Great Places to go in Florida, while avoiding Disney World!

So, in the blog before last I promised you all that I would find great places to visit in Florida, without following the Mickey Mouse going crowds travelling to Orlando, and I certainly did.
The best way to travel around Florida is to hire a car as there is little or no public transport in some places and a lot of places in the towns and cities are far away from each other. You will often also find that there are no sidewalks/pavements. Distances are surprisingly not that bad, so a few hours driving a day will suffice if your heading down state.

The local Floridians told me that the weather is generally better on the west side of the state, as it is cooler and there is more of a breeze, so we'll start our tour there. If you want to avoid Orlando all together, there are direct flights from many places straight to Tampa.

St Petersburg - Just south of Tampa, is the beautifully located city of St Petersburg, which sits looking out over the bay. Head down to The Pier where you can take part in a whole range of activities, such as boat trips around the bay, fishing trips and dolphin sight seeing tours. There are also Segway tours around the city and quad bicycles that you can hire from the pier. Don't forget to check out the 'pelican feeding station' where people of all ages will have a great time throwing fish for the pelicans to catch. At the end of the pier there is a large building full of great restaurants, the best being Cha Cha Coconuts, where you can enjoy great Mexican and tropical Caribbean inspired food while taking in the gorgeous views over the water. Up until a few years ago, there wasn't much in the way of culture in the city, but this has all changed thanks to a new Dali museum that has opened up. The museum is housed in a beautiful yet quirky building designed especially and is home to the largest collection of Dali's work outside Spain - this is a definite must see for all Dali fans.

Bradenton and Sarasota - Heading south again are the cities of Bradenton and Sarasota. While there is not much to do in Bradenton itself, taking a trip to Bradenton Beach is well worthwhile. The beach area is like a separate town in itself, with loads to do including visiting the old historical town. The road along the beach is lined with Southern style multi-coloured buildings serving as home made ice cream parlours, shell shops and beach apparel shops. There are wooded picnic areas lining the beach where you can even cook your own barbecue and don't forget to visit the beach itself, with it's pure white sand and clear turquoise sea. Sarasota has a great harbour and marina to visit which is perfect for ambling along looking at the pelicans and admiring the view. You can hire out boats here or simply sit outside with cold ice tea and one of the tiki-hut style beach bars.

San Marco Island - For a bit of luxury, why not visit San Marco island, located at bottom west side of the state. It is home to beautiful houses, beautiful beaches and beautiful people, albeit most of them old and retired. This is the place to just sit back and relax.

Everglades City - A 30 minute drive from San Marco island and you'll find yourself in a different world of the everglades. Here you will feel like you are miles from anywhere and is not too unlike the Australian outback. Strange bird calls sound out through the forest and thick mist hovers just above the ground giving the area a magical yet spooky feel. Mangrove swamps are in abundance here, as are the sly-eyed alligators who watch you from there muddy pools. The Everglades are also a grate place for bird watchers, being home to many exotic species. There are a few place that hire out kayaks and canoes and a myriad of places that will take you on airboat rides across the marshes.

Swimming with the dolphins in Florida

Ok, so having caught a bug on the plane on the way over, I was ill during most of my trip to Florida, hence why I haven't been blogging as often as I would have liked.

Towards the end of the week though, I managed to get well enough to realise one of my life long travel dreams - swimming with the dolphins! Ever since I knew dolphins existed, I have wanted to swim with one. I saw my first dolphin in Florida at the age of 10 and now 16 years later, I am back in Florida for the second time, realising my dream.

There is something about travel and the feeling that you deserve to realise your dreams while you're there or you may not get the chance again. Dolphin Cove, the place where I swam, had a unique approach to dolphin swimming, in that all contact was initiated by the dolphins themselves and if they chose not to participate in the swim and interaction with me, they wouldn't have to. To my relief, both my assigned dolphins - 17 year old Alfonso and 7 year old Leo chose to take part. They swam under my hands, they swam under my hands so I could hold onto their fins and they pushed me along by feet. It was an amazing feeling to feel that they were the ones that had complete control and I was just like a dolphin toy! They felt like pieces of rubber covered in silk and were so unbelievably powerful and strong.

I also learned a great deal about an animal I thought I knew a lot about already. For example, did you know that mother dolphins name each of babies and can call them individually? Or that dolphins see an x-ray of your body when they look at you with echo-location?

Thank you Alfonso and Leo for making my dream come true!