Florida: Beyond the Theme Parks

Florida: Beyond the Theme Parks

When most people think of Florida, they think of theme parks, crowded attractions, and long lines. After spending nearly two months exploring the state, we discovered there's so much more to Florida than roller coasters and character meet-and-greets.

In this episode, we're sharing what surprised us most about the Sunshine State, from beautiful beaches and crystal-clear springs to incredible wildlife and some of the most unique food experiences we've found on the road. We talk about the easy access to the coast, the variety of landscapes packed into one state, and why Florida's outdoor spaces became some of our favorite places to explore.

We also discuss the state parks that impressed us, the wildlife encounters we won't forget, and how Florida's blend of cultures creates a food scene that's far more diverse than we expected.

Of course, no destination is perfect. We're also sharing a few things we didn't love, including traffic challenges and some disappointing experiences while searching for fresh local produce.

Transcript

 We're the Essary family, and we're exploring America one destination at a time. Today on TravelEssary, we're going to talk about Florida beyond the theme parks. Let's chat Welcome, and thank you for joining us on this great and exciting and wonderful topic, because we love talking about Florida. We love visiting Florida. We love going to Florida. We love almost everything about Florida. Yes. And, you know, a lot of times when you think of Florida or even California, a lot of people, the first things they're gonna think about are theme parks and Disney and places like that. Universal Studios. SeaWorld. Yes. I mean, they, they definitely have their fair share of amusement parks. Right. But for us, Florida is so much more than just the theme parks. Now, don't get us wrong, we will be spending plenty of time in those places too, but after just spending, what, like two months in Florida- Almost two months, yeah we were able to explore a huge part of Florida and discover what else Florida had to offer, and I'm going to admit it actually was our first Florida vacation that didn't revolve around Disney. Yes, our first time that we actually got to get out from a theme park. A Disney bubble. A, a, yeah. And really just have fun with everything that Florida has. Yeah. Now, we do enjoy our Disney bubble, and we do recommend the Disney bubble if you wanna go have that Disney experience, but there's so much more that we love- So much more ... about Florida, and I am excited about going back next year, and it h- almost has nothing to do with Disney. So let's talk about the number one reason why we love Florida, and that's because no matter where you are in the state, you're within an hour to an hour and a half of a beach. Yo, that's crazy. For us. I know, I know some people, they can't fathom it because they're either on the East or the West Coast. Mm-hmm. And they're like, "Oh, yeah, you're always within driving range." Even in Texas- Yeah ... like, there's a very small line of where you can be within an hour and a half of the coast. Right. And now those people that are in, like, Kansas, Oklahoma- Oh, yeah ... it's days trips for them to get- Yes ... where they wanna go. Yes. But it's amazing that Florida, being a peninsula that it is, even being like right smack dab in the middle, so Orlando's kind of like in that inland- Mm-hmm ... central- Yes ... strip. Central Florida. From there, we could either go east or west an hour and a half and be on either coast. Yes. Which is amazing. Yes. Like, even where we live in Central Texas, if we wanna get to the Texas coast, we're driving five-plus hours. Oh, yeah. And so it's not even- And we're a coastal state. Yeah. It's not even a, a day trip for us. Yeah. Like, it's something that we plan a three-day weekend. A weekend, yeah. A holiday weekend just to go to the coast and visit and go have a really good, fun time, whereas in Orlando, and this is even in, uh, the, the, the topper... The topper? The topper? Yeah. The panhandle? The, the top part- Of Florida ... where, yeah, where it's attached to, uh, Alabama and Georgia. Mm-hmm. Even there, that, it's an hour and a half. Yes. Which is amazing all over the state. Yeah, it's so uniquely shaped- Yes ... that no matter where you are in the state. And so that's one of the reasons we love Florida, because who doesn't wanna be within an hour and a half driving time from a beach? You can just be in the middle of the day like, "Hey, let's go to the beach today." "Let's go to the beach." And randomly decide and not have to pre-plan like we're used to. And Florida has some beautiful beaches. Yeah, you, you get off work and you're like, "Hey, let's go, let's go see the sunset." Yeah. "Let's go to the west side and let's go see the sunset over the, over the ocean," and it's an easy drive. Yes, and if you go all the way down to the Keys and the Miami area, you're looking at some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Crystal clear water- In all of America especially ... is, oh, man. So talking about that, the, the differences of not only the beaches, but also, like, the water. Yes. So we already talked about the Keys where it's almost crystal clear water. You can see down, you know, probably 30, 40 feet. But you work your