Tag Archives: Florida

Panama City Florida New Years Eve
Florida, Florida Keys, Key West, Miami, Miami Beach, South Walton

Florida’s Best New Year’s Eve Parties

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Leave the cold behind and head south to ring in the New Year with these unique Florida New Year Eve celebrations. Let beaches and ocean breezes set the tone for a great year ahead. From family-friendly spots to all-night ragers, here are 3 of our favorites.

Funky Key West Traditions

Forget the lighted ball and check out Key West’s unique New Year’s Eve Drops. Watch the famous giant conch shell drop from the roof of Sloppy Joe’s Bar, or count down as famous drag queen “Sushi” descends onto Duval Street in a huge red high heel shoe. A third drop takes place at the harbor where a costumed pirate wench is lowered from a ship’s mast at Schooner’s Wharf. Wherever you start the countdown, there is never a dull moment in Key West on New Year’s Eve, where the party lasts all night long.

Florida Keys New Years Key West

A crowd of thousands gathers on Key West’s Duval Street to watch a giant shoe drop from the balcony of the New Orleans House on December 31st. Photo: Flickr

Party on the Bay

Miami’s Bayfront Park will once again host its famous and free New Year’s Eve Happening, which includes live music from top musicians. This year, the star attraction will be Mr. 305 himself, Pitbull. The hometown rapper’s New Year’s Eve Revolution will even be televised live on Fox. Expect a star- studded lineup of live music; enjoy an array of food, amazing fireworks with the beautiful bay as a backdrop and nonstop Latin dancing. It’s no wonder USA Today names South Florida one of the best places in the world to ring in the New Year.

Miami Bayfront Park New Years Eve Fireworks

Midnight fireworks light up the Miami skyline and the waters of Biscayne Bay during the city’s New Year’s Eve celebration. Photo: Lonny Paul/Flickr

Dropping the Beach Ball

Say goodbye to 2016 with the family friendly event on Panama City Beach, where a giant beach ball drops at midnight. The streets of Pier Park are closed off for the evening, and revelers can enjoy free live music and entertainment. For the young crowd, there’s an 8 p.m. countdown when more than 10,000 beach balls are dropped from nets, followed by fireworks. For the midnight countdown, there is live music during the much anticipated lowering of the 800-pound beach ball, which is lit by thousands of glowing LED lights. The drop is followed by a second round of fireworks. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate the New Year with your toes in the sand?

New Years Eve Fireworks Panama City Florida

Panama City Beach doubles up on the fireworks, with an early show for youngsters and families with an early bedtime. Photo: Chris MacLeod/Flickr

 

Florida Keys Holiday Walk
Florida, Florida Keys, Key West, Plan, Trip Ideas

Key West’s Favorite Holiday Traditions

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If sleigh bells and snow shovels aren’t your thing, travel south for the holidays. Head all the way south to the nation’s southernmost city, Key West. Here, holiday traditions take on a tropical flair, but lights, music and seasonal cheer are still very much in evidence. Here are some of the ways you can celebrate the season, southernmost style.

Holly Jolly Trolley

A fun way to take in holiday lights all across Key West is aboard the Old Town Trolley. The seasonal Holly Jolly Holiday Tour operates through the month of December, with cookies, cider and a special 60-minute route through the southernmost city that showcases seasonal decorations and displays.

Hospitality and Noshes

On the evenings of December 7 and 14, the small inns and guesthouses of Key West hang the decorations, turn on the lights and open their doors for the Holiday Historic Inn Tour. Participants who purchase a ticket can sample savory cuisines from Key West restaurants, sip vintage wines and enjoy other holiday refreshments while touring some of the town’s most historic and architecturally significant properties.

Avalon Inn Key West Holiday

The Avalon Inn is showcased on the Holiday Historic Inn Tour. For convenience, organizers provide free transportation between properties. Photo: Florida Keys News Bureau

The Southernmost Tree

On December 16th, everyone is invited to enjoy a free bowl of conch chowder and board the iconic Conch Train for a ride to the southernmost point in the continental United States. There, a Christmas tree overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is waiting to be illuminated as the sun sinks below the horizon.

Open Houses

For more than 50 years, the Key West House & Garden Tour has provided visitors with a peek at some of Key West’s most historic homes and luxuriant gardens. The annual self-guided tours showcase festively dressed homes and gardens, with proceeds benefiting the Old Island Restoration Foundation’s museums and education programs.

Water Colors

Rowboats, tall ships and everything in between will show their holiday colors as they cruise the waters of Key West Bight on the evening of December 10. The floating light show can be viewed from points all along the Historic Seaport and harbor areas. The evening is also marked by steel band music and live singing performances.

