The nation's oldest city has a fresh take on food. St. Augustine, founded in 1565, is attracting food lovers for its farm-to-table cuisine and agritourism opportunities. From the city's signature Minorcan clam chowder, to the blast of flavor from its prized datil peppers, to the harvests of nearby...
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Panama City Beach businesses say new laws aimed at cutting down excessive spring break drinking are also hurting sales and forcing layoffs.Bars, restaurants, scooter shops and other businesses say they're letting employees go as sales have dropped 50 to 85 percent...
Pompano Beach is betting divers will like its newest artificial reef – a New York City sludge tanker staged to look like a casino. You won't be able to gamble, but you will be able to sit 50 feet underwater at a poker table and admire changing waterproof art exhibits and any random sea life that...
Daily music schedule for Fort Lauderdale beach concerts: Dierks Bentley on Friday, Tim McGraw on Saturday and Blake Shelton on Sunday.
This air show season has its first big player for 2016 as the Air Force Thunderbirds headline Tampa Bay AirFest at MacDill Air Force Base this weekend. The team will take to the skies on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons highlighting a full day of military and civilian aircraft performances at...
Orlando is king for family-friendly resorts. So say the readers of TripAdvisor, who made their choices for best family hotels and resorts in the website's Travelers Choice Awards this month.The No. 1 choice was Floridays Resort Orlando, on International Drive just outside Walt Disney World. The...
Springtime is not only a time of blooming flowers and warmer weather, it's also the time of year when car-rental companies offer rock-bottom rates for one-way rentals out of Florida. You can pick up a car there for as little as $7.95 per day, plus taxes and fees, and use it during your Florida...
What: Streamsong Resort has teamed up with Bass Pro Shops to offer "The Sportsman Package." The package includes accommodations in the lakeside lodge, a two-hour guided bass fishing excursion, a sporting clays adventure, an archery range challenge, a $50 Bass Pro Shop gift card, a $50 Streamsong...
What: All 23 Hard Rock Hotel properties are offering an "Amplified" package, including locations in Orlando, Tampa and Hollywood. The deal includes a personalized VIP memorabilia tour, a pre-reserved Fender guitar with a floor amp and headphones ready upon arrival, a collectible pin and a limited...
With temperatures heating up, it's only appropriate that there are several new water-related attractions and events to check out in late March and April. 'Dolphin Tale' stars at Clearwater Marine Aquarium The stars of the "Dolphin Tale" movies return to Clearwater Aquarium March 21-25. The Clearwater...
This week, I was stuck halfway across the country fuming over a transportation fail. Wednesday, I learned that American Airlines will throw you under the bus — er, plane — if you arrive at the airport AFTER your scheduled boarding begins but BEFORE you have had a chance to load your digital boarding...
The old Hurricane roller coaster's long goodbye began Wednesday morning. The 100-foot-tall wooden ride in Dania Beach closed five years ago and finally is coming down to make way for an $800 million shopping and entertainment center at Stirling and Bryan roads called Dania Pointe. Implosions have...
An array of adventure, thrill-seeking and eco-friendly activities await cruise passengers visiting Norwegian Cruise Line's newest private island destination —Harvest Caye — when it opens in mid-November in the south of Belize. The new cruise port destination will feature a 130-foot tall Flighthouse,...
It won't be easy, but cruises to Cuba could provide a 20 percent boost to the industry once they're finally allowed, a panel of cruise leaders says. The heads of four major cruise companies, speaking Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, all said that Cuban ports present challenges in infrastructure and...
WINTER HAVEN — Legoland Florida Resort is going to expand with the development of 24 acres as the new Legoland Beach Retreat, which is expected to open in mid-2017. "This kind of expansion is something special … where we've kind of moved over the road to expand the resort into different areas,"...
With its sunny weather and sandy beaches, Florida practically screams "spring break." AAA recently released its list of most popular domestic spring travel destinations for 2016 and it's no surprise that the Sunshine State earned four spots in the top 10, including the No. 1 position. Researchers...
Another Quantum-class ship, another narrow trip up the river to the open sea. Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas had its conveyance on the Ems River from Meyer Werft shipyards in in Papenberg, Germany on its way to sea trials in the North Sea. The 12-hour trip which took place Friday brought out...
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom is getting an early start on the holiday in 2016. The first night of the event will be Sept. 2-- three days before Labor Day and more than eight weeks before Halloween. Disney World announced the dates Wednesday. The extra-ticket event will...
Disney's River Country opened at Fort Wilderness in June 1976 and was Disney's first water park. It was closed on Nov. 2, 2001 and has never reopened. Disney has not torn down the park, but instead has allowed Mother Nature to take its course. Photographer Seph Lawless recently photographed the...
A mother who lost her newborn baby earlier this year wrote an open letter to a fairy godmother character actor at Disney World who showed her kindness during a recent trip to the theme park. In a Facebook post that's been shared more than 25,000 times since Monday, Janice Murphy writes to the fairy...
After months of seeing it taken down and built back up, the footprint of The Incredible Hulk coaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure is in place. The roller coaster was closed on Sept. 8 for refurbishment and is expected to reopen this summer. Parts of the bright green rail started to go...
New York Yankee outfielder Carlos Beltrán took a break from spring training in Tampa to chill with King penguins Monday at SeaWorld Orlando. The eight-time All-Star visited SeaWorld with his family during their spring break vacation. Beltrán had the opportunity to get an up-close look at the...
Australian singer-songwriter and teen sensation Cody Simpson met his wax-figure match at Madame Tussauds Orlando on Friday. "I should have shaved," Simpson said about the figure after seeing it for the first time at the International Drive attraction. The curtain dropped before him and a gathering...
Some well-kept secrets are upstaged by the old world charm of this Mediterranean-influenced city on the Gulf Coast, conceived as one of Florida's first planned communities in the early 20th Century. The shady lanes and manicured boulevards showcase the Northern Italian design envisioned by its...
Consistently top-ranked for its beaches, Fort De Soto Park is a diverse coastal habitat wrapped by miles of sugary sand and an amazing menu for outdoor recreation that hits all the right notes. Beautiful beaches, a bustling campground, kayak/canoe trails, paved bike trails, playgrounds, a dog beach,...
Sometimes you just want to be surrounded by sand and surf and sky; to enjoy a beach where you're not stuck listening to that guy's music. It's not easy, but there are such beaches, and a good place to look is Southwest Florida, a region blessed with natural beauty and not (yet) overdeveloped. You...
Housing rental website HomeAway is getting no vacation from damage control after introducing a service fee that customers say is cratering their businesses. In February, HomeAway began imposing a surcharge up to 9 percent on travelers renting properties on its websites; the company previously only...
Holland America Line has brought extensive improvements to its ms Eurodam cruise ship, part of $300 milliion in improvements the cruise operator is making across its fleet. Among the changes: • The 2,104-passenger Eurodam now features the line's first Gallery Bar, serving cocktails crafted by celebrity...