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| | | | Tennis boot camp
'Balls up!' screamed Chris Johnson, the tennis coach who convincingly posed as a marine sergeant battling towards Baghdad.
The order to pick up the hundred tennis balls lying across the clay court was a relief. After 10 minutes of 'drill', hitting balls in every direction under the hot Florida sun, a novice like myself longed for a rest.
'This is real tennis. No break,' broke the respite. 'Move your legs!' shouted Chris. 'Treat that ball like an egg. Smash it!'
Finally, I placed a ball successfully. 'I like that sound,' snapped Chris.
Dragged by my tennis-mad family to the beautiful Saddlebrook Resort near Tampa, I would be dishonest to hint at any initial enthusiasm for five hours of tennis coaching every day.
But I reluctantly presented myself at 8am with Wayne, another over-aged hopeful who sported a knee brace, to an outer court which I blessed as the 'lepers' colony'.
Over the following week, many of the dozens who came to be coached with Wayne and me fled at the first opportunity. One particularly obnoxious English couple feared that their brilliant game would be infected by inferiors.
'Sugar puffs,' screeched Mrs Obnoxious after her 100mph serve proved to be less than an ace. Mr Obnoxious served so fast that I only dimly heard the ball swish past. 'I'm arranging to change our coach,' he announced.
Wayne and I looked to our drill sergeant for reassurance. 'Tennis,' repeated Chris, 'is a lower body sport.'
For pupils more used to being slumped in a chair facing a computer, that was nice to know. Boasting 45 tennis courts and a coach on each - some of them former Davis Cup players - Saddlebrook is much more than a camp for tennis buffs seeking improvement from professionals.
Nick, one of my disenchanted ex-tennis partners, switched to golf, practising first on Saddlebrook's driving range and 'Scoring Zone' and then, accompanied by a professional, on one of the resort's two championship courses designed in 480 acres of rolling countryside by Arnold Palmer.
Travel Guide: Florida
Florida's treasure islands
From the Mail on Sunday
Any thoughts that Florida is simply the state of Mickey Mouse and Mickey Mouse elections must be banished immediately. I took a journey in a kayak through the mangrove trees back to a time long before theme parks touched this part of America. A time when Florida was home to ferocious Indians and infamous pirates.
Two thousand years ago the fierce Calusa Indians lived in the mangrove swamps on Sanibel, Captiva and the surrounding barrier islands off South-West Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. They erected hillocks of shells and made tools from wood and bone, carved out canoes and became expert hunters.
Over the centuries the Calusas bravely resisted all attempts to conquer them. Ultimately, however, their primitive weapons proved no match for the firearms and foreign diseases brought by the Hispanic explorers and by the mid-1700s the entire Calusa Indian population was eliminated.
Sanibel and Captiva then became the hideouts of notorious pirates such as LaFitte, Blackbeard, Black Caesar and Gasparilla. Homesteaders arrived in 1869 and farmed, but had a hard time due to hurricanes, an infestation of mosquitoes and the Depression.
Despite its accessibility, reached by a causeway from Fort Myers, Sanibel remains a well-kept secret, protected by an environmentally-conscious local council which maintains a thriving nature reserve on one half of the island while keeping commerce and tourism under control on the other.
Travel Guide: Florida
So much more than just Mickey
We have been twice to Florida and both times we stayed on International-Drive, which is a lovely location.
They are always improving the area. We loved the Skull Kingdom, Ripleys, the Magic Show and of course the Titanic.
One thing good about this area is the I-hopper bus, which is good if you don't want to drive.
There's lots to do in the evenings and lots of crazy golf. There is a good variety of restaurants, Universal Studios is at both ends of I-Drive, plus there is Seaworld and Wet and Wild.
It's a good location for people, who don't mind being a bit away from Walt Disney.
A must-see is the Kennedy Space Centre, which is on a straight road out of I-drive. There is lots of shopping there as well.
I hope to visit again before Christmas. I'd love to see what else will be new on I-Drive.
Travel Guide: Florida
Much more than Mickey Mouse
Having been to the Orlando area eight times we are looking to book again. Why you might ask? Florida is much more than Mickey Mouse!
We travel further afield, to Homassasa Park on the Crystal River, North of Tampa. Just a few bucks and the best day out ever!
Meet the manatee in their natural environment.
Travel Guide: Florida
For the young at heart
Excellent for the young family and the young at heart. Lots to see and do and, if you look, you will find bargains on the attraction tickets - Disney, Universal etc.
The weather is usually very hot, but try to avoid school holidays as the parks do get pretty busy!
Food is also very good with lots of choice and prices to suit every pocket, though my favourite is the Outback Steakhouse - it has an Australian theme (the aftermath of Crocodile Dundee!) the steaks are the best I've ever had.
For a relaxing break try the Gulf coast, St.Petersburg or Clearwater are very good. Clear blue seas and clean beaches, very laid back, nearly as laid back as the Keys.
Travel Guide: Florida
Simply magical
Well, what can I say about Orlando that already hasn't been said! To put it simply, it is the most magical place on earth which is designed around the whole family and, indeed, makes even the most stubborn of grown ups feel as though they were children again! I have been many times before and look forward to going again very soon!
Travel Guide: Florida
Ideal for non-drivers
Christmas 2000 we stayed at Courtyard by Marriott, Palm Parkway. The accommodation was low-rise and excellent, with free coffee/tea throughout the day. We were five to 15 mins walk to about 30 restaurants and approximately 20-25 mins walk from Downtown Disney.
The weather was not as good as usual but, nonetheless, this was no problem. Transport was provided to the three main Disney attractions, plus a shopping mall daily. This is an ideal location for non-drivers to Florida, which we were on this occasion.
The Everglades was an excellent excursion, which can be greatly recommended. Although it was quite a long and tiring day, as it also encompassed a yacht cruise around Naples, ride on an airboat at Everglades, and a two-to-three-hour stay at Marco island, allowing time to swim (weather permitting) and for a meal.
Another place for a visit is the House of Blues for Sunday brunch, but it might be advisable to book in advance; excellent buffet with entertainment by gospel singers. Be careful crossing the road!
Travel Guide: Florida
Heaven for kids
The new Islands Of Adventure theme park at Universal Studios in Orlando
is terrific.
There's loads for children to do, with rides based on all sorts of cartoon characters, and you can also go on the Jurassic Park ride. This is like Disney's Splash Mountain, but with dinosaurs.
One tip, take a change of clothes, because these are the wettest water rides
we have ever been on. The Marvel Island was really good, but the queues
are very long so make sure you get there nice and early.
Travel Guide: Florida
Golf and gators in the Deep South
From the Daily Mail
Coming face to face with one of the world's most dangerous reptiles, an Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake, doesn't happen every day. With glistening diamond patterns on light-brown skin, it was coiled ready to strike at any moment. Fortunately, since it was safely stuffed and took pride of place in the clubhouse, it posed no immediate danger as I signed on for a round of golf at the Diamondback golf course in central Florida.
Florida's courses boast an abundance of wildlife and during our round, on every hole we saw more and more: beautifully coloured butterflies, great ibis, herons nonchalantly feeding oblivious to our presence, osprey and other hawks, and a host of brightly coloured local birds.
Club professional Stan Martin proudly recalled the day when, nearing the end of a game, he and his playing partner saw a panther - rare, indeed, since these shy creatures usually give humans a very wide berth. For us it was a turtle that interrupted play, on the 13th, as it took a leisurely stroll across the green.
I am sure that even Tiger Woods would have stood back and enjoyed the sight and waited to take his putt, as we did. Every so often we passed an alligator basking in the sun on the bank of a water hazard or gently cruising the waterways, eyes and nostrils just visible.
Diamondback was built six years ago out of 240 acres of Florida's lush forest and vegetation. There can be few more impressive courses. Like us, more and more British holidaymakers are visiting Florida and mixing golf with a trip to the theme parks.
Travel Guide: Florida
Friendly and laid back
Naples is a really lovely place to see. We stayed at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club on Gulf Shore Boulevard. The hotel was very laid back and friendly and the rooms were clean but in need of refurbishment.
Naples itself is very easy to drive around but if you don't fancy doing that then the Town Trolley Tour is a must. The trolley will drop you of at points of interest and you can re-board wherever and as many times as you like.
The houses around the bay of Naples and its canals are fabulous and the shopping malls are not to be missed. A great destination for the golf enthusiast or anyone wanting a restful holiday.
Travel Guide: Florida
Forget crime - just avoid the mozzies
With speedboats and cruisers lined up like cars along Biscayne's private islands, the white, palatial waterside houses stood every bit as sleek and glamorous as they were in the opening sequence of Miami Vice.
Most tourists head for the 10-mile stretch of sands of South Beach, only 30 minutes from Miami airport and one of the most popular areas of a city that has more than 10 million visitors annually.
Friends had warned me about the crime rate. It is true that most big cities in the U.S. are dangerous but it is possible to avoid trouble spots - and the authorities make it extremely difficult for anyone to go astray.
Renowned for its playful nightlife, South Beach can get noisy but not nasty; they water drinks down too much for that.
Over-zealous use of ice usually results in some sort of slush when spirits are ordered - so have a beer or wine instead.
All roads on South Beach lead to Ocean Drive, the bustling main strip that runs in front of restaurants, bars and small art deco hotels, where only brilliant sunshine can do justice to the David Hockney colours.
I didn't know whether to stare at pink limousines, bronzed rollerbladers or hotels daubed in lilac, peach and banana yellow, so I let my camera snap away like a nervous tic.
Very little about Miami Beach is genuinely low-key, except, curiously, the former home of one of the world's most lurid designers, Gianni Versace. I walked past the Amsterdam Palace several times before I noticed tourists posing for photographs on the marble front steps where he was gunned down.
A few blocks north of the palace, past the noisiest bars, was my refuge, the small and neat Winter Haven hotel. Its clean, airy, art deco interior and furnishings reflect its glamorous past.
