There are plenty of places in Florida named for people who shaped the state’s history. Explorers. Governors. Soldiers. Pioneers. And then there’s Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs. Here, beside the Suwannee River, Florida built a museum dedicated to one of America’s best-known 19th-century songwriters. Nearby, a massive carillon tower rises … Read more
Most ghost towns leave something behind. Empty houses. Abandoned storefronts. Crumbling churches. Streets slowly disappearing beneath weeds and trees. Brewster, Florida, is different. When this former phosphate company town in Polk County reached the end of its life, people didn’t simply pack their belongings and leave their houses behind. Some of them took the houses … Read more
The first time I visited La Parguera, Puerto Rico, was in 2008. When I returned eight years later, I immediately noticed something. La Parguera had changed. There were more businesses. More development. More activity along the waterfront. The quiet coastal community I remembered had grown. At the time, I didn’t think much more about it. … Read more
Long before Florida became synonymous with beaches, theme parks, and roadside attractions, people were already traveling to the state in search of something remarkable. They came for the water. Along the banks of the Suwannee River in the tiny town of White Springs, Florida, a sulfur spring once poured millions of gallons of mineral-rich water … Read more
Hidden beneath sprawling live oaks on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, stands a massive concrete reminder of a battle that never happened. Fort Fremont was built at the end of the nineteenth century to protect one of the most important naval facilities along the southeastern coast. It was armed with enormous disappearing guns, staffed by … Read more
Sometimes the places that stay with us weren’t part of the plan at all. On the fourth morning of our 2016 trip to Puerto Rico, my son woke me a little after six. I could hear him upstairs playing with Paco, my parents’ dog, so I dragged myself out of bed and joined everyone. For … Read more
Wild horses, bison, Seminole history, Florida cowboys, and the state park we kept driving past There are some places you intentionally seek out. And then there are places you drive past again and again before finally realizing you probably should have stopped. For us, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park was the second kind. Located just … Read more
Some historic places announce themselves. They have signs along the highway, parking lots, interpretive markers, and plaques explaining exactly why you should stop. Others are much quieter. Sometimes you glimpse a few old headstones through the trees as you drive past and think— Wait. Was that a cemetery? That’s exactly how Dusty and I discovered … Read more
Sometimes the destination isn’t the part of a trip you remember most. When my son and I visited Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, the plan that afternoon was to see Los Morrillos Lighthouse. Playa Sucia was simply part of the journey—a beautiful beach sitting below the cliffs we were actually there to explore. At least, that’s … Read more
Sometimes the wrong turn is the one worth remembering. There are places we carefully plan to visit. We research them. Add them to an itinerary. Figure out where to park and what we want to see when we arrive. And then there are places we find completely by accident. Micanopy Historic Cemetery was one of … Read more