Harbor Lights

Through the holiday season, the Historic Seaport at the Key West Bight is lit from rooftop to waterline with thousands of festive lights and unique seasonal displays that incorporate nautical themes. The displays stretch from Greene Street to Grinnell Street, giving pedestrians a chance to enjoy the show as they browse unique island shops and galleries, or relax at waterfront restaurants and watering holes.

Crab Trap Harbor Walk Key West

At Key West Bight, lighted crab traps are transformed into holiday decorations as part of the annual Harbor Lights display. Photo: Rob O’Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau

A Conch Classic

The Southernmost City puts a fresh spin on a holiday classic with performances of Nutcracker Key West. This island flavored version of the holiday classic features costumes and sets depicting Key West’s history and coral reef environment. Evening and matinee performances are scheduled for December 19 to 22 at the Tennessee Williams Theatre.

Sloppy Joes New Years
Florida, Florida Keys, Key West, Plan

Key West’s Best New Year’s Celebrations

 

This New Year’s Eve, don’t drop the ball. Instead, head for the nation’s southernmost city, Key West, where the final seconds of December 31st are also measured by dropping objects of a much more colorful nature than a lighted globe. Here are three of the islands’s most famous traditions.

Winching Down the Wench

In the heart of Key West’s historic waterfront, celebrants can welcome the New Year like a sailor on shore leave. The center of the action is the Schooner Wharf Bar, which is located a few blocks from Duval Street. The revelry gets underway mid afternoon with live music and street dancing on the shores of the Key West Bight. As midnight approaches, all eyes are drawn to the topmast of the tall ship America 2.0, which is moored alongside the bar. Perched 75 feet high atop the ship’s main mast is a costumed pirate wench, who is lowered from the ship’s rigging as cannon blasts welcome the New Year. Then, in the best traditions of rowdy seafarers, the music and revelry continue until four in the morning.

Wrench Key West New Years

The midnight lowering of the pirate wench at Key West Bight provides a colorful and family-friendly alternative to Duval Street revelry. Photo: Rob O’Neal

The Big Conch

On an island often referred to as the Conch Republic, it should come as no surprise that for the past 24 years revelers gather at the corner of Duval and Greene Street on the night of December 31st to watch a giant sea shell descend from the roof of Sloppy Joe’s Bar. The party gets started around 10 p.m., when a DJ spinning from the rooftop of this landmark watering hole kicks off a dance party on the closed off streets below. The countdown to midnight is displayed on a giant clock, and then the outsized conch descends in an eruption of confetti and streamers. The party continues into the wee hours of the morning both in the street and with live music on the bar’s indoor stage.

Sloppy Joes New Years Eve Drop

Artist Tobias McGregor created the first Conch Drop at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, as a focal point for celebratory crowds on Duval Street.Photo: Rob O’Neal

A Fashionable Descent

While the shellfish theme dominates at Sloppy Joe’s, sushi is the main attraction a few blocks to the south. In the heart of Duval’s lively street scene, a giant red high heel shoe hangs from the balcony of the New Orleans House. Now in its 20th year, the shoe drop is the inspiration of drag queen Sushi, aka, Gary Marion, who created the original outsized wedge from paper mâché and chicken wire some 20 years ago. Today, the celebrity performer makes the midnight drop in a more durable piece of fiberglass footwear, which receives fresh coats of paint and glitter in preparation for the festivities. Thousands gather in anticipation of the drop, which is proceeded by performances by Sushi and other entertainers. News crews from national networks set up shop to broadcast the drop to audiences around the globe.

Drag Queen Shoe Drop New Years

Thousands gather to witness Key West’s annual New Year’s Eve shoe drop. A VIP party takes place on the balcony of the New Orleans House. Photo: Andy Newman

Palm Beach Wreck Dive
Florida, Palm Beach, Play, Trip Ideas

Florida’s Favorite Shipwrecks

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Less than a mile offshore from the mansions and high rises of Palm Beach, a freighter is taking on water. Hundreds of spectators and law environment officials watch from nearby boats, but no one intervenes to stop the sinking. In a matter of minutes, the doomed vessel slips below the waves. Just as planned.

The Ana Cecilia is the latest addition to Florida’s artificial reef program, which has sent more than 100 vessels to the bottom to serve as fish habitats and dive sites. Members of the fleet range from confiscated drug-running speedboats and sloops to a decommissioned aircraft carrier. Prior to sinking, each vessel is stripped of all contaminants and structural hazards that might entangle a scuba diver. It is then towed to a predetermined offshore location. Valves are opened to allow the boat to sink in a controlled manner, hopefully coming to rest upright and ready for exploration.

