Florida/local

Although several people had considered constructing a railroad to Key West beginning in the early 1800s, it took a bold industrialist with unparalleled vision to make it happen.

In 1902, Henry Flagler made the decision to extend the Florida East Coast Railway to "the nearest deepwater American port." In this book, renowned Florida historian Seth H. Bramson reveals how the Key West Extension of the Flagler-owned FEC became the greatest railroad engineering and construction feat in U.S., and possibly world, history, an accomplishment that would cement Flagler's fame and legend for all time. Join Bramson as he recounts the years of operation of this great railroad, what it did for the Florida Keys and what it meant to the resident conchs.

The creation of Sarasota County in 1921 inspired intrigue and drama, pitting local economic rivals against one another.

The civic leaders of the Sarasota district fought what they saw as an incompetent and biased Manatee County Commiss

Fishing is a pastime as old as humanity itself, and while the process and techniques have changed and evolved with new technology and strategies, the simple goal of catching a fish is timeless. Whether by yourself on a tiny boat in the middle of a lake or with a group of people on the edge of a winding river, one only needs a simple rod, line, and bait--as well patience, that most important component! A perfect gift for anyone who loves fishing, The Angler's Book of Favorite Fishing Quotations captures this unique and joyful experience with words and wisdom from writers, thinkers, and of course, anglers!

Palms are a landscape staple in warm, temperate climates worldwide. But these stunning and statement-making plants are large, expensive, and difficult to install, resulting in unique design challenges. In Designing with Palms, palm expert Jason Dewees details every major aspect of designing and caring for palms. This definitive guide shares essential information on planting, irrigation, nutrition, pruning, and transplanting. A gallery of the most important species showcases the range of options available, and stunning photographs by Caitlin Atkinson spotlight examples of home and public landscapes that make excellent use of palms.

Whether you want to visit the Mission Control Room at the Kennedy Space Center, take an airboat ride in the Everglades or discover the historic Coral Gables, your DK Eyewitness travel guide makes sure you experience all that Florida has to offer.

Florida is known for its sun-kissed beaches and magical theme parks, but this diverse state offers so much more. From nature trails and national parks, to sizzling nightlife and sumptuous seafood, Florida has it all.

Our newly updated guide brings Florida to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide does with expert-led insights and advice, detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights, inspiring photography and our trademark illustrations.

You'll discover:

- our pick of Florida's must-sees, top experiences, and hidden gems
- the best spots to eat, drink, shop, and stay
- detailed maps and walks that make navigating the country easy
- easy-to-follow itineraries
- expert advice: get ready, get around, and stay safe
- color-coded chapters to every part of Florida, from the Gold Coast to the Gulf Coast, Orlando to the Keys
- our new lightweight format, so you can take your guide with you wherever you go

Want the best of Miami in your pocket? Try our DK Eyewitness Top 10 Miami and the Keys.

Longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay - Finalist for the Southern Book Prize

A New York Times Critics' Best Books of the Year - An NPR Best Book of the Year - A NYLON Best Nonfiction Book of the Year - A Buzzfeed Best Nonfiction Book of the Year - An Entrophy Magazine Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year - A Brooklyn Rail Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year - A Baltimore Beat Best Book of the Year

A Paris Review Staff Pick - A Chicago Tribune Exciting Book for 2017 - A Rolling Stone Culture Index Reccomendation - A Buzzfeed Most Exciting Book for 2017 - A The Millions Great 2017 Book Preview Pick - A Huffington Post 2017 Preview Pick - A NYLON Best 10 Books of the Month - A Lit Hub 15 Books to Read This Month A Poets & Writers New and Noteworth Selection - A PW Top 10 Spring Pick in Essays & Literary Criticism- An Emma Straub Reccomendation on PBS

"One of the themes of 'Sunshine State, ' Sarah Gerard's striking book of essays, is how Florida can unmoor you and make you reach for shoddy, off-the-shelf solutions to your psychic unease.... The first essay is a knockout, a lurid red heart wrapped in barbed wire.... This essay draws blood." -- Dwight Garner, New York Times

Unflinchingly candid memoir bolstered by thoughtfully researched history.... A nuanced and subtly intimate mosaic... her writing, lucid yet atmospheric, takes on a timeless ebb and flow." -- Jason Heller, NPR.org

Stunning. -- Rolling Stone

"These large-hearted, meticulous essays offer an uncanny x-ray of our national psyche... showing us both the grand beauty of our American dreams and the heartbreaking devastation they wreak." -- Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You

Sarah Gerard follows her breakout novel, Binary Star, with the dynamic essay collection Sunshine State, which explores Florida as a microcosm of the most pressing economic and environmental perils haunting our society.

