M
IS FOR MINI-GOLF
Florida is perhaps the world’s best place for
mini-golf, with more than 80 courses dotted
around the state, especially near family-friendly
Orlando. Try Panama City Beach’s Goofy Golf, overlooked by
the glowing eyes of dinosaurs, or one of the Smugglers Cove
courses, which have been voted the best mini-golf courses
in Florida for five years in a row. The locations in Tampa,
Clearwater, Fort Myers, Sarasota and Bradenton all offer
the chance for players to feed alligators while enjoying an
afternoon’s putt.
smugglersgolf.com
goofygolfpc.com
K
IS FOR THE (FLORIDA) KEYS
The Florida Keys is an 120-mile archipelago of around 1,700
islands beginning just south of Miami, from Key Largo to
Islamorada and Marathon. The Keys are known for their
subtropical beaches, conch shells (often served in chowder) and key
lime pie. The main city is Key West, the state’s southernmost city, home
to local institution Sloppy Joe’s, a bar/restaurant that was the favoured
hangout of Ernest Hemingway – today, expect walls full of fun tropical
tat and Hemingway memorabilia.
sloppyjoes.com
L
IS FOR THE LITTLE MERMAID
You’ve seen the animated
version of Hans Christian
Andersen’s
The Little Mermaid
–
now see it for real in Weeki Wachee
Springs, aka the City of Live Mermaids,
one of Florida’s oldest and weirdest
roadside attractions. It opened in 1947
and still has something of the bonkers
old-school circus attraction to it:
visitors watch through two-and-a-half
metre-tall windows as women dressed
as mermaids perform in the only
underwater theatre of its kind in the
world.
weekiwachee.com
J
IS FOR JUPITER
It may sound like an out-of-
this-world place, but Jupiter,
Florida is ground zero for the
most American of pastimes. “Roger Dean
Stadium is the spring training home of the
Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals,”
says stadium manager Mike Bauer. “There’s
no better way to see your favourite
Major League Baseball players up close
and personal.” For fans of faster-paced
sports, Jupiter’s Palm Beach International
Raceway is home to a near-daily slate of
high-octane entertainment.
racepbir.com
rogerdeanstadium.com
Goofy Golf, Panama City