Travel Guide: Florida
Christmas on the beach
What is Miami Beach famous for? Warm winters, Art Deco hotels, trendy visitors? Yes - but the dimensions of its Christmas tree?
Apparently, which American city has the tallest civic tree at Yuletide is a big deal. The usual winner is the evergreen leviathan outside the Rockefeller Centre in Manhattan.
This year, however, Miami was puffing out its sun-bronzed chest; the 110ft high Norwegian spruce outside the Holiday Inn, downtown, was even bigger than the one in New York City.
With that characteristic American fondness for taking the trivial seriously, the tree was adorned by a certificate (certified by whom was not clear) proclaiming itself to be the whole country's No 1.
And, to add to the gee-whiz factor, it was festooned with 40,000 lights.
Now this alone might not send you rushing, goggle-eyed with curiosity, to Miami this Christmas, as the city tourist chiefs would like.
But there are many other reasons why a family may consider a trip to southern Florida over the festive season.
The temperature is one of course. December is the month of the year in which Miami Beach usually has the least rainfall, while maintaining what we British would consider to be summer's heat.
Another could be is that it isn't Orlando.
Orlando, which attracts more than 30 million visitors a year, is the hub of the theme park universe. Children love Orlando, but parents can be equivocal. After all, the attractions are shamelessly artificial.
Travel Guide: Florida
Look for the culture
As a frequent visitor to Miami, I feel it's sad that most tourists think of the city as having no culture or elegance. There are some lovely places to see such as Vizcaya, a Renaissance-style palace right on the waterfront, with gorgeous gardens often used for fashion shoots.
In the old Coral Gables area, splash out on lunch, coffee or afternoon tea at the Biltmore Hotel - a huge glamorous art deco building with an enormous swimming pool where Johnny (Tarzan) Weissmuller gave displays in Hollywood's golden era. While in the Gables, check out the 1920s Venetian Pool - a swimming pool of coral rocks, waterfalls and exotic foliage where you can take a cooling dip.
In the Deco district on South Beach, when you've had your trendy lunch at the News Cafe on Ocean Drive, pop round the corner to the Wolfsonian Foundation (great building!) which houses American and European works of art, with changing exhibitions on the fifth floor.
In Coconut Grove, visit Commodore Munroe's house (The Barnacle) for a trip back into the lives of late 19th-century Miami. The Grove has a good little theatre (the Playhouse) and a popular annual art show.
Not far from here on Old Cutler Road. I love to chill out at Fairchild Tropical Gardens - acres of beautiful plants, trees, lakes and trails - so unexpected and so different from the brash side of Miami.
Travel Guide: Florida
Deco delights
Like Art Deco? Check out Miami's South Beach, where the Deco District has been restored to show off some of the world's finest examples of this style of design.
Start on Ocean Drive, where the ice cream colours of the stylish little hotels (they are all much smaller than the more modern Miami Beach monstrosities) look a picture against the blue skies and the palm trees. (Take photos from the park opposite, but mind you don't get mown down by a rollerblader).
In the streets behind Ocean Drive you'll find hundreds more great buildings. To get the best from your visit, call at the Art Deco Welcome Centre on Ocean Drive. You can also take a walking tour with the Miami Design Preservation League on Saturday mornings.
We were there on a boiling hot day in May when just putting one foot in front of another was an effort - walking's not the done thing in Miami, but take an umbrella for shelter (or wear a big hat) and carry a bottle of water and you'll be fine.
Travel Guide: Florida
On the Hemingway trail
Clad in grubby shorts and baggy shirt, a youngish Ernest Hemingway, clean-shaven and holding aloft a monstrous 500lb marlin, one of his legendary deep-sea catches, was depicted in the black-and-white photograph on the wall.
Beneath, Japanese tourists jostled to examine a fishing rod, custom-made in Havana and a birthing stool used by the corpulent Hemingway to sit on when fishing.
I was inside Hemingway House, the Florida home of America's literary heavyweight in Old Town, Key West.
It was not extraordinarily beautiful - and there wasn't much in the way of memorabilia - but it did have an intriguing atmosphere.
The tiny carriage house studio where Hemingway worked from 6am until noon every day is much the same as he left it.
There, his old typewriter, the keys untouched for decades, sits on its own on an old oak table.
The whitewashed walls are adorned with books, while a solitary fan, useless in the face of the sub-tropical humidity, whirrs around at the centre of the ceiling.
Few know that Hemingway didn't seek out a writing haven in Key West; it was purely by accident that he came to live here at the age of 32 on this tiny island.
He pitched up from Havana with second wife Pauline to collect a car and drive north.
But the delivery was two weeks late, so the dealer felt obliged to put the couple up in Casa Antigua, by which time Ernest had discovered one or two bars and never left.
But in 1931 there certainly weren't the 300 bars there are today - including one at which clothes are optional and gay-only bars.
Travel Guide: Florida
Getting the Sanibel Stoop
The first time we went to Sanibel island we wondered why everyone was bent-double on the beach - it's known locally as "Sanibel Stoop" and it's because no-one can resist collecting the thousands of shells that wash up here.
Now 25 years on, we still love to visit this pretty island for peace and quiet - and of course, shelling. It's almost hypnotic and very relaxing.
Sanibel is a haven for wildlife, with wading birds along every beach and lots more exotic species at the J.M "Ding" Darling nature reserve. Once, at the beach, I even had the privilege of swimming with two young dolphins on an early morning dip. With only one other person there to share this magical meeting, it beat any theme park experience.
Sanibel has some excellent restaurants and eating out is the main evening pastime - this is definitely a chill out location. For lunch, my favourite treat is a grouper sandwich, washed down with a cold beer.
Then it's time for a snooze before hitting the beach - and more shelling!
Travel Guide: Florida
Why I still love the Sunshine State
My love affair with the United States began in the Seventies in New York and was fuelled in the Eighties when I first took a Virgin 'painted lady' and decided this was the coolest airline to get to the coolest continent.
Now I go back as often as I can - this particular time to make a programme for Radio 4 on the centenary of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
It meant a visit to the famous Daytona Bike Week in north-east Florida, but before you envy me too much let me tell you that this trip was washed by Florida storms, which made the summer clothes I had confidently packed all but redundant. And they call this the Sunshine State.
Still, I discovered a part of the US new to me, a holiday destination with something for everybody, from speedway to antique freaks, with the glorious Art Deco architecture of South Beach thrown in as a plus.
Daytona is a four-hour drive from Miami, up a coastline famous for its miles of unspoilt beaches.
Unfortunately there was no time to see Orlando or for a visit to Kennedy Space Centre, both famous tourist destinations to the right and left of the highway heading north. No matter, I'll come back another time.
Daytona, 'the birthplace of speed', is the Mecca for those interested most of all in the internal combustion engine.
In 1903, the same year William Harley and the brothers Arthur and Walter Davidson produced their first motorised bicycle, automobile speed trials first took place on the wide sands at Daytona.
That year the land speed record was 68mph and a tradition of stock car racing and speedway began in the town. Now there are events all year round, including two Bike Weeks, in spring and autumn.
Imagine a town such as Blackpool being taken over by thousands of bikers, all revving their iron horses, cruising and checking out hundreds of stalls and shops selling engine parts and leathers and you get Bike Week.
Needless to say, this is very popular with British bikers who take package holidays to share the fun.
Travel Guide: Florida
Try Florida without the kids
For years, like zillions of other British parents, the word Florida meant just one thing for us - Disney.
It may take Princes and Princessing far too seriously, but I defy any parent not to be moved watching their wide-eyed offspring flying through Never Never Land chasing Peter Pan, or finding out that Mickey Mouse is on his way to join them for a Frontier Land breakfast. So we went lots.
But eventually the children (we have five between us) decoded the world and found a way of going on holiday where we would pay, but weren't invited (it's called university).
Reluctantly, because we loved the weather, ocean, beaches, wildlife, fishing, shops and prices, we left Florida behind.
But we were wrong. Florida has changed. The state now has something for everyone.
There's Perfect-Body Land on Miami's South Beach, photo-shoot capital of the world.
And there's still the Early-Bird Discounted Dinner Land of the retirement nation at restaurants all over the state. But between these two, Florida has become Romantic Land.
Take Delray Beach. It used to be a quiet place with a huge, wild, sandy shore whose only boast was its second-hand furniture shops (Florida does have the reputation as God's richest waiting room).
Here, city fathers have encouraged chefs, musicians and artists to show off their best in a street rightly named Atlantic Avenue. Imagine a palm-fringed street where every shop is a cafe, restaurant, bar or art gallery punctuated by starlit dance halls open to the warm night air.
There are no high-rise buildings and the street weaves along until it intersects the railway line. When the infrequent long trains rumble past, sparks fly, and dancers aged 20 to 70 join in with the noise, their roars adding to the excitement.
Travel Guide: Florida
The coast is clear
From the Daily Mail
Watching the afternoon parade in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, it is hard to see what could possibly be wrong.
Mickey Mouse is reassuringly where he should be, waving from a carnival float - and so, on various others, are Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Prince Charming, Donald Duck and Pluto.
The only villains in sight are Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, the odd wicked witch and Ursula, the evil octopus from The Little Mermaid. And we all know what happens to them in the end, don't we children?
Yet a glance around this focal point of the Florida Disney experience reveals that it is not just the shiny gold pinnacles of the famous castle that have been casting shadows, but the spectre of that ultimate villain, Osama Bin Laden.
The guide books urge visitors to get to the parade well in advance to grab a good place by the kerb.
But at the moment, with visitor numbers plummeting since September 11, it is possible to stroll up at the start and still be assured of a good spot. And the queues for all those fantastic rides are just 10 minutes at the most.
On some, such as The Magic Kingdom's splendid Splash Mountain, it is even possible to stay in the boat and go round to get wet again.
In short, if one is prepared to risk the transatlantic flight, there has never been a better time to visit Florida and its theme parks - or, for that matter, its Gulf of Mexico white-sand beaches.
My own family ummed and aahed about carrying on with our autumn trip, before falling into the 'Sod-it-he's-not-going-to- spoil-it-for-us' camp.