way up the East Coast and there's still beautiful, nice, sandy beaches all the way up. But if you go on the west side, more of the Gulf Coast, or in the, uh, yeah, in the Gulf Coast, it's still really nice water until you get around the Tallahassee part- Mm and start getting into, um, the lower Alabama area. And then of course anyone who's ever been to the Texas side knows that it's just some nasty water. Until you get to South Padre, and that's the only place in Texas- Yeah ... that has decent beaches. Now, we did go to one on the Gulf side, and i- and it was a public beach access, and it could've been a little cleaner I think it could have been a little cleaner. But we went, like, on graduation weekend or right before. Or was it right after spring break? It was right after spring break. Right after spring break, so I can kind of understand that it probably had some of that spring break madness leftover. Yeah, they were probably trying to get to- Still cleaning it up. They, they were trying to get to the rest of the, the beaches to get them cleaned up. Yes To get ready for the summer haul. But even still, it was a beautiful beach and we had a great time. It has, like, that perfect sand and, and even the rocky parts or the , marshy parts of Florida, especially on, like, the Gulf side, the beaches, it's still a beach. So maybe you don't want swimming or laying out, but you could do fishing or something like that. I j- I think it's so nice that you can have options. Like, what kind of beach do you wanna go to? What are you doing? What are you looking for? And I, I just, it's just mind-blowing to me to be so close to a beach all the time. All the time. For two months straight. We were like, "Hey, do we wanna go to the beach today?" Like, just, that's just so nice. Yeah. So nice. , Having that option every day is, especially if you're a beach-goer and you love the beach, having that option all the time is amazing. Yes. Now we are close to, well, at the time of recording, not the time that this airs, but we are in South Carolina and we're right on the borders of, like, South Carolina, Georgia- Tennessee Tennessee. Yeah, like, we're right there, up there in that corner, and the beach seems so far away now. So far. It's like a three and a half hour drive to get to the beach. Yeah. And we're like, "Do we wanna go to the beach? No, we don't wanna spend all day traveling to the beach." We will be close to the beach again here in a few weeks. Yes. We are looking forward to that. Yes, thank goodness we're gonna be along the coast- for at least m- all of summer we're gonna be close to a beach. But I, I do miss that, that sensation of waking up in the morning and being like, "If I want to choose- Yes ... if I choose to go to the beach today, I can. It's no big deal." Yeah, the, the accessibility of just having the beach there. Yeah. So if you go to Florida for a trip, no matter where you vacation, you can go to the beach and it not be a big deal. And y- it's free. Like, most of their public beaches have plenty of free public parking, and you can go and, yeah. Yeah, we didn't have any issues at any of the beaches we went to. Yeah, even right after spring break, no issues. And just kind of talking to other people there, it's, it's very accessible. I think it's 'cause there's just so many beaches. Like, the whole state is shoreline almost. So it just, the- Yeah ... there's plenty of space for everyone to go. There are definitely some we prefer over others, but regardless, you always have access, quick access to a beach. Another thing we have recently learned about Florida, and I'm so glad we got to experience this part of Florida, is the state parks. Which was surprising. Yeah. So in Texas we have state parks. Oh, yeah. And we love our state parks. They're a good camping trip or hiking or fishing, but Florida's are so much more. So much more. First of all, they're extremely well-kept. They're beautiful. They're so beautiful. And so let me interject just for a second right here. Florida is very particular about their scenery. They are Whenever you're, you're driving either- Like the aesthetics ... yeah, the aesthetics. Whether you're driving 75, 95, I-10, it doesn't matter, most of the time it is like a manicured lawn that you're looking out of. It's very beautiful. They care- Until you get to the southern part of Florida, they don't care anymore. Yeah. But, uh, but the rest of it, yes. But they care about the way things look there, uh, I believe a little bit more than other places. Yeah. A lot of other places, like even in Texas, a l- a lot of them are like, "We'll just let nature take over." Yeah, I feel like most of the ones we've been to, um, especially in Texas, you're very much like one with nature. Yeah. And there are, like the state parks in Florida, it's like that, too. Like you are, you have that real big nature-y part. But their entrances, like their main areas when you first come in where they have like the different tours set up and things like that, , it doesn't feel like you're in a state park. Yeah. It kind of feels like you're going through like a botanical garden or something. Yeah. Their entrances, their picnic areas- Mm-hmm ... any place that is gonna have a group of people there, it's gonna be really nice and maintained. Yes. So we went to Silver Springs State Park, um, which is close