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● The
Southwest
● The
Northwest
● The
Rocky Mountains
● The
Pacific Coast
● The Middle West
● Florida
● The
Southeast
● The
Northeast
● New
York State
● Urban Scenes
Florida
 The
southernmost tip of the eastern United States is the state of Florida.
Here the climate is mild all year, so when the weather is harsh
and severe in the north, many people, especially older folks, visit
Florida during the winter time. The western side of Florida lies
on the Gulf of Mexico, over which the sun sets to golden-red skies.
There are several famous beaches along this coast, and fishermen
have the choice of visiting freshwater streams and lakes inland,
or casting their lines from the beach or a boat at sea in the saltwater
Gulf. One interesting beach on the Gulf Coast is Sanibel Island,
near the city of Ft. Myers. This beach is famous for the brightly
varicolored little clam shells (coquina) that wash
ashore every day. In the morning, both youngsters and older folks
can be seen plodding the beach with heads bent down trying
to spot a new, nicely colored shell.
Farther
south is the Everglades, an area south of Lake Okeechobee
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Everglades
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Lake Okeechobee
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approximately 13000 sq km in size,
where the Everglades National Park occupies approximately 6100 sq
km. The Everglades is a subtropical
wetlands, which one author has dubbed "The River of Grass."
It contains a motley
collection of wildlife including reptiles
such as alligators
and
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Alligator
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Giant Ferns
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snakes. Plant life includes varieties
of palm trees, orchids,
and giant ferns,
There are 400 species of birds native to Florida, including rare
herons,
egrets, pelicans, and
different kinds of ducks. One
can visit the interior of the Everglades along wooden walkways or
on an airboat, a craft propelled by a fanlike propeller
mounted
aft that
spins in the air while the craft skims the surface of water or grass
on inflated
pontoons.
Stretching
south of Miami towards Cuba is a chain of islands called the Florida
Keys. These islands are connected by a series of bridges called
the Overseas Highway reaching to the farthest island, Key West.
Key West was a summer retreat for U.S. President Harry S Truman,
and is also the site of the homes of novelist Ernest Hemingway,
and naturalist John J. Audubon.
The
cities of Miami and Miami Beach are located at the southern tip
of the peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean. From here northward to the
Kennedy Space Center are located many small communities
barely separated from each other, where many retired people live
in the warm to moderate climate. Inland is the city of Orlando,
a favorite tourist stop because of the location of Disneyworld and
Epcot Center. Yet the Atlantic Coast beaches are still an attraction
for many tourists, especially the famous Daytona Beach, site of
the famous automobile race. And farther up the coast is the historic
city of St. Augustine, where Ponce de Leon landed in 1513, although
the city itself was not established until 1565 (well before the
Pilgrim settlements in New England).
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