By Layla Bellows
We’ve spent months hearing tragic stories about the Gulf coastline — it’s enough to make many despair about a trip to the beach. But Florida alone has more than 1,200 miles of coast (Fun fact: That’s more than any other state in the continental U.S.), and most of it remains unaffected. To get all the information you need to plan a relaxing Sunshine State vacation, visit
Florida Live, the state tourism board’s depot for vacation information.
Real-time coastal updates aren’t all you’ll find on Florida Live. It also has short videos about travel destinations, a blog, visitor-submitted photos and Twitter feeds from Florida tourism organizations. And, though the site is clearly there to help promote the state’s tourism industry, the information isn’t just repurposed PR: The blogs and videos are by Kevin Mims, a freelance journalist traveling throughout Florida, and he often highlights
offbeat destinations that might not have been on your radar. For instance, did you know there’s a
coral castle in Homestead? Yes, it’s actually built from coral, and it was single-handedly built by a five-foot tall, 100-pound man between 1923 and 1951. Unusual spots exist throughout Florida — the kinds of quirky places the locals love to talk about. Mims’ content offers an insider’s perspective coupled with the experiential details of someone actually traveling the state.
The pictures on the site are all from the Share a Little Sunshine Facebook page, and they’re time-stamped, so you’ll know if what you’re seeing is what you can expect to get if a destination is on your vacation list. The site editors also limit how many times any one person or business can post photos to make sure Florida Live visitors are getting a wide range of views. Twitter feeds from CVBs provide local updates not just about beaches but also about attractions and other visitor-worthy information.
If pictures of beaches, and videos and blogs about attractions aren’t enough to entice you to the state, then click on the hot deals button on the right-hand side of the homepage. From here you can search for deals or browse through featured discounts. And if that’s not enough, try the Florida Vacation Auction button, where you can bid e-Bay style on rooms at some of the state’s most famous hotels and resorts. You can actually see what properties you’re bidding on, so you can research rooms and amenities, making it a safer bet than the Priceline negotiator. William Shatner, eat your heart out.
Image Courtesy VISIT FLORIDA.