Entertainment in Florida - Part 5

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While you are staying in one of the many Disney villas, Florida villas, Orlando villas, Florida vacation rentals and villas near Disney that are available to rent, we have listed below some entertainment in Florida that you may well enjoy.

Museum of Fine Arts

The Museum of Fine Arts has the only comprehensive art collection, extending from antiquity to the present day, on the Florida west coast. See stellar works in galleries designed for leisurely reflection.

Located at 100 Second Street North St. Petersburg Florida 33701

Sunken Gardens

Sunken Gardens is a botanical paradise in the midst of a bustling city. As St. Petersburg's oldest living museum, this 100 year old garden is home to some of the oldest tropical plants in the region. Unwind as you stroll through meandering paths, lush with exotic plants from around the world. Explore cascading waterfalls, beautiful demonstration gardens, more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers and a walk through butterfly encounter. Sunken Gardens provides garden tours, horticultural programs, special events, field trips, weddings, private and corporate rentals.

Located at 1825 4th Street N., St. Petersburg, FL 33704

Adventure Island

Adventure Island's 30 acres of water-drenched fun in the sun features the ultimate combination of high-speed thrills and tropical, tranquil surroundings for guests of all ages. Within a soothing Key West atmosphere awaits an unrivaled blend of slides, corkscrews, water falls, a wave pool, children’s water playground and other family attractions such as outdoor cafes, picnic and sunbathing areas, gift shops, and a championship white-sand volleyball complex.  

Located at 4500 Bougainvillea Ave. Tampa, FL 33612

Busch Gardens

Enjoy great family fun in Busch Gardens located in Tampa Bay. Enjoy the many unique adventures and attractions that the parks has to offer.  

Henry B. Plant Museum

This quintessential Victorian palace features unique Moorish revival architecture and dramatic minarets. Visitors can enjoy the opulent European furniture and art treasures of the original railroad resort and the Gilded Age. The museum also features a permanent exhibit on the Spanish American War.

Lowry Park Zoo

Re-opened at its current site in 1988, Tampa Bay's Lowry Park Zoo is today the number-one family-friendly zoo in the U.S. (Child magazine) and recognized by the State of Florida as a center for Florida wildlife conservation and biodiversity (HB 457). The region's only dedicated zoological garden, Lowry Park Zoo was designed to enhance quality of life in greater Tampa Bay as an affordable leisure destination and center for education and endangered species conservation. Natural outdoor exhibits for more than 1,600 animals from Florida and similar habitats include a Florida wildlife center and manatee hospital, Asian Domain, Primate World, aviary, Australian-themed children's zoo, and Safari Africa.

Located at 1101 W. Sligh Avenue Tampa, FL 33604

Museum of Science and Industry

MOSI is the largest science center in the Southeastern United States and home of the first IMAX® Dome Theatre, the only theater of its kind in Florida. Get blown away in the Gulf Coast Hurricane exhibit. Cruise the galaxy in The Saunders Planetarium.

Located at 4801 E. Fowler Avenue - Tampa, Florida 33617

Tampa Bay History Center

The Tampa Bay History Center portrays the diverse and rich culture of the Tampa Bay area. Each gallery highlights milestones in our history from the early Timucua Indians and Spanish explorers through the Civil War and both World Wars. Original artifacts and rare photos enhance a storyline that creates a window to the past.Traveling exhibitions are also featured throughout the year.

Located at 225 S. Franklin Street (Convention Center Annex), Tampa, Florida

Weeki Wachee Springs Waterpark

This 200-acre family entertainment park features live underwater performances by our world-famous Mermaids, and boasts Florida's only natural spring waterpark. Challenge the thrilling water slides, explore the unspoiled beauty on a wilderness river cruise, take in a game of volleyball, or simply relax on our fancy beaches.

Mounts Botanical Garden

Mounts Botanical Garden is Palm Beach County's oldest and largest public garden. The gardens and various programs available provide probably the best horticultural and botanical information available that relates to South Florida's unique plants and environment. Within the gardens 14 acre site you can find both tropical and subtropical plants from six continents.  They range from arid land plants to aquatics through to edible landscapes.

Located  at 531 North Military Trail West Palm Beach, Florida 33415

Lion Country Safari

Lion Country Safari was America’s first drive through "cageless" zoo and has been a leader in conservation since 1967.  Lion Country provides an environment where many threatened species or endangered animals are able to live in safety and produce with the hopes of continuing their existence. 