As it happened, the only security scare was caused by my 11-year-old son Tom, when he tried to bring his souvenir Louisville Slugger baseball bat on to the plane for the return journey.
It had to be confined to the hold, strapped to a suitcase with several miles of British Airways' sticky tape to ensure it arrived safely at the other end.
Travel Guide: Florida
Right up my Street
Normally when people see me abroad it's: 'Blimey, it's Ashley - what the hell are you doing here? Where's Maxine?' But after Maxine (my Coronation Street wife, played by Tracy Shaw) was murdered, everybody was coming up and saying: 'God, how are you bearing up, mate? It must have been terrible.'
So I need to choose where I'm going on holiday very carefully - I need a good break but ideally I want to go somewhere I don't have to be Ashley all the time.
I've been to Spain a lot - five times altogether. I try to get there for a week once a year. But I don't really like going back to the same place - I want to visit as many different countries as I can.
Three years ago I went on safari in Kenya with my kid brother Kevin - he's also an actor - and my father, who loves wild animals. That holiday was absolutely fantastic, a real eye-opener. We saw the Big Five: lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo and rhino. My father was in seventh heaven.
Last year I went to Japan for the football - I watched England draw with Cameroon two-all in a warm-up before the start of the World Cup. Japan was extraordinary - an unforgettable experience.
But the country I really wanted to visit was the States. Together with Kevin and my mate Dave Swindell - he's a scaffolder who, like me, comes from Warrington - we booked to go to Florida.
It was a two-centre holiday: a week in Orlando and a week in St Petersburg. We flew to Orlando for the first week and stayed at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, which is in a fantastic location near the parks.
We had rooms on the club floor which meant we could get free food and drinks whenever we wanted. The hotel is in huge grounds with a big pool and lots of things going on - we just wanted to chill, so we would happily have stayed in the hotel for the whole week.
But we couldn't go to Florida without visiting the theme parks. We just dipped into them - the problem was that there were loads of Brits around who were all amazed to bump into Ashley.
But we were knocked out by the parks - they're so much bigger and more exciting than you can imagine.
My favourite rides were at the Disney-MGM park. Number one was the Hollywood Tower of Terror where you go up in a lift and it drops you down - that got my heart racing, I can tell you.
Travel Guide: Florida
Florida, US: Mickey takers
To make the most of Disney World, Florida, you must plan your visit with military precision - and be prepared for those plans to be scuppered.
You must go with bags of energy and enthusiasm - and be prepared for both to be rapidly exhausted. You must pace yourselves.
Finally, you must draw up an agreement with your spouse, even if only a verbal one, and it must include the following clause: 'I will still love you, even if you get queue rage and behave in an abusive or hysterical fashion.'
To avoid being overwhelmed by the dizzying amount on offer, you also need some basic information.
There are four theme parks within 47 square miles - the Magic Kingdom, Disney-MGM Studios, Epcot and the Animal Kingdom.
DownTown Disney has shopping, eating, bars and night life; there are two water parks (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach), Disney's Wide World of Sport complex and six golf courses.
A range of Walt Disney World hotels are scattered around the various theme parks. There are also two spas.
You can either buy a one-day ticket, or one that lasts five, seven or 10 days. Once inside the theme parks, everything is free - except food and drink - and you can get to the different theme parks via the courtesy shuttle buses or by driving.
Queues...everyone will tell you about the queues. Even before we got on the plane to Orlando I was having anxiety attacks about them. How would my sons, Reuben, four, and 20-month-old Sebastian, cope?
I phoned a friend who had spent four days in Disney World with his two sons, aged seven and four, last year and asked for some tips.
'Oh, you'll be fine,' he said, 'just make sure you use your Fast Pass.'
'Right, of course,' I said, not wanting to let on that I didn't know what he was talking about.
Travel Guide: Florida
Holiday of a lifetime
I went to Florida a year ago. It was one of the best holidays I ever had.
I went to Nasa Space Station, theme parks, swam with the dolphins, snorkelled and skimmed the swamps in a propeller boat.
It was the holiday of a lifetime. I am saving (cash) to do it again.
Travel Guide: Florida
No problems for wheelchair-users
My family recently went to Orlando on holiday and were amazed to find they actually cater for people in wheelchairs.
My mum, who was in a chair, was upgraded to first class seats so she could have more leg space in the plane. We flew with Virgin Atlantic Airways.
In Florida's International Drive, there were buses which had electric ramps to take my mum up into the bus, so there was no need for other family members to strain themselves.
They even put mum first in the queues in the theme park and most rides even had special carriages for wheelchair access.
So if someone is put off with the whole idea, you don't need to worry anymore. Orlando caters better to wheelchair users than a UK holiday.
Travel Guide: Florida
Hypnotic drive south
Driving from Miami to Key West in one stretch can get a bit hypnotic - one road and all that ocean - so we stopped briefly at Key Largo (to celebrate arriving in the Keys) and Marathon, about half way down.
In miles it's not far (126 to be exact) once you hit the start of the Overseas Highway. However, traffic travels at a sedate pace, there are lots of stop signs and it can be difficult to overtake, so allow three to four hours if you do want to do it all in one go.
Key West is full of interesting characters - people-watching is excellent here. So is the food - lots of good restaurants with great fishy dishes. Key Lime pie is an absolute must and conch chowder a close second.
We shamelessly enjoyed typical tourist pursuits - the Conch Train tour, Hemingway's House, Sloppy Joe's Bar and joined the crowds in Mallory Square to watch the sunset.
Drove back with a newly acquired Jimmy Buffett tape playing on the car stereo singing along to Wasting Away In Margaritaville, feeling like real Parrotheads (well, you had to be there!).
Travel Guide: Florida
Pampered like a princess in the Florida Keys
From the Mail on Sunday
When I stayed at Little Palm Island in the Florida Keys I felt like a beautiful princess, ministered to by attentive handmaidens. I was a guest at the Relais and Chateaux hotel, which offers a heady mix of spa treatments and gourmet dining.
Since Hurricane George swept through in 1998 the entire place has been rebuilt and planted in Balinese style - so much more tasteful than Caribbean, which, it was explained to me, spells 'tacky' for Americans.
So five-and-a-half-acre Little Palm - a few minutes by motor launch from Little Torch Key - has exotic plants, a Zen garden and accommodation in pointy-topped palm-thatched huts on stilts.
The hotel is designed to be a retreat from the cares of the outside world, so there are no televisions or phones in the rooms. There is one, however, in Harry Truman's Outhouse, the very latrine hut Mr President used at the time he visited the island for fishing trips in the Fifties when it was a simple holiday home for local sheriff and bigwig John Spotswood.
In 1962 the island had another brush with the presidency when it was used as the location for PT109, a Second World War action movie, starring Cliff Robertson, based on the wartime heroics of John F Kennedy in the South Pacific. JFK came to watch the shooting and it was for that visit that his father Joe Kennedy insisted that the state installed electricity and mains water.
The Balinese theme is extended to the spa, where you can luxuriate in rose petal-strewn splendour with a number of Indonesian rituals. These include the volcanic earth clay ritual, a total body mask which promises to draw toxins from the skin, and, while it is drying, a Balinese foot massage and then, after a shower, a body massage with tropical island spice lotion.
This fragrant indulgence takes 85 minutes and it is possible to fill your days tottering from one gorgeous treatment to the next punctuated with delicious meals. Fellow guests are likely to be dollar-rich Americans who may well have arrived by private plane or glided up by yacht. Large cigars, waistbands and watches are not uncommon sights around the pretty little swimming pool.
Travel Guide: Florida
Florida Keys, Florida, USA: Florida Keys - unlock the secret
Although movie buffs have been aware of Key Largo since Humphrey Bogart's 1948 classic gangster film, tourism has only recently developed in Florida Keys.
It wasn't until the mid-1970s, when the US Navy pulled out of its base at Key West, that the series of islands looked at holidaymakers to raise money.
However, considering its glorious coastlines and permanent sunshine, it's amazing nobody thought of it before.
Key West is the southern-most town in North America, closer to Cuba than it is to mainland Florida.
That makes for a diversity typical of the Keys. It has the tropical views and relaxed atmosphere of the Caribbean, mixed with a quiet efficiency more usually associated with USA service.
Many of the people who work there say they went to the Keys on holiday and simply didn't bother going home.
While it's very hot in Florida Keys, there is little humidity, meaning the temperatures rarely get unbearable.
July to August are actually the Keys' quietest time for tourism, with their peak season lasting from Thanksgiving in November through to June.
That's because it's hurricane season in July-September. However, there has only been one hurricane - Hurricane George in 1998 - to hit the Keys in 15 years.
It's easy to stay on just one of the Florida Keys islands and have a great holiday there for a week or two. Little Palm Island is ideal for honeymooners with its air of seclusion and health spas. But if you want to range around the islands, it's best to rent a car.
Florida Keys is a godsend for foodies. Holidaymakers often become addicted to the key lime pie dessert, roaming restaurants seeking the perfect slice.
The seafood is also exquisite. Even the most unprepossesing diners usually serve excellent tuna or the Keys' speciality of yellowtail snapper.
After the best restaurants - Mangoes in Key West, Lazy Days in Islamorada - local chippies won't be the same again.
Travel Guide: Florida
Go back again and again
I have visited Orlando four times. We stayed in Kissimmee once and Lake Buena Vista three times, in the Grosvenor Hotel, Disney All Stars and The Mariott Residence Inn. In my opinion Lake Buena Vista is the best area to stay.
The Disney Resorts are the best as they provide free transport that is constant to all the parks/hotels, they also have excellent restaurant facilities.
The parks that are a must are Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, MGM, Animal Kingdom. Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach are water parks and are far better than Wet'n' Wild and Water Mania. Sea World and Universal Studios are also a MUST.
The Hard Rock Cafe is nice for a meal at Universal. Busch Gardens is nice, but a bit of a drive to Tampa and is similar to Animal Kingdom.
