Tallahassee Area

Tallahassee is a genteel Southern belle with good manners, rolling hills, oak-canopied roads, old plantation homes, and y’all-come hospitality. It also happens to be home to Florida State University, Florida A&M University, and Florida’s state capital. How the latter came about is told in a popular folk tale. When East and West Florida territories combined into one state, travelers were sent from the former capitals of St. Augustine and Pensacola. The backwoods spot where they met became the new political center.

The New Capitol building rises at the center of Tallahassee’s downtown as a sleek modern structure, juxtaposed next to the Old Capitol, which is built in the more classic domed style. A gallery atop the 22-story New Capitol provides a sweeping view of the hilly city and its tree-lined streets. From it, you can see all the way to Georgia, 20 miles away.

Around the capitol complex, a 10-block historic district spreads, preserving the town’s gracious old homes along a linear park and holding a historic inn, bars, and restaurants, all patronized by Senators and sophomores alike. With no shortage of culture, downtown also offers museums, theater, and art galleries. Artists have turned the old warehouses of Downtown Industrial Park into the studios and cafes of Railroad Square. The Museum of Florida History, nearby, is highly acclaimed for its scan of the state’s past, and The Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science, along with changing art exhibits, brings learning to a kid’s level with hands-on exhibits.

Tallahassee Museum of History & Natural Science, another great place for kids, combines a natural-habitat zoo for native animals with a collection of historic structures including a nineteenth-century farm, one-room schoolhouse, and plantation mansion. Cotton plantations dictated much of Tallahassee’s history, and lovely neo-classic gems preserve the era. At one, Goodwood Museum & Gardens, you can tour the restored buildings.

State parks preserve other aspects of historic and natural heritage. One commemorates the winter camp of explorer Hernando deSoto with a living history program, another the site of an important Civil War battle with an annual reenactment. Maclay State Gardens showcases Tallahassee’s floral splendor, most spectacular when the azaleas and camellias bloom in spring.

What to Do:

Goodwood Museum & Gardens
1600 Miccosukee Road
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Phone: 850-877-4202

A magnificent c.1834 estate featuring over twenty structures including a skating rink, aviary, swimming pool complete with restored pergola, water tower, several cottages, and carriage house with stables. The gracious Main House, built ca. 1840, restored to the 1920 era, has three-story mahogany stair, eight marble fireplaces, and oldest fresco ceilings in Florida, original furniture. 16-acre heirloom gardens are open to the public free of charge Monday - Saturday. Allow one hour. Children under three are free.

Tallahassee Museum of History & Natural Science
3945 Museum Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32310
Phone: 850-576-1636

It is a 52-acre outdoor museum located on a chain of lakes. It features over 100 native Florida animals in their natural habitats, historic buildings, nature trails, 1880s farmstead, hands-on discovery center, annual special events, bi-annual guest animal exhibit, educational programs, audio tours and more.

LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts
125 N. Gadsden St.
Tallahassee,  FL 32301
Phone: 850-222-8800

Enjoy changing art exhibits by regional artists, as well as an annual Tri-State Watercolor Competition in March, the Chain of Parks Art Festival in April, and spectacular Holiday Show in December. Year-round art classes for children and adults are offered on site. Visit the gift shop and lush sculpture garden. It is located in the historic district in downtown Tallahassee, close to the Capitol and government offices.

Tampa Area

More than just a big city with all the sophistication, culture, industry, and services that it implies, Tampa is also a place for family vacations and encounters of the natural kind. Situated on Florida’s largest inlet, Tampa Bay (which separates it from sister city St. Petersburg), Tampa has a lot of shipping history in both its past and present. With its strategic position, it began as a Seminole War fort. Later its quick access to the Gulf of Mexico and deep port brought cigar-making and Spanish-American War preparations to town.

In downtown Tampa, the focus in recent years has returned to the harbor and the Hillsborough River that runs through town. Cruise ship business has picked up, and a new trolley transports passengers to Ybor City and other attractions. At the Channelside District, an entertainment-dining multiplex has appeared along with big-name resorts, professional hockey, and the Florida Aquarium, a seashell-shaped glass dome with more than 10,000 aquatic plants and animals inside. Next door, you can tour a WW II-era merchant marine ship.

Attractions old and new beckon in the inner city. Railroad builder Henry Plant’s fantastical Tampa Hotel now holds university offices and the Henry B. Plant Museum, furnished for the 1890s, when Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders headquartered there. The Tampa Theatre is another elaborate historic specimen, standing in contrast to an ultra-modern performing arts hall and art museum. Bayshore Boulevard winds between the waterfront and its stately homes, known as the world’s longest unbroken sidewalk and site of the swashbuckling Gasparilla Pirate Festival in February. In historic neighborhoods such as Hyde Park, shopping and dining opportunities excel.

Where to Stay:

Hyatt Regency Tampa
211 N. Tampa St.
Tampa, FL 33602
Phone: 813-225-1234

The Hyatt Regency Tampa is located within minutes of the convention center, Ybor City, the Florida Aquarium, and Busch Gardens.  Other local attractions include Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa Performing Arts Center, and the Museum of Science and Industry.  Some amenities include wireless internet access, babysitting area, trolley service to local attractions, gift shop, and laundry & dry cleaning services. 

Tampa Marriott Waterside
700 S. Florida Ave.
Tampa, FL 33602
Phone: 813-221-4900

The Tampa Marriott Waterside is part of the Channelside District and adjacent to the Tampa Convention Center.  They offer three restaurants, and casual fare at Café Waterside and Champions.  Some amenities include a Spa, cable TV, Jacuzzi, high-speed wireless access, a pool, and spacious accommodations along the Channel Riverwalk.

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites
11310 N. 30th St.
Tampa, FL 33612
Phone: 813-971-7690

The Holiday Inn & Suites is located just one mile from Busch Gardens and Adventure Island, and just 20 minutes away from Downtown Tampa.  They have a Courtyard Café that is open for breakfast and dinner with room service available.  Kids 12 and under eat and stay free.  Some amenities include complimentary shuttle transportation within a two-mile radius, a whirlpool, fitness center, gift shop, dry cleaning pickup/laundry services, and high-speed internet access.  

What to Do:

Henry B. Plant Museum
401 W. Kennedy Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33606
Phone: 813-254-1891

In the heart of downtown Tampa, discover a museum that transports you to turn-of-the century Florida. The Henry B. Plant Museum is housed in the building that was once the Tampa Bay Hotel and is now a National Historic Landmark. This quintessential Victorian palace features unique Moorish revival architecture, opulent furnishings and spectacular tropical gardens. There is Live-theater at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays (Sept.-May) and Victorian Christmas Stroll during the month of December.

Tampa Museum of Art
2306 N. Howard Ave.
Tampa, FL 33607
Phone: 813-274-8130

Located downtown along the scenic Hillsborough River, the Tampa Museum of Art provides a broad range of art-related experiences for visitors of all ages. The Museum collection includes twentieth-century and contemporary art and a renowned collection of Greek and Roman antiquities. A changing special exhibitions program provides a lively mix of classical and contemporary shows.
 

MOSI - Museum of Science & Industry
4801 E. Fowler Ave.
Tampa, FL 33617
Phone: 813-987-6000

"MOSI is the largest science center in the Southern US and home of the only IMAX Dome Theatre in Florida." Get blown away in the Gulf Coast Hurricane. Cruise the galaxy in the The Saunders Planetarium and stroll through BioWorks Butterfly Garden. Pedal a high wire bike three stories high. Don't miss Kids In Charge!; a new children's science center, opening on the MOSI campus in May 2005.