Located at 2003 Lion Country Safari Road Loxahatchee, Florida 33470

Parrot Jungle

Parrot Jungle and Gardens, is a productive and botanical wonderland which is home to over 1,100 birds and other animals.  It is renowned as a world famous bird sanctuary, wildlife habitat and botanical garden.

Located at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, Miami, Florida 33132

Monkey Jungle

Monkey Jungle can be found just off US 1 in south Dade.  This attraction was perhaps a forerunner to the current way parks are designed and run today.  There are nearly 400 primates at the zoo, most of which are allowed to run free within the 30 acre reserve.  Monkey Jungle is one of the few protected habitats for endangered primates in the United States.  It is also the only one that the general public can gain entry to. 

Located at 14805 Southwest 216th St. Miami, Florida 33170

Old School Square Cultural Arts Center

The Old School Square Cultural Arts Center is a nationally recognized historic preservation project.  It was with thanks to the will and , thanks to the  of a local group of people who managed to save the 1913 Delray Beach Elementary and 1925 Delray Beach High School buildings from demolition. The facilities which are located in the centre of downtown Delray Beach was restored thanks to over $7 million being collected by the local townspeople.  It is now recognized as a National Historic Site and Florida Cultural Institution.  The four acre centre is a witness to the function of the arts in downtown revitalization. The facilities house the Cornell Museum of Art and History, which was dedicated in 1990, Crest Theatre, dedicated in 1993, a vintage Gymnasium built around 1926 and restored classrooms, dedicated in 1998, where world-class exhibits, performances and education programs continue to enhance the greater Delray Beach community and South Florida.

Located at 51 N Swinton Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33444

Coral Castle (see my other article for far more information on Coral Castle)

Coral Castle is considered a National Historic Site.  It has been featured many  television programs.  It was built in 1923 by a Latvian named Ed Leedskalnin.  It features a nine ton gate and a very unique sundial. 

Located at 28655 South Dixie Highway Miami, Florida 33033

Museum of Discovery and Science

The museum features 85,000 square feet of interactive hands on exhibits. You can see the world's largest living captive Atlantic coral reef. The museum is also home to the Blockbuster IMAX Theater.

Located at 401 SW 2nd Street, Ft Lauderdale, Florida 33312

Audubon House and Gardens

The Audubon House and Tropical Gardens offers a relaxing and educational environment for people of all ages.  It was due to be demolished in 1958 but fortunately, the house was saved fro ruin by the Mitchell Wolfson Family Foundation, which is a nonprofit educational organization. This was the first restoration project in Key West, and is still considered to be the gem of the island's restoration movement. A visit to the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens is an study into local history and folklore, while the gardens offer a lush one acre view of tropical foliage.

Located at 205 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida 33040

Harry S. Truman Little White House Museum

The Harry S Truman Little White House in Key West was built in 1890 as the first officer's quarters on the naval station. Visitors can enjoy daily guided tours and a botanical garden. The house also offers a gift shop.

Located at 111 Front Street - Key West, Florida

Florida Stage

Florida Stage is a professional live theatre company producing the best new work in American theatre by our finest contemporary playwrights.

Located at 262 South Ocean Boulevard Manalapan, Florida 33462

Fairchild Tropical Garden

The Fairchild Tropical Garden is one of the world's preeminent botanic gardens, with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including palms, cycads, flowering trees and vines. Established in 1938, the 83-acre garden is among the region's most popular visitor attractions and offers a variety of programs in environmental education, conservation and horticulture. An international leader in tropical plant research, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden plays an important part in preserving the biodiversity of the tropical environment.

Located at 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, Florida 33156

Miami Museum of Science

At the Miami Museum of Science, you can visit rare birds and reptiles in the Wildlife Centre, play virtual basketball, and even climb a rock wall.  You can slide, swing and tumble in the "Gravity Playground" for smaller children.  You are able to experience special exhibits which include "Smithsonian Expeditions, explore Latin America or the Caribbean.  Or if you wish, you can just relax under the Planetarium Dome for transport to the stars. 

Located at 3280 South Miami Avenue Miami, Florida 33129

Flagler Museum

The Flagler Museum also known as was completed in 1922 and was hailed as "more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world."  At that time, it was known as Whitehall, Henry Flagler's Gilded Age estate in Palm Beach.  Today Whitehall, recently named a National Historic Landmark, is open as the Flagler Museum. 

