But it’s not just the weather. The 500 miles between Northwest Florida and the Florida Keys encompass a diverse assortment of landscapes and environments, ranging from the Apalachicola National Forest to the famed “River of Grass” that creates Everglades National Park. And throughout Florida, there are a further 175 state parks to visit.  With so much wide open space, there’s enough for everyone to enjoy.

And if you circumnavigate the Atlantic coastline from Jacksonville to Key West then onward and upward through the Gulf of Mexico to Pensacola, you’ll find thousands of miles of beaches, bays, inlets, islands and estuaries designed by nature for swimming, surfing, sunbathing, camping and exploring.

Florida’s 320 known freshwater springs offer the luxury of living it up in deliciously cool comfort as you drift downstream. Locals and visitors have enjoyed these crystalline springs and rivers for decades, and so have the gentle manatees who make these waterways their winter homes and create lasting memories for the visitors who adore them.

Add recreational trails created atop historic railroad beds, bicycle trails that will soon connect the Gulf to the Atlantic, back roads that offer a great escape whether in a car or on a motorcycle and ever-changing vistas that make photography a snap… and it all adds up to something wild and wonderful.