In the collection's title essay, Gerard volunteers at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, a world renowned bird refuge. There she meets its founder, who once modeled with a pelican on his arm for a Dewar's Scotch campaign but has since declined into a pit of fraud and madness. He becomes our embezzling protagonist whose tales about the birds he "rescues" never quite add up. Gerard's personal stories are no less eerie or poignant: An essay that begins as a look at Gerard's first relationship becomes a heart-wrenching exploration of acquaintance rape and consent. An account of intimate female friendship pivots midway through, morphing into a meditation on jealousy and class.

With the personal insight of The Empathy Exams, the societal exposal of Nickel and Dimed, and the stylistic innovation and intensity of her own break-out debut novel Binary Star, Sarah Gerard's Sunshine State uses the intimately personal to unearth the deep reservoirs of humanity buried in the corners of our world often hardest to face.

Roxanne says: Fascinating, amazed Gerard lived to tell it. A product of dysfunction absorbed but recreated her on life. Florida history as well!

Join Yvonne Hill and Marguerite Jordan in collaboration with the Lee County Black History Society, Inc. as they recount the history of this beautiful island.

Sanibel, a barrier island on the southwest coast of Florida, was originally inhabited by the Calusa Indians around 1500. In 1513, explorer Ponce DeLeon landed ashore the exotic isle, with its brackish estuaries, plush mangrove jungles, and sandy beaches, opening the door for others who would eventually find their way to the island. Over time, Sanibel was visited by European explorers, slave traders, pirates, and Seminole Indians, all of whom added to its colorful and intriguing history. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the original settlers of modern-day Sanibel arrived on the island. These pioneers were a contrasting group of individuals, comprised of diverse ethic origins and cultures, yet all seemed to share a common goal of using hard work, resourcefulness, and determination to make the island their home. Their efforts and sacrifices greatly contributed to the growth and rich history of Sanibel as we know it today.

Along Florida's Expressways

Unlike the typical Florida guidebook, Along Florida's Expressways is not a "destination" travel guide. Instead, author Dave Hunter helps anyone drive around the state with the ease, comfort and safety, using "local knowledge" as if they've lived there for many years.

Known and respected for his award-winning travelbook, Along Interstate-75, Dave's Florida driving guide picks up where his other book leaves off. Featuring seventy-seven 25-miles-per-page full-color maps, this book includes detailed information for all of Florida's interstates, expressways and toll routes, along with Dave's personal observations and suggestions . . . not to mention his fascinating trivia.

Packed with information gathered from "locals" and accumulated over 48 years of Florida travel, Along Florida's Expressways useful road information not only includes gas stations, restaurants, and lodgings available at each exit (even which side of the road they are on), but also pinpoints rest areas and much more.

Every two-years, Dave and his wife, Kathy, drive over 5,000 miles to personally gather the material for the next edition of this book. That's every Florida expressway and toll route in both directions! Each current edition of the book is supported with a "reader's only" website where major updates to the current book's information are posted.

But the book is not only for those who drive to Florida via I-75, it is also for the Florida "Fly-Drive" crowd-those who fly to Florida and rent a car to tour the State. Whether from the Midwestern states or huge Florida-bound markets such as the UK or Germany-they love the local information this book provides and many make sure they pack a copy in their flight bag before leaving.

VISITFLORIDA(R), the State's official marketing organization endorses this book and counter staff use it at all its Welcome Centers. To quote VISITFLORIDA(R)

"Filled with Insider Tips, "Along Florida's Expressways" is an excellent resource for Sunshine State visitors and residents alike. As the state's official source for travel planning, VISITFLORIDA(R)'s staff know Florida well - and even we use Dave's driving guide."

Along Florida's Expressways is completely updated every even numbered year, Along I-75contains no advertising or commercial content.

Rest assured that with "Dave" in the car, any journey on Florida's expressways is guaranteed to be a safe, fun and informative drive.

Anna Maria Island was once inhabited by Native Americans, but as the beauty became known to its first homesteader, George L. Bean, the island's destiny was to be a beacon to paradise.

In spite of mangrove forests and throngs of mosquitoes, people came by boat to enjoy the white sand beaches and the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico, with their cool onshore breezes and blazing sunsets. The Islander newspaper of the 1950s heralded, "Where life is good and the fishing is great." Anglers came from afar to test their skills against tarpon, the world's greatest game fish, and to hunt goliath grouper in the depths of Tampa Bay. Two modern bridges connected the island to the mainland in 1957, and with that the seven-mile-long island was on its way to becoming the jewel of Manatee County.

