Adult & Teen Summer Reading Challenge 2025

Week Six — Vacation World Florida

Florida has been a vacation destination spot since the late 19th century's Gilded Age, when tycoons like Henry Flager built luxury hotels to accommodate wealthy travelers seeking warm winters. Tourism saw another major boom after World War II, with roadside attractions like Cypress Gardens and Weeki Wachee Springs, and later, theme parks like Walt Disney World and Busch Gardens. Tourism has become one of the largest sectors of Florida's economy. Here are some fiction and non fiction titles for the armchair traveler in you:

Orlando is theme park central, but there are plenty of quirky destinations with a more budget friendly price, and here are just a few:

Weeki Wachee Springs is an icon of Old Florida tourism, where mermaids have been performing in the crystal clear spring since 1947. The state acquired Weeki Wachee in 2008 and turned it into a state park, but wisely left the mermaids undisturbed.

Sunken Gardens, an original Florida roadside attraction dating back to 1930s, is one of the state's premier botanical attractions. Once owned by the Turner family it is now operated by the City of St. Petersburg.

The wackiest of Florida kitsch can be found in the nation's oldest city, St. Augustine. It is here that Robert Ripley stayed during his trips to Florida, and where he chose to display his eclectic oddities in what would spawn the freakiest museum chain in America - Ripley's Believe It Or Not!

Gatorland in Orlando is another Florida original, operating since 1949 as the "Alligator Capital of the World." Its iconic gator head entrance is the perfect photo op.

Florida boasts two "castles" build by single artists: Solomon's Castle is the work of artist Howard Solomon who built the entire aluminum-covered castle by himself as a home for his family and his art. Coral Castle in Homestead was built by Edward Leedskalnin. He sourced every stone himself, and built his own complex where he lived and gave tours until he died. This is a definite must-see if you're traveling through South Florida.

The National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola is the third- largest aviation museum in the world. Marvel at the 150 vintage aircraft, including the first plane to cross the Atlantic and the first to land on the South Pole.

Right up the road, in Plant City, you can find Tyrannosaurus rex and velociraptors lurking in the woods of Dinosaur World. Bone up on your prehistoric species as you stroll the park and dig for fossils in a paleontological setting. Then, tour the hands-on dinosaur museum.

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