Eating in the Disney Parks is recommended, they may look a little pricey but the food is good and depending which one you choose you usually get the characters coming around, which is excellent if you have children.
If you want to eat in one of their restaurants then you must make your reservation on the morning you arrive at the park at Guest Relations, the restaurant in Cinderella's Castle has bookings weeks in advance it's so popular, but my favourite is the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh etc.
There are plenty of dinner shows to go to including Disney ones and these are a good night out. Church Street Station is also a night-time trip, but I think I prefer Pleasure Island.
Disney Village/Market Place and Pleasure Island are also a must, however if you want to eat in the popular places like Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe (both excellent) then it is wise to make your reservation early, they will give you a time, and you can go shopping etc and come back.
People say that Beltz is the best place for shopping especially designer clothes, it is good. However, there is a new mall in Lake Buena Vista called the Premium Outlet Mall which I thought had more of the latest fashions.
If you like alligators, there is Gatorland Zoo. You can also hire airboats and ride the swampy lakes they have. Orlando has something for everyone and my family and I will be going back AGAIN!
Travel Guide: Florida
Tranquil Florida
From the Daily Mail
The lime green and white sign was friendly enough: 'Welcome to Anna Maria Island.' What it didn't add, and perhaps it should have, was: 'Unless you are looking to drive fast and eat fast food. In which case you've come to the wrong place.'
With a collection of signs such as No Littering and Stop, and, seemingly, a police car on every corner, Anna Maria Island - between Sarasota and St Petersburg - is determined to keep the 'other' Florida on the far side of the Cortez Bridge, which links the island to the rest of the state.
With no major hotels, staying on the island means finding bed and breakfast accommodation or renting a house. 'We just came across the place when we were driving up the Gulf coast,' said my Canadian father-in-law, who rents a house on Anna Maria for a month every year or so. 'It is like Florida used to be. Just beaches, pelicans and palm trees.'
The in-laws had rented a house backing on to a mangrove canal. Two minutes' walk away was one of the three beaches that border all but one edge of the fishhead-shaped island.
At 10am, midweek, I counted just ten other people on a half-mile of beach either side of the wooden and very Hemingwayesque Rod 'n' Reel pier. Rays scurried about in the shallows and pelicans dive-bombed shoals of fish. Jack, my inquisitive four-year-old, got the fright of his short life when he stuck his nose in a bucket alongside a lone fisherman. It was full of baby hammerhead sharks.
If the sea came fraught with potential danger, so too did the house's kidney-shaped pool - a palm tree bowed over it, dropping coconuts. But the coconuts, like the lemon and orange trees scattered about the garden, added to the fun. Every day, as the sun set, we'd carry in armfuls of grapefruit-sized lemons and squeeze their juice into a giant pitcher.
For the sake of Jack and Georgia, six, we forsook the tranquil island for the theme park jungle of Orlando. From the dozens of theme parks we picked Disney World and soon my head was spinning at the holiday equivalent of the first day of a Harrods sale.
It was 21 years since my wife first went to Disney World. 'Some things don't change,' she said. 'A bit like Anna Maria, you still feel as if you have left the real world behind.'
Travel facts: For more information call 08705 143610 or visit http://www.floridaislandbeaches.org. For Disney, call 020 8222 1600 or visit http://www.disneyworld.com
Travel Guide: Florida
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| | | | Embraced the camp's competitiveness
Saddlebrook's coaches, blessed by that uniquely American easy manner, successfully turned learning golf into fun. Tennis in the morning and golf in the afternoon was bliss for Nick, interrupted only by lunch.
We met up with our families at lunchtime in the swimming pool complex - my wife and two children usually bubbled enthusiastically about their morning's game.
Starting with fitness exercises at 7.50am, they embraced the camp's competitiveness.
Depending on their performance, they were either promoted to Court 12 or demoted to play with people my wife damned as 'boring Cincinnati housewives'.
Those women were the exceptions. The Americans at Saddlebrook were a civilised group, although my children, aged 12 and 16, spent their spare time among the large young English community, playing more tennis or basketball and appearing only for meals.
The accommodation was comfortable. Our two-bedroom flat with two bathrooms and a good kitchen overlooking the golf course was ideal, although we never cooked.
With our rented car - an expensive way to travel 40 minutes from Tampa airport - we drove into the real world to eat excellent cheap steaks among riotous Americans at the nearby Remingtons and Outback restaurants.
The food at Saddlebrook was better but more expensive.
I was not surprised to discover that the brand-new silver Mercedes 500SL in the parking lot belonged to Tom Dempsey, Saddlebrook's owner.
But embracing the American way, I felt Tom Dempsey deserved his wealth.
Providing fun and comfort amid immaculate surroundings is hard work, and Jennifer Capriati would not have chosen Saddlebrook that week for training if facilities failed to be near-perfect.
Doing the Sanibel Stoop
When I first arrived at the Casa Y bel Hotel with its pretty gingerbread facade I was asked whether I was 'shelling, birding or fishing'. Sanibel is a mecca for exotic shells. Fourteen miles long and shaped like a prawn, the island attracts vast numbers of shells caught up in the Gulf currents.
The best shelling is at low tide or after a storm when you can pick up some of the 400 species of multi-coloured sea shells. For the serious sheller a visit to the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is a must to see its extensive collection with a corner devoted to Victorian sailors' shell valentines to their sweethearts.
From the terrace of my hotel overlooking the white beach dotted with palm trees I could see what locals call the 'Sanibel Stoop' or the 'Captiva Crouch' as collectors walked hunched up along the shore, bag in hand, searching for rare shells. Even more extraordinary at night at low tide is the vision of people wearing miners' helmets with lamps also bent double casting their rays at the water's edge. By law shells have to be unoccupied and lights are forbidden from May to October, as they disturb the loggerhead turtles.
One could also do a certain amount of 'birding' from one's balcony as comical pelicans flew by, just missing the palm trees, while the more delicate white ibis and blue herons picked their way elegantly along the shore. However, to see the 291 species of birds on Sanibel, one had to venture into the 6,000 acres of the J N 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
One day I went out in a kayak and received a highly informed lecture from our guide, Nancy, on the evolution of the mangrove swamps. The mangrove, called the Walking Tree by Indians because of its vast spreading roots, is important hurricane protection. The inter-lacing roots are the hiding place for large numbers of baby fish which feed on the detritus of the decomposing fallen leaves before growing large enough to venture out of the swamps into the ocean.
Before setting out we had two warnings: to spray ourselves against the 'No-see-ums', tiny invisible bugs that lurk under the mangroves, and to stay away from the gentle manatees. Although harmless, when they dive they create a vast black hole which can suck a canoe down with it.
I so enjoyed the nature reserve I went back for another day and found it a memorable experience. There were white pelicans with a 9ft wingspan, roseate spoonbills and red-breasted mergansers. We also saw loggerhead turtles, a 20ft crocodile and alligators basking in the sun. Alligators are a valuable part of the ecology as they promote a healthy fishery and protect the birds' nests from marauding raccoons.
Playing away from home
Florida's courses are less busy in summer and green fees exceptionally cheap. We played for just £20 per golfer, including the cost of a shared electric cart. Afternoon rounds were even cheaper at about £15, again including cart.
The locals head north in June, July and August for cooler climes, leaving the courses for visitors who juggle tee-times to early morning or late afternoon to beat the high humidity and localised storms. Keeping an eye on the weather forecasts - there is even a television channel dedicated to it - means golf on exceptional courses at bargain-basement prices.
The purpose-built Grenelefe golf and tennis resort is just under an hour's drive from Orlando in Haines City, and next door to Diamondback. It has three testing courses of its own, the pride of which is the West course, used by the American PGA for qualifying competitions.
The biggest advantage of playing so close to Orlando is its proximity to the big Disney and Universal Studios theme parks, either as a day off or after an early morning round. There's plenty of nightlife at both parks, but don't miss out on a visit to Church Street Station in downtown Orlando. For the price of one ticket you can eat and drink at three lively bars offering original rock 'n' roll, country and western or jazz.
One new ride at Universal is Doctor Doom's Fear Fall, a gravity-defying, heart-stopping monster, potentially more dangerous than coming face to face with a Diamondback rattlesnake. At least the snake was stuffed.
Wall-to-wall swimwear
A minor irritation is that, with no car park, the hotel charges a daily rate of £12 for a valet service.
But with fuel only £1.10 a gallon, a large Earl Grey at Starbucks at 82p, a McDonald's cheeseburger 27p and a bottle of mineral water 50p, I began to feel a little better.
With grains of sand a few feet from the lobby, the Winter Haven is well-placed for lazing on the beach without being in the shadow of the monstrous chain hotel complexes of North Beach.
However, the sight of homeless drunks and druggies slumped under palm trees opposite the Winter Haven shocked me. I always wore flip-flops on the beach, I never knew what I might step on.
Mosquito repellent became a firm friend, too, as I discovered the tenacity with which the beasties were determined to attack my legs.
Whether on Ocean Drive or the main streets of Collins and Washington Avenues, I found something exhilarating about the boutiques selling wall-to-wall swimwear and cheaper designer clothes.
At the Levi's Store on Collins Avenue, if I'd been feeling less bloated after my diet of bagels, shrimp salads and cocktails, I'd have picked up a black J-Lo bikini with diamante for £60.
Diehard Armani, Banana Republic and Gap fans will find themselves justifying no end of 'essentials'.
Four miles to the south is Key Biscayne Island and the deserted beaches of Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park (£2.80) where I spent hours squinting at waves left by fishing boats, believing I'd finally spotted one of Florida's endangered manatees.
Art Deco masterpiece
An alternative is to aim 200 miles further southeast, to the city of Miami, with its wide, almost-white beaches, original hotels, cafes and restaurants, museums, fabulous architecture and still plenty to do for the children.
'Someone gets murdered in Miami every day' and 'a man looked at us funny' are the first two things my nine-year-old son, Will, a recent visitor to the city, will tell you when asked his impressions.
But he is going through a morbid stage.
