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Florida tea towels at Renninger's Flea Market, Mount Dora, Florida (Scarborough photo)

Never mind that it's now hurricane season; school is out in many places and families are planning trips to the Sunshine State.  Since I lived in Gainesville for awhile, I thought I'd weigh in with some current info and useful links.  We'll talk about Disney, of course, but there's a lot more to Florida than Mickey.

Give some thought to travel on the "roads not taken" in Florida, where you and the kids can really get a feel for the state's natural wonders and have some authentic Floridian experiences. 

The UK newspaper The Independent offers The Complete Guide to Secret Florida, which includes some of my favorite spots like the Panhandle beaches, Apalachicola, Cedar Key and Saint Augustine.  Another Independent article covers some of Florida's wild side, such as the Everglades and amazing shell-hunting on Captiva or Sanibel Island (remember that Florida is also popular for family holidays from the UK.)  We still have the gorgeous shells that we picked up on the beach at Sanibel; perhaps one of these days we'll make an artsy picture frame out of them.  Really must figure out the glue-gun thingy....

My own post over on the Perceptive Travel blog gives some of the many highlights of north central Florida, in and around Gainesville.  You can't beat it for lovely freshwater springs, Gator sports and the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling (which was set in this area, as was Cross Creek.)

Considering South Florida?  Your first stop should be the travel section of the Miami Herald and their Miami Visitor's Guide -- the paper's travel editor even has her own blog.  When I go to an unfamiliar city or region, I often find great nuggets in the local paper; who better to really give you the scoop than the insiders who live there?  We stopped in South Beach in January, coming back from a family New Year's trip to Key West, and even with kids we had a lot of fun just running around on the beach and looking at the cool art deco buildings. 

Also on the Atlantic coast is one attraction that we never managed to visit -- Cape Canaveral and NASA's Space Center.  The UK's Telegraph newspaper has a good article about it.

For other good Florida info, check out the state tourist bureau Web site and About.com's Florida for Visitors by Dawn Henthorn.

Finally, for the scoop on the Disney properties, may I recommend my own 8 Ways to Rawk Walt Disney World here on Kid Trippin' plus my Survivor's Guide to WDW series over on Family Travel.  Our own Family.com Modern Mom has good info on Disneyland with Wee Folks -- yes, it's Disneyland in California, not WDW, but most of it is quite applicable since the Magic Kingdom in Florida is basically a supersized Disneyland.  You can also see how to save on food with kids, and be aware of some of the hazards of rides in the parks.  For heavy-duty rides like Epcot's Mission: Space, pay attention to the age and health requirements.

For theme parks in Orlando in general, take a look at this irreverent guide on Frommers.com.

Let us know how it goes on your trip!

Technorati tags: travel, family travel, Florida