Americans are often criticised for not generally owning passports. One possible reason they are passport-shy is that they don’t need one! If they want to ski, they head to Colorado.
California is the place to be if they want sun and the sea. A bit of history and culture? How about Massachusetts? And, of course, for fun – it’s Florida.
Florida has plenty going for it, but most guides to Florida focus on the state’s number one attraction, Disney World.
The sprawling metropolis of entertainment has to be visited at least once (or two or three times) in your lifetime, but it’s certainly not all Florida has to offer.
Here is a quick guide to some Florida attractions that have nothing to do with Mickey Mouse and pals.
DISCOVERY COVE
Discovery Cove is a water park different from the one in the north of Orlando. If you’ve experienced a Disney water park, you’ll know how packed they can be. At Discovery Cove, the visitor numbers are limited to keep things peaceful.
The main reason for this is because of the Marine wildlife the park is home to. You can book a swim with dolphins or waft down the lazy river at your leisure. Orlando is busy, so a day at Discovery Cove is a chance to relax.
BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA
Theme parks have been an American tradition for decades, and they’ve always been as much for adults as they have for children. Busch Gardens has a traditional look and feel and isn’t half as compact as the Disneyworld parks.
Over the past decade or so, the Park has re-branded itself with an African theme and has some of the most nerve-shredding roller coasters in the world, such as SheiKra, Scorpian and Kumba, which means “roar” in Swahili.
THE EVERGLADES
If you zoom in on the southern tip of Florida on Google Earth, you’ll see that most of it is green and devoid of human life. This massive expanse of nature is the Everglades, an interconnected series of uninhabitable swamps and wetlands that seemingly stretches forever.
Humans have attempted to recover land and make the Everglades habitable over the centuries. Indeed, 50% of it has been, but it is now a heavily protected natural park. You can take a boat trip out into the ‘glades, where you’ll likely spot the odd alligator.
MARLINS PARK
Baseball is America’s pastime and is to the States as football is the UK, without the intensity or antagonism (home and visiting fans mingle quite happily at baseball games). Marlins Park was opened in 2012 and sits like a massive spaceship in Miami’s Little Havana region.
It is home to the Miami Marlins, one of Florida’s two under-achieving baseball teams (the other being the Tampa Bay Rays). It’s a stadium the likes of which has no comparison to UK sporting venues, with comfortable seats that include cup holders for the beer you’re allowed to buy at the venue.
Even if you’ve no interest in baseball, taking in a game is worth your consideration.
THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTRE
Formerly Cape Canaveral, the Kennedy Space Center is the USA launch site used for every United States space mission since 1968. However, the flight schedule is currently on hiatus due to the end of the Space Shuttle missions.
The Visitor Center attached to the complex was opened in 1995 and showcases all that NASA has achieved since their first flight half a century ago.
You can explore space vehicles and an authentic mission control room. You can even participate in a simulated shuttle launch, although you remain firmly terra firma.
This article was written for No.1 Traveller, a luxury airport lounge company.
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