to... Well, it's close-ish to Orlando, Wauchula. Wait, no, no, Wauchula's way further south. Yeah. It's up there at, uh, uh, Ocala. Ocala, yeah. And we loved it. They had the glass bottom boat tours, and that water is crystal clear. If you- Yeah, straight up spring water ... you can see straight down forever. You're, you're looking 80 feet below water, and it looks like you're five feet away. Yes. You can rent canoes. There's- Kayaks. Uh, yeah, kayaks. .. They have d- different kind of boating Experiences ... experiences. You can do the glass bottom boat tours or you can do, um, like the long river boat tours. There's restaurants. There's like a little tiny museum at the entrance when you go in. Um, and that was just the section of the state park that we were in. There are actually like three other sections of the state park. Yeah, there's places where the RVs and the- Yeah, where- ... tents and everything go ... you can go camping. And then there's a part that is more of the wild side of the state park that's for hiking and nature tours and things like that. But it was just absolutely gorgeous, and I love that there was so much to do. There are like photo opportunities and picnic tables, and it, it was just gorgeous. It was so beautiful, and I was like, "Wow, I've never been in a state park that offered so much." Right, and maintained the aesthetic part of it. Yes. I mean, I know that we, you know, we're not basing our, our sole experience on Silver Springs. There was other places that we went that we would go look at- And they were so gorgeous ... forts and other things that were maintained by the state- So well ... that were just well-maintained. Mm-hmm. All the way around, just well-maintained through it all. And then I, I think another reason why Florida is able to do that is because of the weather. Oh, absolutely Because they have way more agreeable weather than the rest of us. Like, they have green lawns all year long. Yeah, I mean, the, the, the ground temperature is staying at a certain point. Mm-hmm. Um, the ambient air is staying at a c- They get pl- Doesn't get, doesn't get below a, a certain point. They get plenty of rain throughout the summer. Yeah, they're getting rain all the time- I would say- ... whether it's small sprinkles or it's a hurricane. I was gonna say, I would say the only time, uh, that's another reason why people love Florida is 'cause of the weather. The only time you would not want... You could not say they have ideal weather is when, like, a hurricane comes through. Yeah, but at least they always get those rain showers to cool 'em off a little bit. Yeah, and they always have the wind blowing off one of the- Yes bodies of water, which brings in a cool breeze. Yes. That was something else we noted while we were in Florida, no matter which part we were in, 'cause we stayed in the northern, the s- the central, and the southern parts of Florida while we were there. And we did note that there's almost always a good breeze. Almost always. And in Texas, oh my goodness. No, it can be stifling. Yeah. 110 degrees. There can be no breeze. 60% humidity. No air. Yes. , But in Florida, there was always movement in the air. Yeah. And so that was super nice. We did really enjoy that. So, you know, let's kind of go off of the beaches and the state parks. And another thing that I really didn't realize I was going to adore about Florida, and that's the wildlife. So we learned so much while we were at state parks and just Everything that we did because we were looking for, number one, we were looking for what's free. What's free, yes. Yeah. Or a little cost. What's doable for those that are two years all the way up to however old I am. Which we're not telling. And is it gonna be enjoyable? Mm-hmm. And it was one of those things where there's so much free things that you can do to enjoy the wildlife- .. as safely as possible ... one of the things that we did was, it's kinda like a drive-through safari, but it's just like drive-through alligators. Yeah, you're running, you, we drove through- You go through like a marshland ... the marsh. Yeah, marshland. I, I actually do think it's some sort of state park. It's some sort of part of a state park or something or, that you can go through, and it's marshes. And they have these trails, and it could, it can take an hour or more to go through these. We were there for a while. Oh, at, at least because we actually took the short route. Yeah, make sure you go with a full tank of gas. And you're gonna go at a snail's pace. Do not get in a hurry. We did get people that- Yeah ... thought they were gonna fly through there, and everyone else is going like three miles an hour or stopping when they see a gator to take pictures and videos. And there were people who wanted to just fly through there. You're not gonna fly through. Yeah. You're gonna take your time. It's not one of those things where, "Hey, I have 20 minutes. Let's just run through this." This is going to take you either all morning or all afternoon. Yeah. Just clear your schedule for it and go have a good time. Bring drinks, bring snacks, go to the bathroom beforehand, and you'll be fine. Yeah. So there are actually several places like this throughout Florida. , We just went to one that was close to us, and that was, again, really close to Silver Springs where we went. It was within