Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for florida
Building Blocks in Florida
By Linda Tancs
For those suffering from Mouse fatigue, there’s another attraction in the Orlando, Florida area to capture the imagination of young and old alike. Just 45 minutes from the Orlando theme parks or downtown Tampa is Legoland, a 150- acre family theme park in Winter Haven that’s sure to please even the most discerning LEGO fan. For starters, why not orient yourself with a 150-foot rotating platform ride that provides a 360° view of the park. From that vantage point you might capture a glimpse of kids driving LEGO themed cars through city streets at Ford Driving School. Or maybe you’ll see the Statue of Liberty in Miniland’s version of New York City. Knights and dragons are battling at the Kingdom, and swashbuckling pirates have taken over Pirates’ Cove. And what could be better than a factory tour in Fun Town, where you’ll learn how those building blocks are made from factory to finish. Orlando visitors can take the roundtrip shuttle to the park from Premium Outlets on Vineland Avenue.
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The Mullet of Boggy Bayou
By Linda Tancs
The mullet of Boggy Bayou: sounds like a children’s tale, doesn’t it? In a sense, it is. It’s a place (Boggy Bayou, that is–now known as Niceville) in Florida’s Panhandle where children will gather with their families and neighbors in a time-honored tradition of consuming the local fish, the mullet. In time, those children will teach their children about mullet fishing in the former village of Boggy Bayou. This annual mullet festival, taking place this year from 21 to 23 October, is one of the best known country music events. Headliners this year are Trace Adkins, Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen and Steel Magnolia. Get ready to make some memories.
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The Blue Angels of Pensacola
By Linda Tancs
The National Naval Aviation Museum, one of the world’s largest aviation museums, is located aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. On display are beautifully restored aircraft, hands-on exhibits and more than 4,000 artifacts representing Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aviation. A family fun adventure, the museum offers middle graders the chance to learn about science, math and technology via a Flight Adventure Deck incorporating 38 interactive devices, 11 educational kiosks, an interactive wind tunnel and four computer-based flight simulators. See the Blue Angels in the dazzling seven-story glass and steel atrium that showcases four A-4 Skyhawks in a diving diamond formation or view them at eye-level from the Second Deck. Better still, enjoy Blue Angels at practice air shows from March through November. And it’s all free.
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Disney’s Wild Side
By Linda Tancs
Africa meets Orlando in Disney’s newest animal park, Wild Africa Trek. This is truly where the wild things are, complete with a savanna hosting teeming numbers of native African species like hippos, rhinos, crocs and giraffes. Three hours long, this expert-led adventure includes a clip onto a lifeline to the edge of a cliff to get amazingly close to the hippos and crocs. Imagine navigating through a bushwalk and breezing through the savanna in an open air vehicle. Admission is not included as part of the Animal Kingdom Park. The new park’s introductory rate was $129 and will vary seasonally. The price may be a bit steep, but still cheaper than the Serengeti.
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Grape Fest in Naples
By Linda Tancs
They’re uncorking a new decade in Naples, Florida at the annual wine festival from 28 to 30 January. This year’s honored vintner is Domaine Serene of Dayton, Oregon. Chic eats will be available from top chefs like Lee Hefter of Spago in Beverly Hills, Michael Anthony of New York’s Gramercy Tavern, Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia in Sydney, Australia and Art Smith of Chicago’s Table Fifty-Two. More than a gastronomical delight, the luxury event benefits the Naples Children & Education Foundation, which supports charitable programs for underprivileged and at risk children in Collier County. Since its inception in 2001, the festival has raised more than $82.5 million for children in need. What better reason to raise a glass.
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Orlando’s Holy Land
By Linda Tancs
Time traveler wannabees, take note. The Holy Land Experience will take you back over 2000 years to ancient Jerusalem. This theatrical and historical experience on Vineland Road in Orlando, Florida features the Via Dolorosa, the road on which Christ carried the cross. Atop the hill stand the crosses of Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. Other featured exhibits include the Dead Sea Qumran Caves, the Great Temple that once stood on hallowed Mount Moriah in first century Jerusalem and the traveling tabernacle that was the heart of worship for the children of Israel as they wandered in the desert following their exodus from Egypt.
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Crawdaddy is King in Pensacola
By Linda Tancs
They’ll be packing away pistols in Pensacola, Florida this weekend, but it isn’t what you might think. Crawfish pistolettes, a Cajun specialty, will be featured along with southern style crab cakes, gator bites, blackened mahi mahi, bang bang shrimp, shrimp creole, boudin balls, and shark on a stick at Pensacola’s Seafood Festival in historic Seville Square downtown. The highlight, of course, is the Gulf fare for which this region in northwestern Florida is famous, but you can also shop at the arts and crafts fair or take part in a 5K run/walk, cooking demonstration, or just enjoy the music. The event is organized by Fiesta of Five Flags, a community group combining tourism promotion with local history. Thus, Fiesta is based upon the founding of Pensacola by Don Tristan de Luna in 1559 and celebrates the flags of five governments that have flown over the city: Spain, France, England, the Confederacy and the United States.
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U.S. Fishing Tournaments
By Linda Tancs
Sport fishing is a popular activity. Tournaments abound throughout the U.S. for this competitive pastime. Learn more about these nationwide events for grown-up peeps and pee wees alike at Travelrific® Radio.
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Air Traffic Control Gets Facelift
By Linda Tancs
The Miami Herald recently heralded a new development in air traffic control. That would be a satellite-based air traffic control system, the first of its kind in the country, being rolled out at Miami International Airport. But don’t say good-bye to conventional radar just yet. It’s likely to stay in place as back-up to this NextGen air traffic technology. Will the air traffic controllers remain in place as well? This isn’t Star Trek, after all. As one commentator put it, “Technology does not run an enterprise, relationships do.”
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Getting Away From it All
By Linda Tancs
Off the florida keys
There’s a place called Kokomo
That’s where you wanna go to get away from it all
That’s what The Beach Boys sang. Never thought much about it–until today. So where, or what, is Kokomo? Apparently it’s a beach bar at Florida’s Holiday Isle Beach Resort & Marina in Islamorada, translated to mean “purple isle.” Apart from enjoying the original frozen rumrunner cocktail, what else is there to do in this neck of the Keys? Answer: sport fishing. According to the local chamber of commerce, Islamorada is known as the sport fishing capital of the world, hosting the largest fishing fleet per square mile. You can also kayak, dive, snorkel, parasail or feed a giant silver tarpon. For more of a “taste” of the four islands comprising this area, drop by the Island Fest on 4 and 5 April at Founder’s Park. So get there fast, and then take it slow.
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