As stories about "Florida Man" inspire wild headlines in the news, Florida's most beloved chronicler is here to show that the state is more than the stereotypes. Award-winning journalist Jeff Klinkenberg has explored what makes Florida unique for nearly half a century, and Son of Real Florida is a compelling retrospective of essays on the state he knows so well.

Klinkenberg tells what it was like growing up in pre-air conditioning Florida and becoming a newspaper reporter in mid-century Miami. He introduces us to the stout-hearted folks who have learned to live and even prosper among the insects, sharp-toothed critters, and serious heat. We meet beekeeper Harold P. Curtis and his prized orange blossom honey; frog whisperer Avalon Theisen; Sheepshead George of St. Petersburg; and Miss Martha, the oyster-shucking queen of Apalachicola.

This book also takes us to some of the most interesting, little-known places in the state. We travel to Solomon's Castle of reclaimed materials, the neighborhood of "Rattlesnake, Florida," and the smallest post office in the United States. Along the way, Klinkenberg stops to impart true Florida wisdom, from how to eat a Key lime pie to which writers and artists every Floridian should know.

Above all, Klinkenberg portrays Florida's people, places, food, and culture with a deep understanding that does not relegate them to cliche. He writes with warmth and authenticity of a state he still sees as wondrous in its own ways. Though some may think the real Florida is a thing of the past, he says, "Do not tell me Florida is no longer a paradise."

For centuries, the southernmost region of the Florida peninsula was seen by outsiders as wild and inaccessible, one of the last frontiers in the quest to understand and reveal the natural history of the continent. Seeking the American Tropics tells the stories of the explorers and adventurers who--for better and for worse--helped open the unique environment of South Florida to the world.

Beginning with the arrival of Juan Ponce de León in 1513, James Kushlan describes how most of the famous Spanish explorers never made it to South Florida, leaving the area's rich natural history out of scientific records for the next 250 years. It wasn't until the British colonial and early American periods that the first surveyors were commissioned and the first naturalists--Titian Peale and John James Audubon--arrived to collect, draw, and report the subtropical flora and fauna that were so unique to North America.

Moving into the railroad era, Kushlan illuminates the activities of scientists such as Henry Nehrling and Charles Torrey Simpson alongside the dabbling of wealthy amateur naturalists. He follows the story to the 1920s, when tourism was flourishing and signs of ecological damage were starting to show. Years of wildlife trade, resource extraction, invasive species introduction, and swamp drainage had taken their toll. And many of the naturalists who had been outspoken about protecting South Florida's environment had also played a part in its destruction.

Today the region is among one of the most thoroughly studied places on the planet--but at a cost. In this absorbing and cautionary tale, Kushlan illustrates how exploration has so often trumped conservation throughout history. He exposes how much of the natural world we have already lost in this vivid portrait of the Florida of yesterday.

Once considered just an insect-ridden swampland, Florida is now a top destination for tourism, business, agriculture and innovation thanks to these 25 individuals.

Florida is in many ways both the oldest and newest of the megastates. T

This guide includes 36 species of palm trees, both common and exotic, found throughout the Southeast U.S.. Includes both solitary and clustering species, both cultivated and species found in the wild. Species list by Alan Meerow, palm expert and author of the authoritative Betrock's Landscape Plants. lllustrations by Robert O'Brien, well-known artist and naturalist based in Austin, Texas and Clearwater, Florida.

The palmetto, also known as the cabbage palm or Sabal palmetto, is an iconic part of the southeastern American landscape and the state tree of Florida and South Carolina. In The Palmetto Book, Jono Miller offers surprising facts and dispels common myths about an important native plant that remains largely misunderstood.

Miller answers basic questions such as: Are palms trees? Where did they grow historically? When should palmettos be pruned? What is swamp cabbage and how do you prepare it? Did Winslow Homer's watercolors of palmettos inadvertently document rising sea level? How can these plants be both flammable and fireproof? Based on historical research, Miller argues that cabbage palms can live for more than two centuries. The palmettos that were used to build Fort Moultrie at the start of the Revolutionary War thwarted a British attack on Charleston--and ended up on South Carolina's flag.

Delving into biology, Miller describes the anatomy of palm fronds and their crisscrossed leaf bases, called bootjacks. He traces the underground "saxophone" structure of the young plant's root system. He explores the importance of palmettos for many wildlife species, including Florida Scrub-Jays and honey bees. Miller also documents how palmettos can pose problems for native habitats, citrus groves, and home landscapes.

From Low Country sweetgrass baskets to Seminole chickees and an Elvis Presley movie set, the story of the cabbage palm touches on numerous dimensions of the natural and cultural history of the Southeast. Exploring both the past and present of this distinctive species, The Palmetto Book is a fascinating and enlightening journey.