How tourism shaped the Sunshine State

"An enlightening journey through Florida’s diverse and evolving tourism history, illustrating the changing face of tourism over the years, and how Floridians have coped with these changes. An informative look at Florida’s past efforts to woo tourists, and the mixed blessings that tourism has brought to the Sunshine State."--Brian Rucker, author of Image and Reality

"At last--a readable, concise history of Florida tourism from the earliest European discovery to the present. Revels’s prose sizzles. Her ability to summarize and analyze more than 300 years of Florida tourism in just over 200 pages is truly stunning. It is a remarkable achievement. Sunshine Paradise both entertains and informs on every page, and it should be required reading for policy makers and everyone else who needs to know how current Florida came to be."--James M. Denham, professor of history and director, Lawton M. Chiles Jr., Center for Florida History, Florida Southern College

For nearly two hundred years, Floridians have eagerly exploited tourism as the key to economic prosperity. As a result, the state has constantly reshaped and remodeled itself as different types of tourist heavens, and many aspects of its history have become inseparable from the fantastic images created by the tourism industry. From spa retreats to nature preserves, from riverboat rides to roller coasters, and from railroads to theme parks, the state’s dependence on tourism has greatly shaped its identity.

Sunshine Paradise is the first book to focus exclusively on how--and why--tourism came to define Florida. Offering a concise look at the subject from the 1820s to the present, Tracy Revels demonstrates tourism’s relevance to all other major aspects of Florida history, including the Civil War, the land boom, and civil rights.

In this enjoyable and well-written history, Revels shows how Florida’s tourism industry has remained adaptive and expansive, ready to sell the next version of paradise to northerners hungry for sunshine. She also explains why the state’s business and political leaders must consider the history of tourism development as they plan for the state’s future.

A guide to the unexpected natural gems of "real" Florida

"The enchanted places in our state are sometimes hidden and not well known. Sandra Friend presents a collection of sites worthy of a pilgrimage in this descriptive guide."--David Price, director, Bok Tower Gardens Foundation

The distance, by land, from Key West to Pensacola is greater than that between New Orleans and Chicago. There are eighty-one distinct biological communities in Florida, and botanists recognize more than 4,200 unique plants in the state. The state contains several world-renowned hot spots for flora, including the Apalachicola River valley, the Lake Wales Ridge, the Big Cypress Swamp, and the Everglades. In the United States, only Hawai’i and California can claim greater biodiversity.

In Exploring Florida's Botanical Wonders expert hiker and award-winning author Sandra Friend provides readers with a travel guide that surveys the Sunshine State's spectacular biological offerings. Organized by geographic region, Friend includes engaging descriptions of the plant communities at each site, as well as directions to and information about each location.

With so much to choose from, Friend selected 250 sites for inclusion based on the age, density, or rarity of species found there, as well as provisions made for public access to these sites. She features a range of natural areas as well as public botanical gardens, making the book ideal for both the hardiest and the most timid nature lovers.

From ancient groves of oaks once preserved by President John Quincy Adams as an emergency supply of ship's timber to unusual communities of plants borne by the wind and the water from the Caribbean, this book reveals Florida flora at its most awe-inspiring.