Florida, USA
The Sunshine State (27)
Capitol: Tallahassee
Admitted into Union: March 3, 1845
State Flower: Orange Blossom
State Tree: Sabal Palm
State Bird: Mockingbird
Population: 17.9 million

Don’t forget the sunscreen—and snorkel gear! Clearwater, Florida, claims to average 361 days of sunshine per year. No matter where you find yourself in Florida, though, the ocean is never more than 60 miles away. Better bring your Florida Bag-a-Kini, the two-in-one high-performance satchel. Use the big “bottom” bag for all the basics and a good beach novel. Use the slinky “top” when you’re traveling a little more bare.

Say that three times fast! Many cities and rivers in Florida derive their names from Native American and Spanish roots, including: Apalachicola, Boca Ciega, Caloosahatchee, Chattahoochee, Hialeah, Homosassa, Islamorada, Kissimmee, Loxahatchee, Ocala, Palata, Panasoffkee, Weeki Wachee, Wewahitchka, Wauchula, and don’t forget Tallahasee!

Say what? There’s much debate over the origin of the city name of Miami. Some say it means "all friends," others say "all beavers." Ok. Then there’s "cry of the crane" and the rather specific "people who live on the peninsula." The translation "very large" certainly fits its urban parameters. But for most of its residents, Miami just means “home.”

Enough paradise to go around: With about 1,700 islands and reefs in the archipelago known as the Florida Keys, it’s no wonder they cover 180 miles of ocean. Their total land mass is just under 140 square miles, but the glorious sunsets seem to stretch into infinity.

Keep your eyes on the road! US 1 runs from Maine down through mainland Florida and beyond, where it connects the biggest Florida Keys. This two-lane wonder spans ocean and swampland for 100 miles through the Keys, where it’s known as the Overseas Highway. Unfortunately, it’s also the deadliest road in Florida and features road signs with adjustable numbers to tally the current year’s fatalities.

Got Mussels? A museum in Sanibel features 2 million shells and claims to be the world's only museum devoted solely to mollusks. Well, how many do you need, really?

The fish, not the coif: Niceville is home to the famous Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival every October. The event honors the blue and silver bayou fish that was once an economic and culinary mainstay of the region.

I’ll have whipped cream with that. Plant City, known as “the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World,” holds the Guinness world record for making the largest strawberry shortcake. In February 1999, the 827-square-foot cake was made in McCall Park and weighed 6,000 pounds.

Big Water: Lake Okeechobee, which covers land in five counties in southern Florida, is the second largest freshwater lake in the US (Lake Michigan is the first). It covers 730 square miles but its average depth is only 9 feet.

Weird Laws in Florida: Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner. Unmarried women cannot legally parachute on Sundays. And if an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.

Weirder Laws in Florida: In Sarasota, it is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit and in Miami, men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown. Molesting alligators or having sexual relations with a porcupine are both illegal (and no doubt dangerous). Showering naked is a legal offense, and one may break more than three dishes per day, nor chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers.

Famous Floridians: John James Audubon, Pat Boone, Jimmy Buffet, Fernando Bujones, Steve Carlton, Fay Dunaway, Stepin Fetchit, Dwight Gooden, Ernest Hemingway, Winslow Homer, Zora Neale Hurston, Butterfly McQueen, Jim Morrison, Osceola, Sidney Poitier, A. Philip Randolph, Janet Reno, Burt Reynolds, Norman E. Thargard, Ben Vereen, Tiger Woods