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November 13, 2010 by Rex Vogel Articile from Woodall’s

Florida has long been a haven for those seeking relief from the cold days of a northern winter. Most visitors are eager to trade in their snow shovels for waving palm trees and long walks on sun-kissed beaches.

Arriving Easter Week, the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, stepped ashore, liked what he saw and christened the place La Florida, the Land of Flowers. What a sight that would have been.

This rich and diverse history can be explored in towns such as St. Augustine, the original site of Ponce de Leon’s landing and considered the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in America. The city was established 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.

Florida is more than 480 miles at its longest and 360 miles at its widest point with 1,200 miles of coastline, 7,700 lakes, and 11,000 miles of rivers and streams, plus the Everglades. As the poet Loren Eiseley said, "If there’s magic to be found on this planet, it is to be found in water."

All Snowbird destinations have their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

The difference between Florida and Arizona is like the difference between jungle and desert, between the quiet Everglades and the raging Colorado River, between development and the untouched frontier, between ocean surf and palm oasis, and between flat grasslands and towering mountains.

For both Arizona and Florida, of course, climate is the big draw, and the two destinations certainly have that in common.

If you asked visitors to Florida for their most vivid impression of the Sunshine State, there’s no predicting the responses you might receive: