With both our daughters up in Tallahassee earlier this summer -- one taking a summer class and the other at the Florida State School of Music Orchestra Camp, my husband and I actually got the chance to do a little exploring by ourselves. We've lived in Florida for over twenty years now, and to tell the truth, we haven't seen a fraction of what this state has to offer. Like most other people, we always tended to think either beach or theme parks when it came time for vacation, but there are some secrets about Florida that totally break that stereotype.

For instance, there is a town about a half hour northwest of Orlando called Mount Dora that will make you feel as if you've just stepped back in time to the Victorian era. It's shady and lush, dripping with Spanish moss and filled with turn-of-the-century charm. The streets are lined with antique shops, interesting little boutiques and unique, personally owned restaurants -- no chains! Hurray! We had lunch at an Icelandic themed restaurant called the Frosty Mug and honestly, the sandwiches are the best I've had anywhere! I mean, where else can you get smoked salmon and brie, or grilled chicken with walnuts, raisins, coconut and apples? These people are thinking outside the box!

Mount Dora Inn on the Lake, with it's wide veranda where visitors can sit in wooden rocking chairs and sip cool drinks in the afternoon while looking out at the view of the lake across the way.

The lake actually gives a seaside feeling to the town, even creating a nice breeze off the water, which combined with the big old trees, keeps things a little cooler -- relatively speaking, of course!

After Mount Dora, our explorations brought us back to Tallahassee, where we had to pick up our daughter from camp. Our older daughter has been attending FSU for two years now, but I never knew about the Old City Cemetary until a few weeks ago when I read Heather Graham's THE SEANCE. In it she mentions the cemetary and its resident ghost, Elizabeth Beau Graham. Of course, the city's official stance is that this is merely a rumor -- that's their story, and they're sticking to it! Anyway, below is a picture of me visiting "Bessie's" grave. It's rather impressive, isn't it?

Like the rest of Tallahassee, the Old City Cemetary is shady and lush. It's also a fabulous record of Tallahassee's long history, including two areas where Civil War soldiers are buried, both Confederate and Union. Viewing their graves was really a moving experience. It makes one stop and consider the sacrifice both sides made for family, country and the things they believed in. In the cemetary also lies the first black minister in the state of Florida, as well as victims of a yellow fever epidemic that swept through inthe 1800s.

Our next stop brought us to the Indian Mounds Archeological Park. About 800 years ago, Native American built a village with about six huge mounds used for temples, important residences and graves. There's nothing there now but these very obvious mounds that rise steeply from the ground. The park is a beautiful place to hike and picnic.

That's me on the way down from the largest of the mounds, accessed by a staircase that I'm pretty sure the Native Americans didn't enjoy in their time. I wonder how they got up and down?

Below is nearby Lake Jackson. Yes, I said lake, not swamp or slightly wet grassland. Lake Jackson, which is pretty vast, sits on a series of sink holes that tend to open up and suck in all the water from time to time. That, along with our drought this past year, has left Lake Jackson nearly empty. Right now there are boat ramps leading down to nothing but grass and dry land. Florida continues to surprise me...

So what did we do with the rest of our free time? We went to Disney World and the beach, of course!