Hidden gems, beaches, road trips & local guides across the Sunshine State.

Apple strudel is served with crème chantilly and vanilla ice cream. That pairing alone could justify a road trip, and it’s only dessert. The menu at this spot reads like a love letter to Germany. Wiener schnitzel, sauerbraten, red cabbage with apples, and potato pancakes with dill sour cream sauce all share the spotlight. I…

Some places make a regular Tuesday feel like a week off. The Toasted Monkey on St. Pete Beach does exactly that, with Gulf breezes, a rooftop deck, and a band playing almost every night. Locals and visitors both pack in, and the reviews show why. Here are eight reasons this beach bar earns its 4.5…

One beach cafe on this stretch of sand serves a grouper sandwich dressed up like a Reuben. Yes, the deli classic, but with Gulf fish where the corned beef should be. I love that someone looked at a fish fillet and thought, let’s add sauerkraut. That oddball sandwich is only one branch of a big…

A Latvian immigrant who stood about five feet tall carved more than 1,000 tons of coral rock by himself. He worked mostly at night, alone, with tools he made from scraps and old car parts. Nobody ever saw exactly how he moved stones weighing several tons. He just shrugged and said he knew the secrets…

Imagine walking into a flea market so massive that you could spend an entire day wandering the aisles and still miss something. One minute you’re digging through vintage records and antiques, the next you’re staring at golf carts for sale, sampling homemade pickles, or discovering something you never knew you needed. That’s exactly the kind…

Cinnamon rolls usually bake at around 350 degrees, which is roughly how a Florida parking lot feels in August. Maybe that explains why I think the Sunshine State and this pastry get along so well. Honestly, I love that kind of matchup. Pumpkin spice gets the spotlight every fall. Yet cinnamon does a lot of…

Imagine having dinner beneath a massive, century-old banyan tree, with twinkling string lights overhead, live jazz filling the air, and a plate of Southern comfort food in front of you. Sounds like something straight out of New Orleans, right? But this dreamy little escape is actually hiding in Pompano Beach. At South Bar & Kitchen,…

More than 400 miles of canals cut through one southwest Florida city. That’s more than Venice, Italy, and nobody here needs a gondola or a gondolier to get around town. The whole network was dug on purpose, starting in the late 1950s. Developers turned flat, scrubby land into a sprawling maze of waterways, and thousands…

One bridge on this list has concrete dolphins guarding its feet, and not a single one can swim. They’re giant protective blocks built to keep wandering ships from bumping the bridge’s piers. Another crossing climbs so high that the road tilts you toward the clouds over open water. A different one in the Keys stretches…

One Florida beef bundle weighs roughly 480 pounds. That’s not a typo, and yes, you’d need a seriously roomy chest freezer plus a few strong friends. I love that kind of bold, go-big thinking from a meat market, and the deals get even more fun from there. Smaller half-cow packs land around 230 pounds, while…

Some of the best burgers in Florida come from places you’d never think to stop at, and Thee Burger Spot in Tampa might be the perfect example. From the outside, this tiny neighborhood joint doesn’t look like much. But step inside, and you’ll find juicy, made-to-order burgers, crispy loaded fries, and one outrageous creation that…

The chef who makes your pasta here also owns the whole place. He cooks with flavors from his home region of Abruzzo, Italy, and that is a pretty great start to any dinner plan. The dining room is small and rustic, with Italian classics written on a chalkboard. Seating is so limited that booking ahead…

A single Florida black bear can need up to 20,000 calories a day in the fall. That is about four times its usual intake. I honestly can’t picture eating like that without a nap every hour. The name for this eating spree is hyperphagia. Bears may spend up to 18 hours a day hunting for…

Finding a good steakhouse in Orlando is easy. Finding one where you can enjoy a three-course dinner without spending a small fortune? That’s a different story. Tucked along International Drive, Mordisco Steakhouse is turning heads with smoky, charcoal-grilled steaks, fresh ceviche, and Venezuelan-inspired dishes that taste far more expensive than you might expect. And with…

A pumpkin ube latte named Frankie gets served in a bucket. Yes, a bucket. I read that twice, and then I started mentally planning a road trip. That drink is only one sign of how hard Florida baristas are working this fall. One shop built a latte lineup around Charlie Brown and his friends. Another…

Florida has a waterfall that plunges 73 feet into a sinkhole, and almost nobody mentions it when the leaves turn. Somewhere else in the state, wild bison graze a prairie as its grasses fade toward gold. I had no idea Florida could pull off autumn this well. Southern sugar maples, sweetgums, and bald cypresses swap…

Once a year, roughly 250 vendors pack the shady streets of one tiny town, and admission costs nothing. Estimates put the crowd somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 people. That’s a lot of shoppers for a place you could stroll across before your coffee cools. The whole east side of town closes to cars for the…

Forget ordinary Halloween parties. There’s a little bar in Winter Park that takes spooky season so seriously, you’ll feel like you’ve walked straight into a haunted movie set. Every October, The Courtesy trades its usual sophisticated speakeasy atmosphere for skulls, cobwebs, eerie lighting, and outrageously creative cocktails served in glassware that looks like it belongs…

What if some of Florida’s best meals were hiding in towns most tourists couldn’t even find on a map? Forget the flashy waterfront restaurants and overpriced tourist traps. We’re talking about tiny barbecue joints where the smoke does all the advertising, family-run kitchens serving recipes that have stood the test of time, and unassuming seafood…

Who says you have to leave Florida to experience a real winter wonderland? Hidden in Dade City is a place where you can race down a snow-covered hill, have a snowball fight, and go ice skating, all without booking a flight up north. At Snowcat Ridge, Florida’s unusual winter attraction, palm trees and sunshine give…

Fred’s current menu states that its fried items are cooked in beef tallow. That one detail tells you a lot about how seriously this kitchen takes its golden crunch. The chicken shows up all day long, from the lunch spread straight through dinner. It shares the line with fried catfish, smoked pork ribs, collard greens,…