Located at One Whitehall Way P.O. Box 969 Palm Beach, Florida 33480.

Norton Museum of Art

The Norton Museum of Art is a major educational attraction in Florida. The Museum is renowned for its full time collection of American, European, Chinese and Contemporary art, plus photography. 

Located at 1451 S Olive Avenue, West Palm Beach Florida 33401

Visual Arts Center of Northwest Florida

The Visual Arts Center of Northwest Florida is located in downtown Panama City, Florida. The museum features a children's hands on Impressions Gallery and gift shop. Exhibits spotlight local, regional, and national artists. Located at Panama City

Gulf World Marine Park

A visit to Gulf World Marine Park will provide all the family with totally unforgettable memories.  You will be able to see live animal shows, fascinating exhibits, and you’ll experience hands on interaction with the animals. There are sea lions, dolphins and many, many more.

Located at 15412 Front Beach Road Panama City Beach, Florida 32413

Pensacola Museum of Art

This museum can be found in historic Pensacola in the Old City Jail Building.  It operates as a public, non-profit educational institution which encourages awareness of and creativity in, the visual arts through diverse programs including 18 annual exhibitions, workshops, lectures and films.

Located at 407 S. Jefferson Street, Pensacola Florida 32502

Suwannee Music Park

Suwannee Music Park provides campsites, fully furnished luxury tree houses, cabins, festivals, horseback riding, canoeing, lake and restaurant.

Located at 3076 95th Drive Live Oak, Florida 32060

Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science

The Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science is located in a 52 acre outdoor museum located on a chain of lakes. The museum features a natural habitat zoo, which is home to Florida'a native wildlife, historic buildings, nature trail, 1880s farmstead, hands-on discovery center, animal exhibits, educational programs, and more.  

Located at 3945 Museum Drive ,Tallahassee FL 32310

Tallahassee Antique Car Museum

DeVoe Moore presents one of the southeast's finest collections of rare automobiles and unique collectibles. This really is a fine tribute to a by gone era.  The latest addition to the collection is the Alma-Tadema Piano.

Located at 3550A Mahan Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32317

Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory

The Gulf Speciment Marine Laboratory features a 30,000 gallon aquarium with sea anemones, sharks, sea turtles, sea horses, crabs, sea stars and more.

Located at Clark Drive Panacea, Florida 32346

Jacksonville Zoological Gardens

The Jacksonville Zoo offers an selection of wildlife wonders and interactive experiences. The zoo is home to over 900 rare and exotic creatures.

Located at 370 Zoo Parkway Jacksonville, Florida 32218

Lightner Museum

Relics of America's Gilded Age are elegantly exhibited on the museum's three floors. Costumes, furnishings, mechanical musical instruments and other artifacts give you a glimpse into 19th century daily life. The Lightner collection includes beautiful examples of cut glass, Victorian art glass and the stained glass work of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Located at 75 King Street, St. Augustine, Florida 32084

Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse in the United States

The schoolhouse was built around 200 years ago while Florida was still under the rule of Spain.  It can be found quite near to the City Gates, This is well worth a visit – our children and my wife and I found it quite enthralling looking at how children used to be taught. 

Located at 14 St. George Street, St. Augustine, Florida

Ponce De Leon's Fountain of Youth

Ponce de Leon landed in St. Augustine in 1513 searching for a Fountain of Youth. Sightseeing trains offer interesting tours of all of the city's points of interest, and you can hop on / hop off whenever you like.  Tours begin every 15-20 minutes with tickets good for the duration of your visit. Discount package tours are avialable. Walk around the gardens, explore the excavations, see the life-sized exhibits and planetarium, and drink from the pre-historic Indian Spring Ponce de Leon hoped was the Fountain of Youth. 

Located at 11 Magnolia Ave. (Off San Marco Ave., N.)

Potter's Wax Museum

This museum can be found in the middle of Saint Augustine.  It features 160 wax figures.

Located at 17 King Street St. Augustine, FL 32084

Ripley's Believe it or not Museum

After his famous Believe It or Not! cartoon took off, Robert Ripley became an avid world traveler, looking ofr tales of the bizarre and unusual scope to include in his internationally famous attraction.  The St. Augustine Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum, is the original Ripley museum, and houses many objects from Robert Ripley's personal collection.