like 30, 40 minutes of the Silver Spring State Park. I don't remember what town it was in. But we highly, highly enjoyed it. You could see alligators of all shapes and sizes. There were birds I never knew existed and turtles, and it was... And it, that doesn't sound very fun, but I promise you it, it was fascinating. It was fascinating. And then of course, no matter where you are in Florida, you have a chance of spotting a gator. In our campgrounds, we saw big giant, um, turtles or tortoises. Tortoises. And tortoises, and deer, and cranes, and pelicans, and just these cute little puffy birds. I don't even know what they're called, but they were adorable. I like puffy birds. Little puffy birds. And then of course, when you're along the coastal areas, you have dolphins and manatees and, if you're unfortunate, sharks and- And seagulls and all the aquatic- ocean life that's out there. Yes, yes. I told Jeremy that never in my life did I have any interest in becoming a bird watcher until I went to Florida, because there are so many different types of birds in Florida, and they're gorgeous. They're all, they're beautiful and interesting. I guess because we just don't have those kind of birds in, in Texas. Like, it's not things we see on a daily basis. And so I was fascinated every time I saw a new bird. I'm like, "Oh, look at that funny looking bird." But yeah, the wildlife in Florida, , if you are interested in wildlife at all, there's so much to do. Another thing that seems to be all over Florida that we are quite obsessed with is food trucks. We love our food trucks. I mean, who doesn't love a good food truck? It's gotta be a good one. We love our food trucks, and Florida is riddled with them. All over, and they are absolutely amazing. Anywhere from the, the smaller towns all the way up to the big metropolitan areas, you know, such as Tampa, Miami, Orlando. Mm-hmm. They're all over the place. And if you're in Orlando, there's World of Food Trucks, which has, like, 50-plus food trucks there, and, eh, there's so many food choices. Like, you're gonna spin around, like, in a circle being like, "Which one should I get?" That's what we did.. , There was gator there. There was Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican. Okay, so that's gonna go into the other thing that we really love about Florida, which kinda goes off of this. This is probably number two for me of what I love about Florida. Is the food and culture. The culture is amazing., Every state, I believe, has its own uniqueness in what makes up that culture- Oh, absolutely ... and that atmosphere. And what we love about Florida is, one, It's part of the South, but it's kind of like Texas where its own thing as well. So Florida, you get that Southern hospitality, you get the atmosphere that you would of a Southern state. But then you get that mixed with Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican Republic cultures and food and atmosphere, and it kind of creates its own flair. Like, Florida has its own flair, and I absolutely love that. I love how, like, the cultures have meshed together to create what is Florida. And whether it's the food, whether it's the entertainment, whether it's the shopping, it's all of those things meshed together, and it just creates a really unique place I think every state has a unique sociographic that makes them who they are. Oh, absolutely. And I just love Florida's. I just love Florida's because I love what it has done to the culture and things like that. And I, I'm really excited about trying the rest of the states and we totally think that every state has its own little niche, its own little culture that's been kind of molded with the, dynamic of people that are there. And I, I mean, we can't wait to go experience all those different ones. We've already been to several states where we got to stay for an extended period of time, and we could definitely see the different cultures, the different, , influences that come into those states. But Florida's so far, and by far, is our favorite . Yes. Now, there are a few things about Florida that we do not enjoy. So we can't talk about all the things that we love about Florida and what there is to do in Florida without mentioning some of the things that we don't really like about Florida, and I feel like we maybe should warn you if you've never been and you plan on going. There are a few things, not a lot, but a few things that we don't necessarily hate about Florida, but are definitely on the dislike list. Yeah, so I'm gonna go ahead with hate for me on this first one, and that is their traffic. Traffic. So we, we can handle traffic. You know, we've been through Dallas and Houston and Atlanta and this kind of traffic in Florida is different. So Florida is unique in the fact that it's really long but not very wide, and so it has a few, like what, three or four main highways that go up and down Florida- So- ... from north to south ... it, it has three or four main highways. It has two main interstates that go on the west and on the east side. Yeah, so everyone's taking these. That's their shortcut- You have- ... to go from south to north ... yes, you have to take one of these major roads to get to pretty much anywhere in Florida. You're gonna be on these roads. And they don't have very high speed limits. I think the highest one's like 65. 