subject: Unknown Facts And Trivia About Florida [print this page] Planning a move to Florida? It is a fascinating state, with its beautiful weather and, of course, the beaches. You will not have a problem blending in because the people are extremely friendly and hospitable in Florida.
Here are some interesting and unknown trivia about Florida:
Greater Miami is the only metropolitan area in the United States whose borders encompass two national parks. People can hike through the Everglades National Park or ride on glass-bottom boats across Biscayne National Park.
The Everglades National Park sprawls over 2,100 square miles and has the biggest mangrove forest and the slowest paced river in the world.
The oldest European settlement in North America is Saint Augustine.
Currently, Orlando has more visitors than any other amusement park cities in the whole country.
The name Punta Gorda when translated from Spanish means fat point. A major portion of the land in Punta Gorda juts into the Charlotte Harbor, which is the point where the Peace River meets the ocean. This is the reason for its name.
The University of Florida Gators is the place where Gatorade was first developed and that is how it gets the name.
Do you know why flamingos are pink? It happens due to the pink color of the shrimp they eat. The more they consume the pinker they become.
There are 13,983,816 combinations of six of those bouncing Florida lottery balls.
Florida is the only state having two rivers with identical names. There is a Withlacoochee in north central Florida (Madison County) and a Withlacoochee in central Florida.
Della Burke, the actress became Miss Florida in 1974. She represented Orlando.
Floridas state song "Old Folks at Home, was penned by Stephen Foster, who never set eyes on the Suwannee River and never came to Florida even once.
The founder of Cypress Gardens, Dick Pope is known as the Father of Florida Tourism.
Tampa's Bayshore Boulevard is said to be the longest continuous sidewalk in the whole world.
Thousands of Floridians stand at the state line and toss dead fish into Alabama once a year. This is the custom of the yearly Mullet Toss hosted by Flora-Bama Beach Bar in Pensacola, which is an excuse to have a grand beach party.
A bed & breakfast called WildLife on Easy Street, situated on the outskirts of Tampa, allows you to cuddle in bed with an endangered cat of your choice for just a $100 donation to the refuge. You can select from among baby cougars, leopards, and bobcats.
The longest river sailboat race in the world is the Annual Mug Race. The event runs 42 miles from Palatka to Jacksonville along the St. Johns River.
New England Congregationalists that brought their style of liberal arts education to the state founded Rollins College, the oldest college in Florida, in Winter Park in 1885.
A museum in Sanibel has 2 million shells housed in it and is apparently one of its kinds in the world as it is dedicated only to mollusks.
One of the most dived shipwrecks in the world is the Benwood, on French Reef in the Florida Keys.
The legendary Espiritu Santo Springs is in Safety Harbor and was so named by the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1539, while he was looking for the Fountain of Youth. The natural springs are now famous for possessing curative abilities.
The first suntan cream was invented in 1944 by Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green. Do you know how he achieved it? He cooked cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wifes stove.
Key West has the highest average temperature in the whole of United States.
The Saint Johns River is one of the few that flows north instead of south. The largest lake in Florida is the Lake Okeechobee.
Florida lawmakers passed a bill on the 20th of May in 1970, and sent it to the Governor, where they accepted the moonstone officially as the state gem. Strangely, the moonstone is neither found on the moon nor does it occur naturally in Florida. A few years later, the American alligator was designated as the official state reptile, which originally symbolized in the states untamed wilderness and swamps.
Plant City, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World presently holds the Guinness record for being the biggest strawberry shortcake in the world. The 827 square-foot, 6,000 pound cake was made on 19th February in 1999 in McCall Park.
The first and only museum in the United States, dedicated to the preservation, diffusion, and promotion of Hispanic and Latin American Art is the Florida Museum of Hispanic and Latin American Art in Coral Gables.
The longest urban linear trail in the country is the Pinellas Trail, a 47 mile hiking/biking trail connecting St. Petersburg with Central and north Pinellas County.
Fort Lauderdale has 185 miles of local waterways, which is why it is known as the Venice of America.
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