Miami has suffered from its reputation as a crime hotspot. But the city authorities have made a real effort to improve matters and the extraordinary regeneration of the South Beach Art Deco district has helped drive problems away from the areas that tourists frequent.
Imagine, say, enjoying Christmas Eve breakfast al fresco, looking towards the ocean, on the terrace of the Tides hotel, a recently restored Art Deco masterpiece.
The Tides is owned by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records and the man who gave Bob Marley his start in the music business.
It stands on Ocean Drive, along which the monied, but artfully tough motorists cruise their Harley-Davidsons and Ferraris at see-and-be-seen speeds.
The Marlin hotel, one block back on Collins Avenue, is also part of the portfolio and is worth stopping at.
Here you get the perfect Martini in the swooping stainless steel bar where resident celebrities such as J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez) and Gloria Estefan rub shoulders.
We had a suite - all rooms are suites here - which suggested that Flash Gordon's kitchen had been welded to Fred Flintstone's bedroom. Like a lot of South Beach, it made you smile just to look at.
You might have turned your back on the Burger Kings of Orlando, but you know the family will still want traditional American food, albeit with more taste and imagination.
Sip garish cocktails
Sloppy Joe's, a former warehouse, became Hemingway's daily hang-out so I wasn't surprised to find streams of tourists using it as a meeting point to sip garish cocktails as they listened to live rock bands.
In search of something a little more authentic, I ducked into the leafy back streets, to find the laidback Blue Heaven cafe where Hemingway used to box and referee and, better still, I came across the brooding Green Parrot bar.
It is the oldest drinking den in Key West and a former morgue, where old-timers sit alone at barstools, like extras in a tequila advert.
Like them, the solitude they enjoy was something Hemingway craved.
But even in the Thirties it was difficult to find. 'I want to get to Key West and away from it all,' he would say to friends.
He completed A Farewell To Arms in this house - but he never really escaped.
To deter visitors, he had to pay a man who looked like he suffered from leprosy to sit on his doorstep.
One particular female visitor, as the legend goes (and there are enough legends in Key West to tie historians up in knots for years) paid $20 to the barman of Sloppy Joe's for an introduction to Ernest Hemingway over Christmas in 1936.
She was Martha Gellhorn, a glamorous, ambitious and talented reporter who had driven down to Key West with the sole aim of meeting its most famous writer.
As the pair sipped Papa Dobles (his signature drink of double daiquiris) Martha must have left a significant impression on the man, who preferred to drink with male buddies, not strangers.
For one year later, when they met again while covering the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway initiated an affair.
Largest sand pine forest
The Boardwalk at Daytona revels in that brand of old-fashioned candy-floss-coloured tackiness.
You can spend the day just hanging out watching the motorcycles and the nights in the bars and restaurants.
If you want a more peaceful seashore environment, just remember that this is only one part of a string of beaches 120 miles long, much of it inhabited by not much more than pelicans.
When the rumble of the V-Twin engine becomes too much you can leave Daytona Beach to explore the countryside.
This part of the state is called the First Coast by Floridians, proud to lay claim to the USA's longest inhabited European settlement at St Augustine.
This unique town is an hour north of Daytona, but my intention was to head inland in a big loop, exploring a beautiful part of Florida most British visitors never see and end up in St Augustine a couple of days later.
In contrast to the coastline tackiness the area of Ocala Forest is very classy: between the town of Ocala and St John's River the world's largest sand pine forest covers 366,000 acres and is one of the last refuges of the endangered Florida black bear.
We didn't see any, I hasten to add.
Wildlife enthusiasts spend weeks in the forest on the lookout for bald eagles, ospreys, owls, wild turkey, deer and otter.
Passing through this stunning area, you arrive at Silver Springs, the largest natural artesian spring in the Western hemisphere.
This is one of the state's most beloved tourist destinations of which the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, said in 1873: 'There is nothing on earth comparable to it.'
The earliest inhabitants, the Ocali Indians, named the bubbling springs of translucent water 'Sua-ille-aha' or 'sun glinting water'.
Hence today's Silver River - famous for the glass-bottomed boats that cruise up and down the magical, leafy waterways with guides telling you what to look out for in the crystalline waters beneath.
Appealing to middle youth
The area is packed with smart New Yorkers down for the weekend, tourists and locals letting their hair down. Prices are reasonable, clothing is casual, every cuisine is catered for and there is rock, jazz or blues to listen or dance to. No one seems to get drunk, everyone just wants to chill out. It is like joining a large party.
Late-night music is also available free at City Place just up the coast on the outskirts of exclusive Palm Beach. The large square is edged with glorious cafes and boutiques that are open until late.
America, where workers get fewer holidays than we do, does leisure well. In a land where a two-week vacation is a rarity there is an understanding that the good times have to be squashed in where and whenever they can.
So Florida, the destination of the rich for more than l00 years, understands that it has to cater for guests who want to buy their suntan lotion right on the beach, and demand unlimited fluffy towels and buckets of ice and cold drinking water right by the pool.
Appealing to middle youth, Florida has grasped that holidays are the perfect moment to kickstart romance. There are thousands of restaurants with candlelit tables and fabulous water views.
One of our favourites was Bostons at Delray. Downstairs there's a dark wooden American bar festooned with flags and road signs that serves seafood all day. The prices are low. Upstairs it is more formal and expensive. On the wide balcony they have lobster, crab and great salads, plus the most stunning ocean view.
A mile down the road there was a tinkling piano in the dining room of the first place we stayed, the Seagate Hotel and Beach Club.
Orchestral strings quietly welcome you through loudspeakers tucked behind garden foliage before you reach reception. Sounds cheesy, but coupled with evening clouds the colour and shape of raspberries in a velvet sky, it seemed right.
Every room has a kitchen, perfect for those on a self-catering budget who love those huge American supermarkets, and all the rooms open on to a veranda overlooking one of the two swimming pools - one a seawater pool right on the beach.
No problem getting up
With only a week to spare, and the parental proviso that 'No, we are not going to spend all of it traipsing around theme parks', we decided to hire a car and split our time between Orlando and the coast over on the Gulf of Mexico.
For the theme parks, we were based in a condominium in nearby Kissimmee; for the coast, an All-American house in Englewood, a town some way south of Tampa.
On day one, we hit the ground running and were knocking on the gates of Universal Studios almost before they opened.
In retrospect, we could probably have managed some of the rides in the adjoining Islands Of Adventure as well, but instead saved that for another visit.
Inside Universal Studios, there were some eerie echoes of America's Twin Towers tragedy. The Earthquake ride, for instance, has collapsing skyscrapers and people screaming.
Of course, in Terminator 2, Arnold Schwarzenegger puts the world to rights again. Shouldn't he have been sent to Afghanistan weeks ago?
We retired to our condo - heads still spinning from the classic Back To The Future ride and laughing at our boat trip to see Jaws - for what we imagined was the typical American night in: TV and delivered pizza.
One odd thing about Orlando is that it is never any problem getting children up in the morning. On day two we were well up with the vanguard visiting The Magic Kingdom, having time to pose goofily with Mickey and then saunter around the park unhindered.
By mid-afternoon we were back on the monorail to Epcot, where we planned to spend the evening watching the fireworks on the World Showcase Lagoon.
Epcot hosts one of the 'must' rides of all the parks, Test Track, which is a bit like sitting in a Scalextric car and being propelled all over the place, as though a six-year-old were working the controls, at up to 65mph.
Factory outlet shops
We also liked the Aerosmith Rock'n' Roller Coaster. We had a couple of rides on that. At the Magic Kingdom park, Splash Mountain was great - with a thrilling drop at the end. But we got a bit fed up with the lead-up part going through all those tunnels with the same song playing over and over - what is it, Zippy-do-dah? It drove us barmy.
We tended to hang around the hotel pool most of the time. Then every day at 4pm, like clockwork, it would rain. But the rain there is really warm - it was great just being in the pool in the rain. In the evening, when it was cooler, we would go out to the theme parks.
You do need a car to get around - we didn't realise that before we went. The place is huge. Our favourite activity was shopping. The factory outlet shops are amazing - everything was a third of the price it is in this country.
I had to buy a second suitcase to bring home all the stuff I'd bought: 15 pairs of socks, T-shirts, jumpers, coats. I'd definitely go back just for the shopping.
The second week down on the Gulf Coast in St Petersburg we just decided to relax completely. We hit the beach, played volleyball, lazed around the swimming pool - it was just what we needed.
We even tried a bit of fishing - we met a couple of guys on the pier who let us have a go with their rods.
Someone said afterwards there were sharks out there. I hope not. I wouldn't have gone in the sea if I'd known about that. I've seen the movie Jaws too many times.
America was one of the best places I've been to. I'd really like to go back and see a world-title fight in Las Vegas or Madison Square Garden in New York. That's my real dream - it would be brilliant.
I'm also thinking about Egypt. What's that Peter Kay line, 'Have you tried t'Egypt? Get on that t'Internet. Booked it, packed it . . .'
I forget the last bit of his advice.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
Jetsave specialises in holidays to Florida. Call 0870 161 3403 or visit http://www.jetsave.co.uk
Beat the queues
Only when we got to the Magic Kingdom on day one did I discover what a Fast Pass was and how you get your hands on one.
Fast Passes enable you to secure a place near the front of a queue for a limited number of the most popular rides.
Let's say you want to go on Space Mountain, as any self-respecting thrill-seeker certainly will.
You head for the ride, find the Fast Pass Distribution ticket machine near the entrance and put your Hoppa ticket in the machine and - bing! - it will spit it out again, then spit out a magic Fast Pass ticket marked with a one-hour time slot.
During this time you can return and whizz, smugly to the front of the line.
We spent seven days at Disney World during February half-term.
Everyone we talked to said one week wasn't enough. I am not sure about that. There's a limit to how much a toddler can take - Sebastian got extremely tired.
Two weeks would certainly take the pressure off and give you time to retreat to your hotel for an early afternoon swim and a much-needed nap before returning to a theme park in the evenings for fireworks or a laser show. But it would also break the bank.
