When travelling to Florida, one of the most exciting parts of a holiday is spending time exploring the state’s unique culture and history. Florida’s vibrant and colourful history can be traced back to as early as 14,000 years ago and from that time to the present day has created some very colourful events.

Early historical records show that some of the first recorded settlers to arrive in Florida came from Europe beginning first with a Spanish explorer called Juan Ponce de Leon. Juan Ponce de Leon arrived to the area in 1513 and since that time Florida has been a popular destination for immigration, including French and Spanish settlement during the 16th century, domestic migration from American Indians in the following centuries and more recently immigration from Latin America.

Popular legend suggests that Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida while searching for the Fountain of Youth. It was Juan who can claim ownership of Florida’s name, naming the peninsula La Pascua Florida or “Flowery Easter”. Whether the name is owned to the amazing plant life found in Florida or to the fact that he arrived during the Spanish Easter feast, Pascua Florida, experts are still in debate.

Juan Ponce later returned to Florida on a separate voyage to Florida in 1521, landing on the south eastern coast of the peninsula. Accompanied by around two hundred people and fifty horses, his arrival quickly caused the natives to retaliate, attacking Juan and his crew. While Juan’s men no doubt felt threatened by this attack it didn’t stop them returning to Florida, seeing the area as a great place to spread Christianity, explore and seek treasures on the new continent.

Future expeditions focused on the search for gold and silver. In 1539 Hernando de Soto trekked through Florida in search of gold and silver only to die near the Mississippi river in 1542. Survivors of his team eventually made it to Mexico.

While de Soto – and explorations that followed – never results in any gold or treasure being found, the journeys did help Europeans understand Florida’s relationship with South America. In particular they learnt of how Spanish vessels travelling back from places like Cuba and Mexico would pass the Florida straits. Soon this area became flooded with pirates hoping to seize the passing boats.

Naturally with so many explorers going backwards and forwards to Florida, it wasn’t long before a colony would be formed. However, although Spain had been doing most of the initial exploring within the area, it was the French who would be the first to establish a settlement in Florida.

In 1562, French protestant Jean Ribault left France to explore Florida. He returned two years later with a fellow Frenchman by the name of Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere and established the French settlement of Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. Johns River, located close to present-day Jacksonville.

On a holiday to Florida, it can be easy to focus on the modern entertainment widely available such as theme parks, tours and nights out in Miami and Orlando. However, Florida’s real attraction is its vibrant and colourful history and it would be a shame to miss seeing what Florida is really about when visiting the Sunshine State.

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As a wonderful recreational activity, hiking backpacking is the one time you can walk for the reason that you want to, not because you have to. Certainly, there is no other activity that best exemplifies that line from an Aerosmith song: “Life’s a journey, not a destination.” In hiking backpacking, what matters for the most part is the journey, not the end of the trail.

The reason why you undertake this hiking backpacking journey varies from person to person, naturally. And sometimes, even from occasion to occasion. But for many, they like hiking backpacking trips for one or more of the following reasons:

A Beneficial Activity

Why do runners run and walkers walk? Why do fitness enthusiasts make an effort with strict work out routines? If you ask them this question, they’ll give you a single answer: because it’s advantageous for the body. But while fitness routines can help you exercise and improve some parts of your body right indoors, hiking backpacking provides you with the perfect opportunity to combine an equally strenuous but healthful endeavor with the splendor of the outdoors.

Hiking backpacking is a wonderful body exercise that will really improve your overall physical health. Not only that, but due to the nature of the exercise itself, you get a chance to enjoy life to the fullest. The physical walking motion that hiking backpacking offers provides you with a comparatively low impact but helpful workout. What’s further, with hiking backpacking, you are able to set the exact speed and length of your workout without depending on treadmills or additional home gymnasium paraphernalia. In fact, walking is such a fantastic form of exercise that a lot of people even include it in their usual fitness routine.

Nature Lover’s Type of Paradise

As we mentioned, hiking backpacking provides the ideal chance for you to merge exercise with nature enjoyment. If you are the kind who loves to discover nature, then hiking backpacking might just be the activity you’ve been looking for.

There are several people who go on hiking backpacking trips because of the priceless chance for them to get back to nature. A single hiking backpacking journey can bring you to the most beautiful places on earth. Imagine how many more likewise wonderful places you can visit if you go on several more hiking backpacking trips? Hiking backpacking can bring you into contact with amazing plant and wildlife. Not only that, but there are some hiking backpacking spots that are also to be found right next to beaches, deserts, woods, tropical rain forests, hills, and mountains. The different hiking backpacking surroundings that these various places offer have a matchless appeal all their own.

Beginners Enjoy It

Compared to other forms of recreational activity, hiking backpacking is simple to start. What’s more, it does not require high tech gear quite the way scuba diving or rock climbing does. In fact, a basic hiking backpacking journey requires only a sturdy pair of hiking boots, some basic outdoor clothing, and a small hiking backpacking load to get you on track. And the so-called walking technique in hiking backpacking is a skill you have in your possession since childhood.

Wyoming Hotels

Wyoming and South Dakota is a perfect place to take your family hiking. The following Wyoming sites provide information about Sheridan Wyoming hotels, Jackson Wyoming, as well as Custer SD.