Florida is not only sun, sand and hanging chads. There’re cultural, culinary and nocturnal diversions as well. Of course you’ll find sun, sea and sand all along the 800 miles of shoreline, but not every place is so warm. Many Florida beaches are pristinely preserved in their natural states.

If you are nature guy, I’ll advise you to spend your days away in picturesque small towns steeped in history. You’ll find a romantic retreat far from the madding crowd. It’s up to you….!

From the southern tip of the Florida mainland, U.S. 1 travels through a 100-mile-long string of islands stretching from Key Largo to the famous, funky, and laid-back “Conch Republic” of Key West, only 90 miles from Cuba and the southernmost point in the United States (it’s always warm down here). While some of the islands are crammed with strip malls and tourist traps, here are dense with unusual species of tropical flora and fauna. The Keys don’t have the best beaches in Florida, but the waters here — all in a vast marine preserve — offer the state’s best scuba diving and snorkeling and some of its best deep-sea fishing.

The Gulf Islands National Seashore is a nice spot as well and much of this beach has been preserved and its wildlife, and inland are state parks that offer some of the state’s best canoeing adventures. All this makes the area a favorite summertime vacation destination for residents of neighboring Georgia and Alabama, with whom Northwest Floridians share many Deep South traditions. Sitting in a pine and oak forest just 30 miles from the Georgia line, the state capital of Tallahassee has a moss-draped, football-loving charm all its own.