Although the attractions are free, food, snacks and drinks are prohibitively expensive. Food and wine in hotel restaurants and in Downtown Disney are over-priced.
We stayed in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The highlight was giraffes and zebras roaming in the small savannah park beneath our balcony.
The downside was only being able to buy South African wine in the Boma restaurant. (Californian would have been cheaper.) The cheapest was $30 (£18) a bottle.
Swimming above barracuda
An enjoyable diversion (and at no extra cost) is the twice-daily snorkelling and diving trip by fast boat out to Looe Key Reef. In the company of some nice corporate lawyers I saw mighty loggerhead turtles and swam feet above barracuda with beautiful, brightly coloured parrot and angel fish nibbling among the coral.
The reef is named after HMS Looe, which ran aground there in 1744. Also provided for active types are kayaks to paddle round the island and a gym. Or you can just lie in a hammock.
One morning I took a grandly named eco-tour, which took the form of a delightful boat ride to Great Heron National Wildlife Refuge. My boatman-guide Rob - a rare creature himself as he was actually born in the Keys, unlike most residents - was extremely proud of his native ability to navigate the shallow waters, something he assured me no tourist would manage on their own.
He showed me stingrays, a playful dolphin and a 6ft shark in the crystal clear water, leaping tarpin and a shoal of silver minnows chased by a barracuda as we passed an egret colony.
The high spot was stepping out on to a sandbar to observe at close range a young osprey make a wobbly flight from its huge nest, watched over by its handsome parents. Back on the island my favourite spot at 5pm every evening was the board-walk which runs along the south of the island.
There I spent a restful hour watching a wonderful array of birds feeding on the exposed salt flats - pelicans, black skimmers swooping and turning in formation, their wings touching the water, snowy egrets with their bright yellow feet, glossy ibis and double-crested cormorants - all from the handy guide to Florida birdlife thoughtfully placed in my room.
Then it was time for the two-minute walk to the other side of the island to sip a cocktail while watching the bright orange sun slip below the horizon. Dinner was a delight, taken either on the verandah overlooking the beach fringed with flaming torches or right down there under a starry sky with your feet in the sand.
Diving and dolphins
Key Largo is the world's diving capital and it has plenty of snorkelling trips for beginner swimmers who want to explore undersea life.
Kayaking is also recommended, with places such as Big Pine journeying into the dense and exotic vegetation.
If that all sounds like too much hard work, most of the Keys' islands offer sunset sails. Dolphins will frequently be seen on the voyage into the sunset.
Ernest Hemingway's old home in Key West has been turned into a museum, with his manuscripts and furniture on display.
Family trips can include a trip to the Key Deer Refuge in Big Pine Key, home of the tiny and endangered key deer. Alligators and several exotic species of bird are also found at the refuge.
Then there's the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, which houses treasure excavated from 17th-century shipwrecks.
There are daily flights to Florida Keys via Miami with American Airlines. With a stopover, total flight time is 14 hours. Call 08456 060461.
Car hire from FloridaCar.com is £149 for a week, including tax. Call 08709 909330.
Cypress House in Key West: 001 305 294 6969. Hawk's Cay in Duck Key: 001 305 743 7000. Ocean Point Suites in Key Largo: 001 305 853 3000. For more on Florida Keys: 01564 794555.
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| | | | Smash from the shoulder
Certainly, by the sixth day my tennis had improved immeasurably. Thanks to my drill master, I was bending my knees; I had learnt that the power of hitting the ball was not to smash from the shoulder but to turn the whole body; and my serve no longer ended inevitably in the net but in the right box.
'Cardio Time,' shouted Chris at the start of another punishing six-ball drill. 'Turn up the heat.'
As I flagged under the sun, I pitifully sought a single word of praise for all my efforts. 'Awesome,' growled Chris as I served an ace. Unfortunately, the next serve went smack into the net.
'You can do better than that, Tom,' sniffed my sergeant. 'Get some water and then balls up.'
I showed a stiff upper lip. Even if I had been the worst player in the camp six days earlier, I had improved.
On the last day, I actually enjoyed a game with Wayne and two other greyheads. A winning lob and smash down the edge were roundly praised.
'Only a fluke,' I whimpered. 'Get real,' ordered Chris, extracting a genuine pledge to return next year - heading perhaps towards a star appearance on Court 12?
TRAVEL DETAILS:
British Airways (tel: 0845 7733377) offers return flights from Gatwick to Tampa. For information on Saddlebrook visit www.saddlebrookresort.com or call 001 813 973 1111.
Cruising to Cabbage Key
For a trip to the tarpon fishing grounds and Cabbage Key and Useppa Islands, I took the Lady Chadwick with Captiva Cruises from Captiva Island. Before we left the marina there was great excitement as a 10ft West Indian manatee had decided to berth itself next to us.
We passed by laughing gulls, osprey, double-breasted cormorants and anhingas, many nesting on wooden platforms, and overtook expensive fishing boats in search of mullet, snook, spotted sea-trout, black-fin tuna, red fish and tarpon game fish.
On both islands you can still find the shell mounds of the ancient Calusa Indians. Cabbage Key has retained its mangroves and is more of a nature reserve with only six houses and one inn, built in 1938 with a dining room papered in thousands of dollar bills. The tradition began when a thirsty fisherman left a dollar bill taped to the wall after a good day's fishing, thereby assuring a drink the next time he passed by even if he had caught nothing.
In total contrast, with manicured lawns and imported hibiscus, Useppa Island is now an exclusive private club whose guests have included the Kennedys, Mae West and movie stars of today. However, by boat one can visit the little historical museum, which specialises in the subject of the Calusa Indians, and dine at the Collier Inn.
Great Gatsby in atmosphere, the 100-acre island was leased to the CIA in 1960 so they could carry out clandestine rehearsals for the disastrous Bay of Pigs operation. Now fishing for the tarpon, the 'silver king', is the main activity.
A blast of decadence
Culture in Miami was fairly elusive (apart from the Museum of Modern Art, £3.50), but the city does have its surprises: I had no idea that the world's largest population of Holocaust survivors reside in Miami Beach until I wandered past the Lincoln Road Mall to the open-air Holocaust Memorial.
Lily ponds and rose arbours encircled an enormous bronze sculpture of a hand reaching for the sky with emaciated bodies, some clinging and some falling from the wrist.
Strangely, the city makes very little of the fact that the monument is here. In contrast, two pages of my Miami guidebook were devoted to Little Havana.
I say don't bother. There was a tiny park where Cuban pensioners play dominoes, a few bars serving cafe cubano (strong thimblefuls of coffee), a cigar factory and stray chickens in the street.
But there was no hub, just a sprawl of tatty Laundromats and pawn shops. People live there - it's not necessarily fascinating for tourists.
However, Coco Walk in Coconut Grove was great, full of real young things. It was a preppy 'village' of shops and bars with artists in residence. I was one of many still in the galleries and restaurants at 2am.
Miami is not for the stressed-out; it's not a gentle city but a blast of decadence and fun.
I rose above the aggressive driving, lingered over daiquiris and let the heat do its worst. The heady mix of Caribbean, Cuban and Latino living makes the polo shirts and chinos of Middle America seem a million miles away.
Then again, how edgy can a city truly be that uses digital traffic screens on Ocean Drive to flash 'NO LOUD MUSIC. NOISE STATUTE ENFORCED' on a Saturday night.
A Miami landmark
My favourite fast-ish food joint on the Beach is the 11th Street Diner. This perfect example of a Forties aluminium-sided diner was shipped down wholesale from Pennsylvania about 10 years ago.
It cheerfully serves up all manner of burgers, very good southern fried chicken, key lime pie, something called 'eggs bubba' (Florida's equivalent of eggs Benedict) and, on Thursdays, 'London Broil', which, naturally, nobody has ever heard of in London and for which patriotism was not enough to place an order. It roughly approximates to what we would know as a mixed grill.
But my favourite Miami Beach pitstop is an establishment that thousands have enjoyed since Joe's Stone Crabs Restaurant opened in 1913.
It certainly has a glamorous past. Indeed, James Bond's most famous assignment began at Joe's. In Ian Fleming's original Goldfinger novel, Bond is invited there by a millionaire called Junius Du Pont.
Du Pont is anxious to elicit Bond's help in solving a gambling scam. Bond, with time on his hands after a brutal, licensed kill in Mexico, allows himself to be taken to dinner.
In the book, the joint they visit is called 'Bill's on the Beach'. But it is clearly a thinly disguised Joe's, a Miami landmark.
'Stone crabs. Not frozen. Fresh. Melted butter. Thick toast. Right?' is how Du Pont barks his order in Goldfinger.
This no-nonsense approach holds firm, half a century later. 'You are here to eat,' stated our waiter as he tied waist-length bibs about our necks.
Made of paper, rather than the silken affairs which adorned Bond and Du Pont, they are necessary protectors against the collateral damage associated with eating crab, Miami-style.
Stone crabs. Only the massive claw of this creature is eaten. And the manner in which it comes to your table is not for the squeamish.
When an adult male crab is trapped, one claw is twisted off by the fisherman - the other claw is needed for self-defence.
The crab is then returned to the ocean where the creature's missing pincer will grow back within a year.
A strip of white beaches
In Martha he had found a literary sparring partner: an independent, gutsy woman so different to Pauline, the socialite, who insisted on installing chandeliers in the ceiling of their house instead of fans, simply to impress friends.
Martha Gellhorn won her man to become the third Mrs Hemingway and she encouraged him to abandon Key West for Cuba.
Ironically, in less than 10 years, Martha would lose her husband in the same way she had acquired him - when a younger, pretty American journalist, Mary Welsh, was introduced to Hemingway in a London restaurant.
In common with most other sightseers, I had arrived after a three-hour drive south along U.S. Route 1, over the 100-mile archipelago of coral islands.
The Keys are a strip of white beaches trimming pale blue water and stretching as far as the eye can see.