65. And that's on the interstates. If you're on the other two ones that are like state highways, they only go to 55. There's a few places that hit 60, but a vast majority's gonna be 55. And us coming from Texas, we're used to doing 75 plus sometimes on our interstates and our highways. And in Florida you're not going that fast, which even if you wanted to, you wouldn't be able to because I feel like every mile and a half there's a red light. There's a red light. One of my biggest pet peeves that I cannot stand, and I don't know why people do it, but you're going 55, 60 miles an hour and you're up to speed, traffic is flowing nice and smooth, and all of a sudden a red light comes up either at the bottom of a hill or at the top of the hill and everyone is putting on their brakes. So every like major highway in Florida is jam-packed with cars and it's stop-and-go traffic- Stop-and-go traffic ... the entire time. Now, when you get a little bit further south it's a little bit faster. There's not as many people once you get past like- Tampa probably, around Tampa and further south than that, that it's not so bad. But it just does not make for a good driving experience, and you're not getting anywhere quickly if you're trying to go from north to south. And I wish I was exaggerating, but there were many times that we spent two hours just going 30 miles. That's what I was about to say is your, your miles and time will not match up. Yeah, in Texas it's pretty similar. It's pretty... Whenever someone says, "Hey, it's about 15 minutes down the road," it's about 12 miles. It's- Or 20 depending on what highway it is. Yeah, depending on how fast you can go. It's usually, I mean, the numbers are within itself, within a certain range. Yes. In Florida it's not. It's not even comparable. You wanna go 20 miles, eh, take you about a hour. Take you about a hour, 45 minutes minimum to go any... to go that far in Florida. Just because there's so much traffic, and there's so many lights. Yeah, and th- the speed does not get above 65 in Florida, and majority of the time, I think the average speed in Florida is, like, 55. 50 and 55. Yeah, even whenever we were in the south part in more of the agricultural area- Where it's, like, more open ... where it was more open, we were going from town to town- Still 50 miles an hour ... 50... Yeah, 50, 55 miles an hour. And I was like, "Are we back in the 1980s?" Like, why are we driving so slow? So just be prepared. It's gonna be slower speeds, and it's gonna be stop-and-go traffic, and you're not gonna get anywhere fast. Yes, so make sure you allot yourself plenty of time. Whenever you pull up your destination in your Google Maps for Florida, I would say you probably need an ac- add an extra 30 minutes to that just in case. And so always be mindful of where, like, w- where we were at on one of 'em, uh, we went to Disney Springs a couple times and then of course we went to Disney World, We were like, "Oh, that's like 20 miles down the road. It'll take us like 30 minutes to get there." We, you know, we planned everything out, but then we Googled it, and it was like, wait a minute, an hour and a half, two hours to get there? We're literally going right down the road. Yeah, like 20 miles down the road. And we were floored, and that was because of the traffic and the lights. And the lights are not fast here. No. Like, even the main, the main thoroughfare roads, you're gonna be sitting at a red light waiting for all the side streets to get done because the lights take forever. Yeah. And then traffic backs up, and then that's how you end up with the traffic jam. Yeah, so Florida, not fun for traffic and getting anywhere fast. And the next thing about Florida, and this is the last thing we're gonna talk about before we wrap up this episode, and I don't wanna say don't go to these, okay? I wanna preface it with that. I'm not saying steer clear of them, but I do want to give you a warning should you want to go, and that is to their state farmers markets. Y'all, this is for reals. This is a real-life experience that did not turn out Up to our expectations No. So we were super excited about going to one. , We stayed near one at one of the campgrounds we were in. We eyeballed it for a couple days. Mm-hmm. We were like, "Hey, we need to go check it out." It finally stopped raining. We actually had time that we could actually go and travel around a little bit, and so we took the step and we stopped. Yes. So the first thing I'm gonna note is that the produce in the state farmer's market is more expensive than the produce you're gonna purchase at any of the grocery stores. Which is crazy, because most of the time they're selling the same produce that the farmer market is because... Like oranges. Mm. They're getting oranges from the grove people. It's not having to be transported across the nation. But it's three times more than what you're gonna pay in a grocery store. Three times more, and it's right there. I mean, you can actually go to the grove people and go pick your own- For cheaper ... way cheaper than you can- Yeah ... going to a farmer's market. So this blows my mind. You know, in Texas, uh, um, we go to a lot of farmer's markets. And, we've been to a few in the other states as well. And generally, in Texas at least I can speak for, it's either cheaper or the same price. Right. Nine