Florida is a destination that can turn vacation fantasies into reality. It’s a place where there are open spaces of lush, verdant wilderness, where more than 1,800 miles of stunning coastline lined with honey-colored and sugar-white sand awaits. It’s almost impossible to accurately define the “short list” for sightseeing, but here are just a few suggestions.

FLORIDA’S OUTSTANDING BEACHES

No trip to the Sunshine State would be complete without an outing to the beach. And you’ll find that while Florida’s beaches share some common traits (clean, clear water and friendly locals among them), they’re also very different in many ways. Surf’s up, for example, along the golden Atlantic Coast, which also boasts some of the state’s most cosmopolitan cities such as Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, to name a few. The city lights sparkle next to the azure waters.

Florida’s Gulf Coast is typically placid, with white sands and waters ranging in color from dazzling emerald to robin’s egg-blue. Some of the beaches are a hub of activity where you can join in a game of volleyball, fly high on a parasail or rent a Jetski® to skip over the waves. Alternately, Florida offers secluded sands where, if you time it right, swaying sea oats and silent dunes may be your only companions. It’s also important to note that two of the beaches in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area have been ranked in the top five beaches in the U.S. by coastal geologist Dr. Stephen Leatherman, also known as “Dr. Beach.” Fort De Soto Park was ranked #1 in 2005 and Caladesi Island State Park #2 in 2006 and 2007.

But wherever you choose to travel, there are a multitude of excellent beaches up and down both coasts and in Key West.

THEME PARKS

If you automatically think the name “Mickey” is always followed by “Mouse,” or the mere mention of a hulking green man brings to mind a racing roller coaster, and that a wet, whiskery kiss from a sea lion is your idea of Florida fun, then chances are you already know the Sunshine State is the theme park capital of the world. The Orlando area is home to Walt Disney World Resort (encompassing the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios—a new name—and Animal Kingdom parks), Universal Orlando Resort (with Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure), SeaWorld Adventure Park and neighboring Discovery Cove. Then there’s Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in nearby Winter Haven. Just a short jaunt to the west is Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It’s a thrill a minute.

Never one to rest on its laurels, Disney has scheduled some new experiences for guests in 2008. With new songs and a rollicking new spirit, the fun of the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical 2 comes to life on Disney Hollywood Studio’s streets in High School Musical 2: Schools Out! The show premieres in February.

Beginning in summer 2008, the toys are back in town at Walt Disney World Resort with Toy Story Mania!, an attraction that combines the characters from Toy Story with whiz-bang technology to create an interactive ride-through game—in three dimensions.

The multi-park concept is not new to Universal Orlando Resort. The resort offers two spectacular theme parks with two completely different experiences. Islands of Adventure lets guests show their bravado on cutting-edge rides and attractions that bring your favorite stories, myths, cartoons, comic book heroes and children’s tales to life. At Islands of Adventure, there are five unique and different islands that include high-speed roller coasters, whimsical children’s rides and once-in-a-lifetime thrills.

There’s a new adventure coming to SeaWorld Orlando, and it promises to offer guests high-speed thrills, close-up animal encounters, undersea adventures and wide, sandy beaches. It’s called Aquatica, and it opens to the public in March.

Aquatica features the most thrilling water rides in the world, with 36 water slides, six rivers and lagoons, and more than 80,000 square feet of beach area. These distinct attractions will zoom, float and splash guests through amazing animal habitats and undersea adventures.

Busch Gardens on Florida’s west coast will introduce another new attraction in the spring—an exotic jungle where discovery and exploration invite guests to connect with the world around them.

Jungala will be the park’s most ambitious project to date. Set in the Congo area, the four-acre attraction invites guests to discover exotic creatures, explore a hidden jungle village and connect with the inhabitants through up-close animal interactions, family style play areas, rides and live entertainment.

