Florida: More than Mickey Mouse

I fell in love with Florida the same way that most people do – I was lucky enough to visit when I was young, and the magical world of Disney really made me believe that Orlando was the happiest place on earth. As I grew older, the thrill rides of Universal Studios became a huge attraction, with their more ‘grown up’ characters and rides. Even as a teenager, the enormous roller-coasters of Busch Gardens brought yet another genre of theme park to the board, and gave me my annual adrenaline fix.

By now, the theme parks have lost a little bit of their sparkle. Maybe I’m getting old and jaded, but there is only so much regression into childhood one can withstand, and only so many inversions you can ride before your head starts swimming. Now, there is something entirely different that draws me to the sunshine state; a side of Florida that most tourists haven’t seen.

My love affair with Floridian culture started when I went on my first airboat tour. On the surface, it’s a fairly commonplace activity. We drove down to the everglades, meeting our tour guide, Captain Bill, at a rickety old gas station advertising ‘expresso’ for a dollar. He was one of the most wonderful characters I have ever met. He didn’t just know his way around the endless expanse of swampland, he lived and breathed the everglades. He told us that he had spent his whole life on airboats, and that he had been out in the Florida sunshine for so long that his skin was like an alligator’s hide. When I shook his hand it was easy to see the comparison. His experience of the land was obvious; he knew which gators were nesting, and what birds you could find where. I’ve always been a fan of wildlife, but when he picked up a dragonfly from the deck and showed it to me up close, I saw it in a completely different way.

After the airboat tour, Captain Bill told us that we could get the best crab cakes in Florida at a place called Joanie’s Crab Shack. Eventually, we found it on the side of the highway, and shack was definitely the right word to describe it. We were the only people there, save for the waitress, the chef, and a cowboy playing country music in the corner. It was a bizarre experience – we had always gone to chain restaurants, and were used to the overly cheery, ‘disney-fied’ atmosphere of American chains. The Captain had been right about the crab cakes though – they still are the best I’ve ever had. Big, meaty chunks of crab, crumbed and fried. No additives, no padding. Just crab. That was when I realised that real southern food (though often fried) wasn’t all about the salt and the colours. Good seafood speaks for itself, and the Floridians know that.

After that, we began to explore the restaurants around us. My two favourites are both situated in trailer parks off the side of highways. Cherry Pocket and Gary’s Oyster Bar serve, in my opinion, better seafood than you will find in any restaurant here in the UK. The staff are always incredibly friendly, and the food is incredibly fresh. I’ve never tasted anything quite as good as Gary’s fried grouper. From my experience of food in Florida, the more dilapidated the building, the better the food inside it. The Tiki Bar, a restaurant attached to a motel in the middle of nowhere, isn’t even a complete building. It does, however, serve phenomenal burgers.

It’s not all about the food though – America is sports mad, and Florida is no exception. Baseball was okay for a while, but it isn’t a particularly exciting sport (especially if you happen to be under 21 and can’t indulge in a beer or two). Professional Bull Riding however, that is exciting. It’s a controversial sport, but that doesn’t stop the fans coming out in their droves, all to watch a man try to stay on a bull for eight seconds. It doesn’t sound like much of an achievement, but once you see those bulls start to buck, you see why eight seconds is a respectable target. I can’t claim to follow the sport religiously, but I’m enough of a fan to know that if a rider gets allocated Asteroid the bull, then they’re pretty much toast.

I have had some of the most amazing experiences in Florida. I’ve held a baby alligator in someone’s living room. I’ve toured an orange grove on a monster truck (followed by the most delicious OJ smoothie you’ll ever taste). I’ve cheered on the Tampa Bay Rays at the St. Pete Times Forum. Of course the lure of the theme parks and the malls will always be there, but I think a lot of visitors to Florida are missing out on the real sunshine state. It really does have more to offer than Mickey Mouse.