The first, Key Largo is the weekend destination for Miamians intent on diving, swimming and fishing.
We pressed on past marinas, shell warehouses, bait shops, flea markets and the Dolphin Research Centre.
Only 90 miles from Cuba, the feel of Old Town Key West is a mix of the Caribbean, Charleston and New Orleans, whether it's the white clapboard conch houses, palm trees, stray cockerels, cigar shops, galleries, seance theatres or voodoo dolls for sale in the oldest house on Whitehead Street.
In such a gentle place, slick chain hotels seem somehow incongruous. For somewhere low-key with quiet luxury, Heron House, on Simonton Street, is more fitting.
A block from the bustle of the main thoroughfare, Duval Street, this privately owned white clapboard inn has pretty garden rooms set in a quiet courtyard of palms, bougainvillea and orchids.
Elegant little town
A riot of fish dart in and out of view, turtles flap lazily through the water and small alligators snout their way through the ripples, reminding you why you wouldn't want to go for a swim.
In truth, this is just another theme park, but the predictable shops and little signposts everywhere can't detract from its natural beauty.
On the day I was there, those wretched showers thwarted too much wandering in the wilderness, but groups of children still raced along the paths in plastic ponchos, excited at the prospect of taking the Jungle Cruise to see monkeys and giraffes.
It's a great place to take kids, and the older generation will be fascinated to know that this is where the Tarzan movies were filmed, with Johnny Weismuller swinging through the trees in his leather skirt to sweep Maureen O'Sullivan off her feet.
Driving from Silver Springs to the elegant little town of Ocala, you enter horse-breeding country: miles of bright green pasture edged by pristine white fences.
The subterranean limestone aquifer that feeds the springs makes for excellent grass too and this area has produced 37 champion horses.
Art lovers have another good reason to stop off in the area - the Appleton Museum of Art, just east of Ocala, contains a wonderful private collection of work from early Latin American artefacts to 19th Century European painting, assembled by the industrialist and horse breeder Arthur J. Appleton.
It is a perfect small museum, with an excellent shop, and on the days I visited there was a fine exhibition of Clyde Butcher's landscape photography.
Add a detour to the village of Micanopy up the road, which consists of one pretty street lined with very reasonable antique shops, and anybody who loves beautiful objects and pictures would not want to travel any further.
Yet St Augustine beckons. This is the jewel of Florida - an exquisite small town famous for its individualistic shops and restaurants as well as its history. You can get everywhere on foot, or else travel on one of the little trains.
This is Spanish Florida: after Juan Ponce de Leon first sighted this coastline in 1513, several conquistadors attempted to colonise the region.
The French established a fort here in 1564, but a year later the Spaniards drove them out and established a fortified town to protect their fleets en route back to Europe.
Babies to 80-year-olds
But if you fancy living like a millionaire, move 30 miles up the coast to the world-famous hotel The Breakers at Palm Beach, where the Kennedys and Trumps have homes.
The Breakers is listed on the American National Register of Historic Places. Two towers at the front are based on the Villa Medici in Rome and the main lobby was inspired by the Palazzo Carega in Genoa.
The ornate dining room is full of dynasties ranging from babies to 80-year-olds taking meals together.
The whole place is five-star plus, nowhere more so than L'Escalier restaurant. The hotel is very proud of its wine cellar, so it does a special $75 (£50) prix-fixe dinner to show this off.
The friendly female sommelier matches a different wine with each course. We started with sea urchin and mussels in lime vinaigrette and rabbit terrine and foie gras parfait, then I had lentil-crusted daurade royale with braised savoy cabbage, while the other half feasted on breast of muscovy duck. We couldn't manage dessert.
Apart from its two golf courses, spa, 10 tennis courts and four swimming pools, The Breakers has three ballrooms.
It was fascinating to watch the long line of cars full of dinner-jacketed and evening-gowned guests sitting patiently in their air-conditioned limos creeping bumper-to-bumper towards the hotel and valet parking. Despite the snail-paced crawl, there wasn't one female guest willing to risk leaving her car early for fear of drowning in a pool of dripping makeup in the humid 80F.
But the best entertainment was the morning view of the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel, with eight restaurants, has a little cafe where you can buy your breakfast coffee and muffin. Sitting on the beach, empty except for early walkers strolling along the water's edge, you can watch the pelicans swoop down to catch their first meal of the day.
Like lots of things in Florida, it is unlikely you will be disappointed.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
British Airways offers return flights from Heathrow to Miami. Call 0845 773 3377. For the Breakers visit http://www.thebreakers.com/general.html or call 001 561 655 6611. For the Seagate Hotel and Beach Club visit http://www.hudsonhotels.com/seagate tel: 001 561 276 242. Carrier (tel: 01625 547040) can arrange a tailor-made package to both locations.
Wide-eyed British family
Next morning it was time to depart for the coast - but not before snapping up some bargains in one of Orlando's factory outlet malls.
Thus, it was early evening by the time we reached Englewood, the sprawling town in Charlotte County that was to be home for the next five nights.
Our house, owned by a Yorkshire couple, was American-big, with a swimming pool and remote-controlled garage doors. Everything, in fact, that the wide-eyed British family might need.
While there, we drove up to Busch Gardens in Tampa, home of the tallest, scariest and best rollercoasters and a fantastic new ride called Rhino Rally, where specially-adapted Land Rovers carry 16 passengers at a time on a safari.
There is a moment when the Land Rover stalls in a torrent of flood water and . . . well, it would be a shame to give away what happens next.
We left for home having just kissed our stomachs goodbye on the Montu rollercoaster.
The weekend was spent on gentler pursuits; in our pool, or walking on the beaches picking up shells and looking for shark's teeth while pelicans swooped around out at sea.
At one waterside restaurant in Port Charlotte, a dolphin came to take a look at the burgers and chilli dogs.
Our flight home was not until 6.30pm, so we were able to spend our last day back in Orlando, swimming with former Sea World dolphins in Discovery Cove.
In a week jam-packed with brilliant experiences, this was one to be remembered for a long time. They cavorted around us pretending to be sharks, or offering a flipper and a fin for a tow across the pool.
Discovery Cove has the air of an exclusive island club whose visitors are all identically clad in blue wet-suits, face masks and snorkels.
And after hurtling all over the place for most of the week with G-forces tugging in every direction, swimming over a coral reef with tropical fish and huge brown rays for company was the perfect antidote.
TRAVEL FACTS:
Details from Something Special on 08700 270 505. To order a brochure, tel: 01455 852228. Alternatively, visit the website http://www.somethingspecial.co.uk.
High-octane thrills
As for having a romantic dinner a deux, forget it. Babysitting is $15 (£9) per hour per child, with no baby-monitoring services on offer.
We found one week was long enough to decide on our favourite theme parks and to re-visit them. Magic Kingdom was the biggest hit.
Mickey Mouse hangs out here. Some of the best rides are here including Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.
The cheesily named Share A Dream Come True Parade takes place here, too. But there is also plenty for adults. h
My favourite theme park was Disney's MGM Studios, home to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, catchline: 'Never the same fear twice'. Never again, some might say. Not me.
Set in an old hotel, you walk through a dark and cobwebbed lobby to the spooky library before being directed into a service elevator by a Hollywood extra playing a 1930s bellboy - and certain terror - before repeatedly plummeting 13 storeys.
Equally teeth-clenching, is the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Not, I am pleased to report, for the faint-hearted. Why my husband, who has to sit in a darkened room after one round on a carousel, volunteered to go on it I'll never know.
He turned to me for reassurance just as we were climbing into our seats - me for the second time. 'It doesn't go upside-down, does it?' he asked.
'No!' I replied, 'relax, you'll love it.' He still hasn't forgiven me for lying to him. I don't know what came over me. Disney World plays with your mind, that's my defence. The commercialism and high-octane consumerism frays your nerves.
You get sucked into a Groundhog Day of excess and exhilaration. My advice: don't panic. You can always come back for more.
* Prices current in July 2003
Bright lights of Key West
After a few days I really did start to feel like a princess under house arrest, although of course I was free to leave on the smart mahogany launch which plies back and forth to Little Torch Key every hour. And from there the bright lights of Key West are only 28 miles away.
There is more to Key West than the strip of T-shirt shops for cruise ship tourists it may first appear. Once the wealthiest city in America, it is rich in history, with beautiful Victorian clapboard buildings such as Audubon House, once the home of a wrecker, John Geiger, who made a fortune procuring the cargoes of ships caught on the reef. It's now filled with period furniture and has a restful tropical garden.
Ernest Hemingway's house - where he wrote ten of his novels including To Have And Have Not, set in Key West - is now occupied only by dozens of cats supposedly descended from the ones he kept while living there in the Thirties, and amusing guided tours are given by camp men in shorts.
At sunset the action is in Mallory Square on the water's edge, where buskers, fire-eaters and acrobats perform as the sun sinks over the horizon. Or you can take a sunset cruise in a full-sail schooner.
I had dinner in the garden of Kelly's Caribbean Bar & Grill, where diners are often surprised to find the owner, film star Kelly McGillis of Top Gun fame, waitressing. She wasn't there the night I sat down to seared tuna.
She was where I found her the following night - acting the socks off the rest of the cast as brittle, desperate Hannah Jelkes in Tennessee Williams's steamy play The Night Of The Iguana at the charming Waterfront Playhouse, where tickets are only £17.50.
Travel facts: Specialist operator La Joie de Vivre (01483 272379) offers seven-night breaks at Little Palm Island. The four-hour eco-tour is bookable on arrival.
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| | | | Christmas at the Bubble Room
Returning to Captiva en route to Sanibel we had been advised to stop off at the famous Bubble Room Restaurant. Called after its bubbling Christmas lights the interior is a combination of Christmas, memorabilia from the Thirties and vintage Hollywood.
'Boy' and 'girl scouts' in uniform take your order and when I enquired whether the decorations were for Christmas our waitress replied: 'My name is Erin, I'm your Bubble Scout and server and at the Bubble Room it's Christmas every day.' The food proved to be a mixture of delight and comedy with courses such as 'Ingrid Birdman, Duck Ellington, Judy Garden, Artie-choke-Shaw and Gone With The Fin.'
On Sanibel my favourite restaurant proved to be the Thistle Lodge at the Casa Y bel which served up true 'Floribbean Cuisine' such as Cocamo Island Bouillabaisse and Blackened Yellowfish Tuna - although I drew the line at Crunchy Alligator.
Both the islands specialise in magnificent golf courses and tennis courts. Andre Agassi says: 'It's the prettiest place I've played in the United States, that's for sure.' On my last day I rented a bicycle, availing myself of the 25 miles of easygoing cycle paths. After visiting the Fishing Pier and Lighthouse I swung back to the exquisite Periwinkle Place, a shopping mall of chic and tasteful boutiques.
My two London friends who told me about Sanibel said there were more than 60 things to do on this small island. There certainly were. I find it surprising, therefore, that so few have actually heard about it.
On my flight home to London with British Airways I asked one of the stewardesses whether she had heard of Sanibel. She hadn't. Some time later she came back to me: 'We have finally tracked down someone who knows your little island - the captain. He says he has flown all over the world but decided to buy his retirement home on Sanibel. Amazing isn't it!' she said. 'Sounds rather special, don't you think?'
Getting there: British Airways Holidays (0870 242 4243) offers packages to the four-star Casa Y bel including return scheduled flights from London Heathrow, accommodation and car hire. Free UK connecting flights are also available. For free information pack call Florida Tourism (01737 644882) or visit www.flausa.com
Monkeys and parrots
Stone crab claws are delicious with melted butter and fried green tomatoes. A large portion of stone crab at Joe's costs £26.
And the crab you are eating is probably alive and well somewhere off the nearby coast.
'Hoggish' is the adjective Fleming used to describe the experience. And that word can't be bettered.
Now is the time to go to Joe's, on Biscayne Street. It's open only in the stone crab season, which runs from October to May, and getting a table is an institutional bunfight. It is best to arrive early or with a hefty tip for the maitre d', as you can't book.
Children have plenty to do and see, apart from the beach.
We went to the Seaquarium, where all manner of local marine creatures, from sharks to manatees, can be viewed.
Miami also has parks dedicated to monkeys and parrots. And for the real outdoors, the Everglades National Park, which has wild crocodiles, alligators, snakes and flamingoes, is under two hours away west along Highway 41.
We were taken to the Seaquarium by an unkempt, unreconstructed hippie taxi driver called Paul.
Paul is perhaps the only Miami resident to be aware of the existence of Slough. He lived there briefly in the Eighties, while employed in a walk-on part in a pirate movie filmed at Shepperton Studios.
Twenty years ago, when he first arrived in Miami from Mid-West St Louis, Paul rented a room in a South Beach oceanfront flophouse for $150 a month.
Hemingway look-alike competition
You won't need a car here, either; it's safe, easy to walk or cycle, with plenty of juice stalls and outdoor cafes to combat dehydration.
Outdoor dining here is almost obligatory in restaurants where conch, stone crab, lobster and mahi-mahi are on most menus.
A favourite is Kelly's Caribbean Bar and Grill, on Whitehead Street, owned by Top Gun actress Kelly McGillis, that serves a mean Coconut Shrimp (£13) otherwise known as Key West gold.
In summer Key West heats up for the Hemingway Days festival.
A Marlin Tournament, a Papa Hemingway look-alike competition, (competitors also endure Key Lime Pie eating and arm wrestling contests) while Lorian Hemingway, the writer's granddaughter, judges a short story competition in his memory.
It might sound corny but like everything in Key West, it is relaxed, fun and miraculously middle class, thanks to the town's literary reputation deterring rowdier tourists.
As for me, following in Hemingway's fishing footsteps - I should have started saving before heading to Key West.
I discovered that while chartering a boat for deep-sea fishing is easy enough all year round I would need to set aside a good £400 per day to do so.
It does help, too, if you are physically robust.
I fully expected to board any boat advertising marlin fishing, but skippers took one look at me and smirked, reminding me that a marlin is a Big Catch and I would have a whole lot of difficulty in bringing one aboard, even if I was wearing a brace and harnessed to the boat.
So they pointed me in the direction of the party boats, which aren't as dreadful as they sound.
Billions of compacted seashells
After repeated attacks by pirates, as well as Sir Francis Drake, the Spanish began to build the Castillo de San Marcos in 1672, finishing it 23 years later.
This is the largest and most complete Spanish fort in the US, with walls 16ft thick constructed from Coquina rock, formed by billions of compacted seashells and corals.
I spent a long time wandering, looking at cannons, waiting for the watery sun to break through to lift my melancholy by illuminating a magnificent site which has witnessed so much suffering over the centuries.
We British burned the place to the ground and the history of St Augustine is one of repeated conflicts, tossed between the Spanish and the British again and again, during the course of which the native Americans were the ones who lost the most.
In the 19th Century the town became ultra-fashionable, mainly through the activities of the railroad baron Henry Flagler, who honeymooned in St Augustine, fell in love with the place and opened a couple of very grand hotels to serve the new tourist industry.
One of these is now a higher education establishment called Flagler College, another the magnificently eccentric and interesting Lightner Museum - where every day the collection of music-making machines is wound up and started for an enthusiastic group of tourists.
The architectural style is called Spanish Renaissance Revival, with clay tile roofs and distinctive ornamentation, and at the centre of the town the Basilica Cathedral in the leafy Plaza de la Constitution looks like a visitation from Old Europe.
You wander through the narrow streets from one historical site to another: the Oldest School, the Spanish Quarter, the Oldest Store Museum, the Spanish Military Hospital and so on.
Some of it is a bit too 'heritage' for many tastes, with bored-looking St Augustinians dressed up as blacksmiths and candlemakers to tell you what life was like in the 18th Century.
But if this is a way of getting kids engaged with history, then I'm all for it. I can think of nobody I know who wouldn't enjoy a visit to St Augustine, even if (as on my second day) the narrow streets were literally awash with rain.
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| | | | Became trendy again
Some time later, as the district became trendy again, Casa Casuarina was bought and renovated by superstar designer Gianni Versace.
Versace was killed and Paul's same crash pad has now been developed as a $2,000-a-night boutique hotel room.
'It's kinda strange,' he observed, with some understatement.
We went Christmas shopping along Lincoln Road Mall, the pedestrian-only retail centre of Miami Beach. But we found that the city's Christmas tree victory euphoria had ended.
Newport Beach, California, was the reason and Miami's place in the Yuletide sun was apparently over.
The Pacific coastal resort boasted a white fir which stood at 112ft 9in. Forget Miami's certificate. This was the biggest in the U.S.
Well, they don't give up easily in these parts. The latest news is that Miami's tree is now being proclaimed the nation's widest, at 55ft.
It's not quite the same, but you've got to admire their Christmas spirit.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
Richard Pendlebury's arrangements were made by Exsus Travel (http://www.exsus.com tel: 020 7292 5050).
America Direct (http://www.americadirect.co.uk tel: 0870 889 0848) offers breaks in Miami.
Shambling and charming
On a half-day trip with a dozen others (of every age) you can catch a tan and something manageable like yellow snapper that restaurants will clean and cook for you.
If I couldn't catch a Hemingway-style trophy fish, I decided to snorkel with a few.
Although the Atlantic Ocean is on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other, Key West did at times feel claustrophobic.
This might well explain why, like me, the vast majority of visitors are ready to take to the water on speed, fishing and motor boats, yachts and jet skis.
On the shore, I was disappointed to discover only pocket-sized patches of sand but, to compensate, the swimming was incredibly easy as waves break five miles out on the reef.
Plenty of boats carry tourists on half-day trips and so I joined a catamaran heading for Sand Key where, no sooner had I ducked under the water, than I was looking down on a nurse shark and barracudas.
Back on shore, I could see why Hemingway had fallen for the place.
Today there may be yellow train tours rattling down every street and cruise-ships dumping 3,000 tourists for a quick run ashore, but Key West is shambling and charming.
Sure you'll note a few drag queens and buskers but there are enough sandal-wearing old-timers who live, write, and paint here for it to remain a very real place.
Ernest would still have hated it, though.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
America Direct (http://www.americadirect.co.uk tel: 0870 889 0827) has packages to Key West. Rental-only car hire is available from just £12 a week, also through America Direct.
For a free information pack about Florida, contact Visit Florida: http://www.flausa.com tel: 01737 644 882.
Sun and steamy heat
A visit to Florida begins and ends in Miami and it was there, returning to catch the flight home, that I found real sun and steamy heat at last.
I had to rush into the ocean for a paddle near one of the famous pink and yellow round lifeguard huts.
People-watching on Ocean Drive is an essential activity, with posing roller-bladers, models and bikers wearing their Daytona T-shirts with pride.
Anything goes. And that was clearly also the mood of the architects who designed this place as a playground for the rich.
It was all built in the Twenties and Thirties, evoking the crazy cool of the jazz age. I fell completely for bohemian South Beach's Art Deco decadence and buzzy atmosphere.
If it wasn't for some far-sighted people in the Seventies, this unique neighbourhood would have been razed to the ground to build high-rises.
In 1976, Barbara Capitman set up the Miami Design Preservation League but battles are still waged against developers who would probably pull down Notre Dame if they could make a profit. That's America all over - why sometimes I hate it as well as love it.
Thankfully there are enough canny capitalists nowadays who know it pays to sell the heritage angle hard, even if it means dressing up your uncle in beard, britches and a blacksmith's apron to talk about a little bit of Florida's history.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
Virgin Atlantic offers return fares from Heathrow to Miami. Call 01293 747747 or visit http://www.virgin.com/atlantic
Avis offers car rental from the airport. Call 0870 606 0100 or visit http://www.avis.co.uk
Funway offers inclusive holidays to Daytona Beach. Call 0870 2200626
Biketober Fest in Daytona is from October 16 to 19. Visit http://www.daytonabeach.com
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