FLORIDA • DINNER:

This morning we board our Prevost motorcoach for a relaxing vacation to sunny Florida. Our route takes us through South Carolina and Georgia heading to Florida’s “First Coast” region, our destination for the night. Dinner is included this evening. (D)

ST. AUGUSTINE • CASTILLO DE SAN MARCOS NATIONAL MONUMENT • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER • IMAX THEATER:

This morning we tour St. Augustine, the oldest permanent settlement in the United States. At the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument we see the fort that serves as a grim but venerable symbol of the Spanish presence in Florida. It is a unique specimen of a vanished style of military architecture and engineering. Now we’re off to the Kennedy Space Center, where we take a guided bus tour of the facility and take in the show at the incredible IMAX Theater. The theater’s huge 5-1/2 story, 70-foot wide screen makes the film both spectacular and unforgettable.

JUNGLE QUEEN CRUISE • MIAMI • DINNER:

Ahead of us this morning is a scenic drive southward through rolling citrus orchards and past some of Florida’s many lakes. In Fort Lauderdale, the riverboat Jungle Queen will take us on a cruise up the intercoastal waterway. See why this city is aptly nicknamed the “Venice of America.” Overnight accommodations await us in Miami. Dinner is included this evening. (D)

VIZCAYA • FLORIDA KEYS • KEY WEST:

We begin the day with a visit to Vizcaya Museum and Garden. This is an elaborate 72-room Italian Renaissance-style villa with an extraordinary collection of European furnishings and art. After lunch we enjoy a spectacular drive across the Florida Keys. We spend two nights in Key West.

KEY WEST TOUR • GLASS BOTTOM BOAT TOUR • FREE TIME IN KEY WEST:

Today we begin our exploration of the island with a guided tour of Key West, noted for its 19th Century gingerbread houses and its Cuban foods and dialects that became a part of the culture when cigar-making was the island’s chief industry. You’re sure to enjoy this next event: a glass bottom boat tour over the coral reef. You’ll have some free time to enjoy this tropical city before our included dinner. (D)

EVERGLADES • GATOR PARK • EVERGLADES AIRBOAT SWAMP TOUR • FORT MYERS:

Today we return to the mainland of Florida, where we follow Highway 41 across a portion of the Everglades. We visit Gator Park, an alligator adventure in the heart of the Everglades National Park. At the wildlife show watch alligator wrestling, and see the great power and agility of the gators. We take a unique airboat swamp tour in what’s often called “the eighth wonder of the world,” spotting alligators as we travel. Then we turn north along the coast to Fort Myers. Enjoy the Kick-Back dinner tonight at our hotel. (D)

THOMAS EDISON’S WINTER HOME • SARASOTA • RINGLING MUSEUM OF THE CIRCUS • RINGLING MUSEUM OF ART • RINGLING RESIDENCE • DINNER:

This morning we tour the winter home of inventor Thomas Edison. This house, built in Maine, was brought by ship to Florida in 1885. The museum, also located here, contains a rare and beautiful collection of antique phonographs as well as an exhibit depicting the history of electric light. Today in Sarasota we visit the Ringling residence, a million-dollar Venetian Gothic mansion patterned after the Doge’s Palace in Venice, Italy. The Art Museum is an Italian-style villa created by local craftsmen from shiploads of columns, doorways, roof sculptures and marble collected in Italy by John Ringling. It has one of the best collections of Baroque art in the western hemisphere. The Museum of the Circus has a collection of circus wagons, calliopes, costumes, handbills and posters covering the history of the circus from Roman times to the present. From here we drive across Tampa Bay on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge through St. Petersburg to Tampa for our overnight. (D)

WORLD EQUESTRIAN CENTER • AMELIA ISLAND:

As we travel through Florida to Ocala, we see the World Equestrian Center. This worldclass facility is the largest equestrian center in the U.S. Later this afternoon, we arrive at beautiful Amelia Island, our home for the night. Dinner is included this evening. (D)

HOME:

You’ll have time this morning to take a walk along the beach before we depart for home. We have completed the Florida Circle with lots of fond memories, arriving home early evening.