times out of 10, your produce at your farmer's markets are cheaper- And- ... than your main grocery stores ... and they're gonna be better. And way better. Fresh. Yes. Way better. Great taste. It, it might be a little bit more, but you're willing to pay that little bit of up charge because you're getting fresh, you know, a lot of times organic produce. Like, you're getting the best when you go to the farmer's markets. It is not the case in Florida. A lot of the produce was not fresh. No. I mean, it was stinky in there, like moldy kind of stinky. Like, the produce had been s- like sitting there expiring and not- Yeah ... getting thrown out. I mean, we, we picked up a few and kinda rotated them around and saw- Mold the mold that was just kind of festering. Yeah. And that's just the surface. Yeah. So you're gonna get that, and I'm not even kidding when I say you're gonna pay three times the price of what you are at a Walmart or a Kroger or what's popular there? Public. Publix? Yeah, I mean, you're even gonna pay more than what you, you pay at Publix. Even more than Publix, which is, like, the most expensive grocery store- Which is crazy ... ever. So yeah, you're not getting the best produce. You're paying expensive prices. And then , at this specific one, I saw that they had, like, kind of a bakery in the background. Mm-hmm. And there were two ladies in there, and they were working, and they were making bread. And I was like, "Oh, we, we love bakeries. We love fresh bread. Can't go wrong with that. It's not like produce that's sitting here and getting moldy, right? So we're gonna grab some of this bakery stuff." So we got a Cuban Danish. Yes. We wanted to try a, a guava- Mm-hmm ... Cuban Danish, and we got one- And we brought it home and we were so excited. We popped it in the microwave so it would be, you know, that cream cheese that went in there would be all nice and warm. And I took a big old bite of it and then Jeremy took a big old bite of it. And then I looked at it closely and realized the entire center of the Danish was nothing but mold. Big, black, dark ball of mold. I have a really strong stomach. I don't. I can eat almost anything. Nothing really disgusts me. I've seen a whole bunch of stuff. I've lived through some things. I almost upchucked. Oh yeah, no, I started gagging. I, I felt so sick after that, and we were just about to let our kids eat it. Yeah, like we were about to divide it up into everyone else and let them partake of what we thought was a really good Danish. Yeah. . If you wanna see more of that, i- that video of us trying it is on our socials. It is on Facebook, it is on Instagram, it is on TikTok. I don't know if I put it on YouTube or not, but it's on many of our socials if you wanna see, like, exactly what happened, and you can see for yourself what it looks like. So after posting that video on our socials, there were several comments across the platforms from people in Florida who told us that, yes, unfortunately, most of the state farmers markets are like this in Florida. Yeah, a vast majority. Because they are not regulated very well, and- Because they're state-approved, so they don't go through all the stringent inspections that other farmers markets go through. Which apparently i- is, is an issue, and I can see why. There's- Totally see why ... there have been many complaints about them over the years and them not being regulated enough. Um, so I'm just gonna warn you, if you go, m- be warned that you might have a similar experience. Yeah, and go, go check out a non-state farmers market. Oh, yeah. So we went to other places in Florida- Yes ... where they were selling produce. It was not a state farmers market, and it was wonderful. Beautiful. Some of the best oranges- Oh my gosh ... I've ever had in my life. It was, it was really great, not only because they were amazing, but they were free as well. Oh. Yeah, well, that was 'cause we got lucky. Um, they are still a little bit expensive in those places, too, but we learned even in the grocery stores, certain oranges and produce in the area are just expensive. Yeah. They're just expensive. But, um, yeah, state farmers markets you might want to just be weary of before you dive in headfirst- Yeah when it comes to Florida. Now, we went to other, I w- I don't wanna say farmers markets. We went to other, um... What was that place that we went to? Like, the citrus stores or whatever? I- Well, no, the one where we went and shopped and you got your phone case and... Oh, it was just a market. Oh, yeah, we just went to an outdoor market that was just, you know, individuals coming in selling things like you would, like, at a garage sale or something like that, and they had- Like a flea market. Yeah, flea market. That's what the word I was looking for. So there was this flea market that we went to. Matter of fact, we went to several of them, and they had produce, and their produce looked spot on. Yeah, looked fantastic. Amazing, like they just grew it and picked it that morning- Mm-hmm ... type produce. So good produce is out there in Florida, just not at the state-approved farmers market. Yeah. Yeah, I concur with that opinion. So there is so much to do in Florida beyond the theme parks. If you have never been to Florida, I highly recommend. If you have been to Florida, let us know what your favorite experiences are