Stories from the Sunshine State
Travel stories, practical guides, and food adventures from trips across Florida.
These are our stories to you — from the places we've been, the food we've eaten, and the people who've shaped every trip. We'll keep them fresh, like the ocean breeze in Florida.
Surviving a Florida Summer Trip: Heat, Storms & the Afternoon-Rain Rhythm
Florida in summer is hot, humid, and very, very wet every afternoon. Here's how to plan around it — and why summer is actually a better time to visit than most people think.
Florida Springs Road Trip: The Cool, Clear-Water Side of Florida Nobody Posts
Florida has more freshwater springs than anywhere else on Earth — a network of crystal-clear, 72-degree rivers that most visitors never find. Here's how to road trip through them.
The Florida Keys, Mile by Mile: Our Overseas Highway Drive
We drove every mile of the Overseas Highway from Homestead to Key West — here's what the map doesn't tell you about the bridges, the island towns, and the thing that makes the Keys unlike anywhere else in America.
Flat Tire on Alligator Alley: An RV Breakdown Story You Won't Forget
Miami, Key West, then a flat tire halfway across Alligator Alley at dusk — with a swamp full of unknown things moving just beyond the rest stop. A North American RV trip story.
My First Trip to the Sunshine State: A Filipino Immigrant Falls for Florida
Before moving to the US in 2018, Florida existed only in songs and telenovelas for me. Ten days later — stone crab, Key lime pie, and the Space Center — I understood the obsession.
Florida Coast to Coast: A 2019 Road Trip from Jacksonville to the Gulf
Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Cape Canaveral, Miami, Fort Myers, Tampa, Clearwater — we drove the whole loop in 2019. Here's every stop, what surprised us, and why Florida keeps pulling us back.
Why Do New Englanders Retire to Florida? (We Finally Get It)
It used to be a cliché. Now we understand it completely. Why so many people from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island end up trading snowblowers for screened-in porches.
A New England Kid's First Trip to Florida: The Drive That Changed Everything
Scott's first trip to Florida was a family road trip from New England — windows down, Walt Disney World, and the moment a northern kid first felt real sunshine.