Ana Cecelia Sinking Palm Beach

The Ana Cecilia takes on water in a controlled sinking that will allow the vessel to settle onto the sea floor in 90 feet of water, just a short distance from the Palm Beach Inlet and area dive charters. Photo: Walt Stearns

Over time, corals and sponges may begin to overgrow the ship’s steel structures, adding new colors and textures. Fish and lobster will take up residences in the cabins and cargo holds. A star attraction of some wrecks is the massive goliath groupers that can grow up to 600 pounds. Other wrecks attract swilling schools of baitfish or silver-sided tarpon. These wrecks have become favorites with both divers and fishermen. It is estimated that each sunken ship will earn millions in tourism revenue and attract a generous crop of new fish life.

Palm Beach Ana Cecelia Divers

Mere hours after sinking, the Ana Cecilia is visited by scuba divers. Though initially in pristine condition, this wreck will soon begin to squire coatings of coral and sponges. Photo: Walt Stearns

Fort Lauderdale Beach
Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Plan, Trip Ideas

Florida Snapshots: Ft. Lauderdale Beach

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The south Florida strand that was once ground zero for college spring break revelry has since undergone a complete transformation into one of Florida’s toniest beachfront destinations. Vintage properties that once hosted raucous fraternity keggers and wet T-shirt contests have been supplanted by trendy sidewalk cafes, eclectic shops and chic hotels that cater to a decidedly more sophisticated and international clientele.

Beautiful people and families alike hit the beach for a range of diversions that includes parasailing, snorkeling and beach volleyball. Running parallel to the traffic-calmed lanes of Highway A1A is a four-mile, palm-fringed brick promenade that entices walkers, joggers and rollerbladers to strut their stuff.

Clearwater Beach
Clearwater Beach, Florida, Plan, Trip Ideas

Florida Snapshots: Clearwater Beach

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Sugar Sand. It’s the name used to describe the ultra-white, ultra-soft quartz crystals that can be found on a select number of Florida’s Gulf Coast beaches. The most famous of these strands is Clearwater Beach, which consistently earns a spot on listings of America’s best beaches.

Sunglasses are a must when the mid-day sun transforms the sands of Clearwater Beach into a dazzling field of pure white. Later, these same silky crystals will take on the warmer hues of the setting sun, mirroring the light show taking place in the sky. With calm, shallow waters extending far from shore, Clearwater is a favorite with families, though it also draws its share of spring break revelers.

A highlight of the beach season is the annual Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival. This ten-day event features street performers, artisans and crafters, live entertainment, and fireworks, but the main attraction are the intricate sand sculptures created from the beach’s famous sugar-fine granules.

Key West Sunset
Florida, Florida Keys, Key West, Plan, Trip Ideas

Florida Snapshots: Key West Sunset

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One of the best shows on Florida’s Key West is free, and it takes place each night. One of the best places to catch this spectacular display of light is on the Mallory Square docks, which sit just north of the cruise ship docks, and near the terminus of Front Street.

For decades, locals and tourists alike have gathered at this concrete wharf to watch the sky come alive in vibrant hues of orange and red. Many keep their eyes peeled for the fabled green flash, which is said to occur the moment the last rays of the sun sink below the water.

In addition to providing a front row to this magnificent display of nature, the docks are an evening gathering point for street performers and vendors, who assemble for a nightly sunset celebration that sets the tone for revelries to come.

Key West Fort Zachary Beach
Florida, Florida Keys, Key West, Plan, Trip Ideas

Florida’s Hidden Beaches

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Key West’s best beach comes with a helping of history. The red brick ramparts of historic Fort Zachary occupy the southwestern tip of Key West, but this Civil War-era fortress isn’t the only reason locals and savvy visitors come to the namesake state park. Just outside the fort’s walls, a trail through the trees leads to the park’s main attraction: slender swaths of sandy, crescent-shaped shoreline.

Key West Cannons

Fort Zachary Taylor played a strategic role in the defense of Key West during the Civil War. The fort’s ten-inch guns had a range of ten miles. Photo: iStock

With Naval Air Station Key West next door, the 54-acre grounds of the park are insulated from Key West’s downtown scene, and never draws the crowds found at more easily accessed sites such as Smathers Beach. History buffs will note that the beach was once reserved for President Harry S. Truman when he used the commander’s quarters of the adjacent Naval air station as his “winter White House” in the 1940s. Locals now congregate on this same coast during sunny days, along with the few visitors who are intrepid enough to find this hidden treasure.

