of the state, the alligator originally symbolized Florida's extensive untamed wilderness and swamps.
The Hawthorne Trail in Gainesville is a part of Florida's Rails to Trails program and attracts many outdoor enthusiasts to walk, cycle, or ride horseback through its 17-mile length Just north of Haines City is the Baseball City Stadium, the spring training home of the Kansas City Royals. Haines City is known as The Heart of Florida. The city of Hypoluxo's name comes from the Seminole expression "water all 'round - no way out."
In Florida, the shopping options are many and varied, ranging from upscale shops in ritzy South Beach, Miami and beautiful St. Armand's Circle near Sarasota to popular outlets in Ellenton (near Tampa), St. Augustine, Naples, Florida City, and Orlando. You'll also find everything in between at the many malls that dot the Florida landscape. Many would claim theme parks their number one reason for vacationing in Florida. Theme park fanatics, most especially Disney fans, often head to The Sunshine State every year to get their dose of fun. Orlando, of course, is at the center of the theme park kingdom, with the four parks of the Walt Disney World complex, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, and SeaWorld Orlando. But don't forget about Tampa's Busch Gardens Africa, which is also an excellent amusement park, almost always landing on annual top-10 lists for theme park enthusiasts. Florida. It's not just a destination. It's a whole new way of life. Come join the fun in the sun.
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