Florida’s capital brings a mix of adventure, history and culture
The moment visitors to Tallahassee realize they’re walking downhill is the moment they know this North Florida city isn’t like the rest of the state.
It’s not on the beach or home to a theme park, but Tallahassee has plenty to cater to just about any demographic. through hundreds of interpretive displays.
One of the best takeaways is realizing the connections with modern life. The $20 bill in your wallet has a picture of Florida’s first military governor, Andrew Jackson, who later became the seventh president of the United States. The names of rivers, lakes, counties and cities all come from somewhere, and the answers to their origins are revealed in these historical displays, whether they’re of Native American origin or the time Florida spent under Spanish, British or French rule.
Many county names come from modern statesmen. South Florida’s Broward County, for example, was named for Naploeon B. Broward, who was governor from 1905-1909. to be completely removed, but a drive to save it meant the two buildings would have to coexist just across a courtyard.
The skyscraper and its adjoining domed buildings (florida capitol.myflorida.com/the_ capitol) are considered unsightly by some people, but the panoramic view from the top shows miles of North Florida’s rolling treetops and close-ups of downtown Tallahassee with the sprawling campus of Florida State University. to entertain the kids — and everyone else.
About a 10-minute drive from downtown, the attraction features a series of trails with boardwalks that pass through some of the largest natural enclosures for Florida wildlife in the state. Along the path are black bears, whitetailed deer, gray foxes, red wolves, Florida panthers and wild turkeys. It doesn’t feel like a zoo because each animal has a big chunk of Florida’s natural habitat in which to mill about. You’ll also see birds of prey including bald eagles and owls. Be careful when stopping along the path, though, as nature calls and gravity happens.
The museum grounds house a replica of an 1800s-era farm with live pigs, cows, sheep and chickens amid wooden structures that give an authentic feel to what it was like in the years after Florida became a state. A plantation house and related buildings including slave quarters don’t pull punches about race relations before and after the Civil War. One memorable feature is the theatrical audio recording of how one slave who worked in the kitchen dealt with daily life.
A nature walk features metal dinosaur sculptures by the late artist Jim Gary, who salvaged auto parts from junkyards for the creations along the trail. Each piece is accompanied by signage about the dinosaur and a challenge, such as “Can you find the VW engine hood?” on the anklyosaurus.
For the adventurous, the park has three ropes courses with zip lines that can take from 45 minutes up to three hours. The most challenging has zip lines 62 feet above the ground that pass over many of the exhibits while also venturing into the cypress wetlands that make up much of the park’s property.
One other fun attraction that will make visitors do a double take is the random sighting of white