Two signature rides add to the excitement of Jungala—a zip line experience offers three different flight patterns above the treetops for young adventurers, and another ride launches guests above a towering waterfall. A three-story family climbing area allows visitors to ascend through the tree canopy on rope bridges to explore the different layers of jungle life, and a children’s water-play area allows even the youngest explorers to interact with the environment.

Every region of the state has an attraction worth a visit. Museums, historical sites, art galleries and botanical gardens beckon the vacationer. There even is a place dedicated to space—outer space. Where else can you dine with a real-live astronaut, touch an actual moon rock, tour a full-size replica of the space shuttle or try out a space flight simulator? Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Titusville, just north of Cocoa Beach, offers entertainment and education. You may be one of the lucky ones to be in town when a launch is scheduled (launches can be seen from beaches in the Cocoa Beach area).

FLORIDA SPORTS SCENE

With more PGA-sanctioned events—and more golf courses—than any other state (not to mention the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine), it’s a good bet that anyone interested in the game can manage to leave here with an improved handicap. Florida’s world-class courses and year-round balmy weather make the state a golfer’s dream vacation. And with new courses popping up faster than you can yell “fore,” there’s always another reason to lace up the spikes in this golfer’s paradise.

The Sunshine State also is home to an awesome assortment of professional sports teams and, most notably, plays host to 17 Major League Baseball teams during Spring Training. It’s the perfect opportunity to see your favorite heavy-hitters up close, or to watch up-and-coming players, all at a price that won’t stress your pocketbook.

Other sports activities include auto racing, tennis, horse racing, and—believe it or not—shuffleboard, which is making a comeback.

FLORIDA OUTDOORS

At the extreme southern end of the state, just a stone’s throw from hundreds of tiny islands called the Florida Keys, is the only living coral reef in the continental U.S. Here, within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, more than 600 species of fish make their watery home. Visitors to the reef may see blue-and-canary-yellow parrotfish, their comical “beaks” crunching at hard corals; schools of yellowtail snapper flashing at the slightest disturbance; curious barracuda with teeth protruding in sinister, know-it-all grins; and the occasional silent ray gliding by. As fantastical as it seems, the technicolor reef is the real thing—meaning, of course, that the scenery changes minute to minute. Scuba, snorkel or go by glass-bottom boat to experience this amazing undersea world.

Florida also is home to the “River of Grass.” Encompassing more than 1.5 million acres, the Everglades National Park is the only ecosystem of its kind in the world. A freshwater river, only inches deep in most places, creeps seaward through the ’Glades on a gently sloping riverbed. Lush tree islands thrive on limestone mounds just above the restless flow. Massive mahogany trees, mangroves and pines share the surrounding marsh with alligators, deer, raccoons, panthers and thousands of other species of flora and fauna. Outfitters, including the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes, offer guided excursions and activities such as swamp buggy and airboat rides in the area. Within the boundaries of Everglades National Park, activities include boating, houseboating, canoeing, biking, hiking, camping, tram tours and bird watching. Some areas are wheelchair accessible, and ranger-guided activities are available seasonally.

The 130-acre Navarre Beach State Park in Northwest Florida offers pristine Gulf beaches, walking and biking trails, campsites, picnic facilities and a fishing pier. The Butterfly Rainforest, a 6,400-square-foot outdoor screened space at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, is home to several hundred native and exotic butterflies on any given day.

MULTI-CULTURAL STATE

Your vacation to Florida also can lead to a cultural awakening. The Sunshine State is an ever-changing mix of cultures from around the globe. Drink a cup of café con leche in Miami’s Little Havana or see the influence of Cuban and Spanish immigrants in Tampa’s Ybor City. Discover the story of Florida’s Japanese pioneers at The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, taste Minorcan pastries in historic St. Augustine, America’s oldest continuously occupied settlement and shout opa! with the Greeks of Tarpon Springs. You can globetrot without ever leaving Florida.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, Florida can be all things to all visitors, and it doesn’t matter which season your choose. Plan your vacation now and start making those memories that last a lifetime.

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