The Florida Almanac

Follow the palmetto leaf in Cuban bread, a rocket over the lagoon, or the railroad story along the road to Key West. Florida rewards a closer look.

The Space Coast, from the ground

A waterfront launch spot, the Cape's first rocket, and a refuge that shares its map with the space program.

Titusville

Watching a rocket launch from Titusville's Space View Park

Space View Park puts you on Titusville's downtown waterfront, across the Indian River Lagoon from the launch pads. It is a public park, separate from Kennedy Space Center's ticketed viewing.
Cape Canaveral

Bumper 8 started Cape Canaveral's launch story

The first rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in 1950, long before Space Coast launch days became part of local life.
Space Coast

Merritt Island Refuge shares land with the Space Center

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge spans Kennedy Space Center lands in Brevard and Volusia counties, with access shaped by refuge, seashore, and launch operations.

The work that built a town often survives in its food, streets, and waterfront. These places make that history tangible.

Tampa

The palmetto leaf in La Segunda's Cuban bread

At La Segunda in Tampa, a palmetto leaf helps make the split along a loaf of Cuban bread. The bakery has carried that tradition through four generations since 1915.
Ybor City

Ybor City: the cigar town inside Tampa

Ybor City is Tampa's old cigar district, with hundreds of historic buildings still shaping the neighborhood.
Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs sponge money built more than the docks

Tarpon Springs' sponge trade helps explain the docks, Greek community, banks, shops, cigar work, and tourism layer that still shapes the city.

Look below a glass-bottom boat, follow the Everglades upstream, and trace the railroad behind the drive through the Keys.

Ocala area

Silver Springs keeps the glass-bottom view close

Silver Springs State Park gives the Ocala area clear water, glass-bottom boat history, paddling, trails, and current state-park details to check.
South Florida

Everglades water starts before the park

Everglades National Park protects a huge South Florida wetland system, but the water story reaches well past the park boundary.
Florida Keys

Overseas Highway carries the Keys railroad ghost

The Overseas Highway drive through the Florida Keys follows a travel story that began before the modern road, when bridges, boats, farms, and rail lines shaped the islands.

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