Located at 19 San Marco Avenue, St. Augustine, FL 32084

St Augustine Alligator Farm

This attraction is one of Florida's oldest and best, featuring the rare white alligator. View all 23 species of crocodiles from all over the world.  There is also an exciting array of beautiful exotic birds and animals.

Located at 999 Anastasia Blvd. St. Augustine, Florida 32080

St Augustine Lighthouse

The St. Augustine Lighthouse is 165 feet high and is located on the north end of Anastasia Island, within the city limits of St. Augustine.  The tower was built in 1874 and is owned by the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, Inc.  You can climb to the top of the lighthouse.  You are able to see the working Fresnel lens and also learn how the light keepers lived by viewing historical archives and exhibits.  You are also able to actually touch artifacts from shipwrecks lost in the treacherous St. Augustine inlet.

The lighthouse itself and also some surrounding buildings have a long history of reported paranormal activity. It is alleged that both visitors and workers have seen moving shadows, heard voices and unexplained sounds, and have seen the figures of two little girls standing on the lighthouse catwalk.  The two girls were thought to be the daughters of Hezekiah Pittee, who was Superintendent of Lighthouse Construction, during the 1870s.  The girls drowned in a tragic accident during the building of the tower. Other reports are of a woman seen on the lighthouse stairway or walking in the yard outside the buildings, and the figure of a man who roams the basement.

These stories have led The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) to the area where they shot an episode of the Sci-fi Channel show Ghost Hunters.  During this particular episode, TAPS claims to have captured a few mysterious incidents on video in the lighthouse such as a disembodied voice of a woman crying "help me" and a shadowy figure was recorded on video moving about the stairs above them.  Due to the success of the first investigation, TAPS later returned for a follow-up investigation and experienced similar incidents.

The lighthouse offers "Dark of the Moon" tours where visitors can tour the site at night, and get the real facts about the history of those who have died on the site, though no ghosts are promised.[

Located at 81 LightHouse Ave, St Augustine FL 32080

International Museum of Cartoon Art

The International Museum of Cartoon Art at Boca Raton was founded by cartoonist Mort Walker.  In 1992 it was relocated from New York and was first opened to the public in Boca Raton on March 10, 1996.  It is the only Museum of its kind with cartoonists represented from over 50 countries. It has a collection of over 160,000 original drawings and includes every genre of the arts such as animation, comic books, comic strips, gag cartoons, illustration, editorial, cartoons, greeting cards, caricature, graphic novels, sports cartoons, and computer-generated art. The collection also includes over 10,000 books on cartoons and a thousand hours of film and tape of animated cartoons, interviews, and cartoon documentaries. 

Located at 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, Florida.

Butterfly World

Butterfly World was first opened in March 1988.  At that time, it was the largest butterfly house in the USA.  It cost around $1.2 million to build, and was built by Ronald Boender of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and  Clive  Farrell of England. It was built on 2.8 acres of landed leased from the county at no additional cost to the taxpayers.  Butterfly world provides guests with a delightfully landscaped, unique scientific and educational showplace that has become one of the landmark attractions of South Florida.  

Located at Tradewinds Park 3600 W. Sample Road Coconut Creek, Florida 33073

Port Canaveral

Port Canaveral is the world's second largest cruise port.  It offers multi day cruises plus daily gaming vessels. You can watch a space shuttle being launched at the same time as being able to enjoy the many facilities the port has to offer.  Recreational facilities at the port include shopping, entertainment, public parks, boat ramps, restaurants, camping, a 1200-ft. fishing pier, and beaches.

Located at Canaveral Port Authority, P.O. Box 267, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Conservancy of Southwest Florida

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida is at the forefront in the challenge to defend and sustain Southwest Florida's natural resources. For four decades, the organization has taken a lead in area conservation. Since its founding in 1964, the Conservancy has made a diligent and consistent effort to preserve our environment and to educate people on how they can they can advance this cause.

Located at 1450 Merrihue Drive Naples, Florida 34102  

IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum

The IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame's Museum captures the thrill, beauty and universal appeal of recreational fishing. This new 60,000 square foot building comprises 7 galleries, a 4 acre wetland, a virtual reality fishing experience, a marina, and a 12,000 book Library of Fishes. Plus you can also watch the amazing film "Journeys." 

Located at 300 Gulf Stream Way Dania Beach , Florida 33004