Fort Zachary Key West

Located on the southwest tip of Key West, Fort Zachary Taylor provides stunning views of the clear, turquoise water of the Gulf of Mexico—especially from the second level. Photo: iStock

Anglers cast their lines from the jetty along the western edge of the park while swimmers enjoy the warm water and snorkelers peek at coral and schools of tropical fish. Grills and tables set up under Australian pines make for a great place to picnic while cooling off in the breeze and watching sailboats pass by — or grab a Cuban sandwich and ice cream treat from the Cayo Hueso Café steps from the sand. Stick around until dusk for a sweeping, unobstructed view of the sun disappearing into the waters of the Gulf.

 

 

Florida Manatee
Clearwater Beach, Florida, Florida Keys, Key West, Orlando, Play, St. Pete Beach, Trip Ideas

Florida’s Best Manatee Encounters

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The first time you see a manatee, it’s amazing. And even after hundreds of encounters, I still get excited when I come across one of these huge “sea cows.” They can be 10 feet long and weigh more than a ton, but they are harmless to humans. In fact, it’s humans who pose a threat to the manatee when we don’t treat them with respect. Fortunately, there are responsible ways to interact with wild manatees, and plenty of sites all across Florida where they can be found. Here are a few of my favorite places to watch them, get up close and even swim with them.

Blue Springs Manatee

Central Florida’s Blue Springs State Park provides a refuge for manatees escaping the colder waters of the St. Johns River. In winter, the spring run may host hundreds of these animals. Photo: Stephen Meese/iStock

From Shore

When wintertime water temperatures drop below 70, manatees look for a place to warm up. They find it in the constant 72-degree water that flows from Florida’s underground springs. A great place for manatee watching is Blue Spring State Park, which is about an hour’s drive north of Orlando’s theme parks. I make at least one trip a year to Blue Springs, and never get tired of seeing as many as 100 of the big sea cows gathered in the clear waters of the preserve. In addition to natural springs, manatees have learned to take advantage of the warm water discharge from coastal power plants. Several utility companies have created viewing stations next to these discharge lagoons, and two of the best are Tampa Electric’s viewing station at Apollo Beach, and the brand new $5-million Manatee Lagoon visitor’s center in Riviera Beach. At these sites, winter months are best, but a few manatees always seem to hang around throughout the year.

On The Water

When they aren’t bunching up to escape winter cold, manatee spread out into rivers, bays and lagoons all around Florida. The areas where they are most often seen become designated manatee zones, with posted speed limits to prevent powerboats from running over these slow moving mammals. I always watch out for manatees when driving a powerboat, and keep my distance. For an up-close encounter, I use a kayak. By loosing the engine noise and moving slower, paddlers stand a greater chance of meeting up with a manatee. One of the best places to do this is the Jupiter Inlet Aquatic Preserve, which is just a few miles north of the Palm Beach area. Other good manatee paddles include the Weeki Wachee spring run, Crystal River and the mangrove islands of the Florida Keys—especially the wooded shores of Key Largo’s Tarpon Bay and the backcountry shallows near Key West. Kayaks are available for rent in all these areas, and most offer guided tours.

In The Water

Back in the day, when there were more manatees and fewer Floridians, there were a number of places where you could get in the water with manatees. To prevent hordes of swimmers from driving the sea cows from their favorite habitats, many of these sites are now designated preserves, with no swimming allowed. Two exceptions to this are the coastal springs at Crystal River and Homosassa, which are about an hour north of Tampa. A number of tour companies run sanctioned manatee encounter programs that allow snorkelers to get a first-hand look at the animals in their natural habitat. Winter months are the best, and because things can get chilly—at least by Florida standards—tour companies will usually supply wetsuits along with snorkel gear. Aside from these sites, there’s always a chance of a manatee swim-by when you are swimming or snorkeling. I’ve been treated to a number of these visits over the years, and always keep an eye out for the swirl of a manatee’s tail, or their car-size underwater profiles.

Miami Skyline
Florida, Miami, Miami Beach, Plan

Florida Snapshots: Miami Skyline

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The mention of Miami usually conjures visions of sand, sun and tanned bodies. But just to the west of the beaches, across the sparkling waters of Biscayne Bay, the skyline of downtown Miami gives notice that this tropical metropolis is more than a beach town.

As a vibrant international hub of commerce with strong ties to the Caribbean and South America, the city is a melting pot of cultures, cuisines and lifestyles. The waterfront district centered around Brickell Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard is a focal point for cultural events and festivals, ranging from highbrow events such as the Annual Art Basel exhibition to family friendly music and seafood festivals.