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BOOKS FOR FLORIDA TRAVELERS

By Lisbeth Kent

GAINESVILLE—For travelers to Florida – the most popular winter destination in the nation, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Society of Travel Agents – good guide books offer a smart way to make the most of a winter escape to the Sunshine State.

Packed with information, new books from University Press of Florida describe offbeat, out-of-the-way and just plain fun places to visit.

Beyond the Theme Parks: Exploring Central Florida introduces tourists and residents alike to attractions within easy driving distance of Orlando, where they can explore a rich real-life heritage more varied than any theme park. With photographs and easy-to-follow maps, the book includes a tour of cowboy culture at the Silver Spurs Rodeo, the oldest incorporated African-American municipality in the United States, and the most comprehensive and dazzling display of Tiffany glass anywhere in the world.

In a humorous, illustrated book for beginning fossil collectors, Fossiling in Florida: A Guide for Diggers and Divers, author Mark Renz tells how and where to hunt for the skeletal remains of fierce saber-toothed cats, gentle sea cows, massive mammoths and mastodons, and Volkswagon-size armadillos. The author, an amateur paleontologist, also leads fossil-finding expeditions near his home in southwest Florida.

Beach and Coastal Camping in Florida, by veteran outdoor writer Johnny Molloy, offers a user-friendly paperback guidebook filled with down-to-earth detailed advice about the 24 best ocean- and gulf-front camping areas in Florida for both tent and RV campers, conveniently organized by geographic region.

Molloy is also the author of a forthcoming title from University Press of Florida, A Paddler’s Guide to Everglades National Park, which will present the first guide to paddling every significant route in the park, Florida’s endangered natural paradise. The book describes day trips, week-long excursions, and many not-so-frequented passages—more than 400 miles of ocean, river, bay and creek waters, plus the Gulf of Mexico.

Cassadaga: The South’s Oldest Spiritualist Community describes the small village in central Florida that calls itself a "metaphysical Mecca." Established more than a century ago on the principle of continuous life (the idea that spirits of the dead commune with the living) the quaint Victorian town remains the oldest continuously active Spiritualist center in the South. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. While the community has often been sensationalized and misrepresented, this book (also forthcoming from the press in Spring 2000) discusses its history, people, cultural environment, and religious system.

All books from University Press of Florida can be purchased at bookstores throughout the country, by calling the press toll-free at 1-800-226-3822 .

University Press of Florida, the scholarly publishing arm of Florida’s state university system, publishes lively books of general interest about the state as well as an extensive list of academic titles.

For review copies, please write or fax:

University Press of Florida / PUBLICITY

15 N.W. 15^th Street

Gainesville, FL 32611-2079

Fax (352) 392-7302

 

 

A Paddler’s Guide to Everglades National Park, by Johnny Molloy, Paper $16.95