Before theme parks, before glossy beach resorts, Florida lured visitors with something far wilder: alligators. By the early 1900s, alligators were the state’s first celebrity attractions, and nothing screamed “Florida vacation” like pulling off a sandy roadside to watch a man in khaki shorts wrestle a 10-foot reptile into submission. These shows weren’t just entertainment—they … Read more
The Florida Skunk Ape isn’t just a backwoods campfire tale—it’s one of the state’s most enduring legends, woven into Seminole folklore, whispered through Spanish colonial journals, and kept alive today by roadside tourist attractions and swamp guides with lima beans in hand. Whether it’s real or not almost doesn’t matter. The Skunk Ape represents wild … Read more
Long before Florida became the “Fishing Capital of the World,” the Calusa—an Indigenous people who once ruled Southwest Florida—were mastering the art of aquaculture. These resourceful “Shell People” built intricate water courts, a sophisticated system of fish traps and holding ponds that functioned much like today’s fish farms. For the Calusa, the sea was their … Read more