Welcome to the Florida Page!! If you have not guessed, I live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.
Thats in central Florida on the gulf coast approximately 60 miles west of Orlando and 40 miles north of Sarasota
Florida. On this page you will find information on local attractions, major hotels and of course the weather. So
lets start with the weather.
Did you know that the Tampa Bay area is the lightning capital the North America!! Want to see
if there is any storms around, click on the following link below to see live lightning strikes in a 300 mile circumference
of Tampa!! Reload the page frequently to obtain the latest data.
STATE SYMBOLS OF FLORIDA
The Florida
State Animal
Florida Panther
This most endangered of all Florida's symbols is its State Animal, the Panther (Felis concolor coryi) which
was chosen in 1982 by a vote of students throughout the state.
The Florida Panther is a large (six feet or longer), long-tailed, pale brown cat. Its habitat is usually the
same as that of the white-tailed deer, the mainstay of its diet. Much folklore surrounds these seldom-seen cats,
sometimes called "catamounts" or "painters," and they have been persecuted out of fear and
misunderstanding of the role these large predators play in the natural ecosystem. Human population growth, however,
has been the primary threat to the panther's range and continues to diminish the quality of existing habitats.
The Panther has been protected from legal hunting in Florida since 1958. It has been on the federal endangered
species list since 1967 and on the state's endangered list since 1973. The future of this large animal depends
entirely on the management decisions that are made today on its behalf. The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission
is responsible for management and preservation of this endangered State Animal, but only with your support will
the Florida Panther remain a part of our unique wildlife community.
The Florida
State Bird
Mockingbird
The common mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a superb songbird and mimic. Its own song has a pleasant lilt,
varied and repetitive. Often it will sing all night long, especially in bright springtime moonlight.
All ten species of mockingbirds are virtually alike in form: about 10" in length, with a 15" wingspan,
grayish upper portions, white undersides, and white patches on the tail and wings. The female has slightly less
whiteness.
The nest, a joint male/female project, is a bulky, open cup of grass, twigs and rootlets carelessly arranged
in a dense tree of bush. The 3-6 eggs per nest are a pale blue-greenish with brown spots. This year-round Florida
resident is known for its fierce defense of the family nest.
Senate Concurrent Resolution No.3 of the 1927 legislative session designated the mockingbird as the State Bird.
Not only a Florida favorite, it is the State Bird of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
The Florida
State Flower
Orange Blossom
The orange blossom was designated State Flower by Concurrent Resolution No. 15, 1909 Legislature. It is one
of the most fragant flowers in Florida. Millions of these white flowers perfume the atmosphere throughout central
and south Florida during orange blossom time.
The Florida
State Flag
Many flags have flown over Florida since Juan Ponce de León landed in 1513. Among them have been the
flags of five sovereign nations: Spain, France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Confederate States of
America. Numerous other unofficial flags also have been flown on the penninsula at one time or another. Only a
written description remains of some of these banners.
The Florida
State Seal
In 1985, Secretary of State George Firestone presented the revised Great Seal of the State of Florida to the
Governor and the Cabinet. The previous State Seal had several errors which were corrected in in the 1985 Seal.
This revised Seal has a Seminole Indian woman rather than a Western Plains Indian, the steamboat is more accurate,
and the cocoa palm has been changed to a sabal palm as the Legislature prescribed in 1970.
HISTORY OF THE STATE SEAL 1868-1985
The elements and basic design instructions for Florida's State Seal were established by the Legislature in 1868.
Early that year, Florida's newly adopted State Constitution had directed that:"The Legislature shall, at the
first session, adopt a seal for the state, and such seal shall be the size of an American silver dollar, but said
seal shall not again be changed after its adoption by the Legislature."
So the Legislature, acting quickly upon the mandate, passed and sent to Governor Harrison Reed a Joint Resolution
on August 6, 1868 specifying "That a Seal of the size of the American silver dollar, having in the center
thereof a view of the sun's rays over a high land in the distance, a cocoa tree, a steamboat on water, and an Indian
female scattering flowers in the foreground, encircled by the words, 'Great Seal of the State of Florida: In God
We Trust', be and the same is hereby adopted as the Great Seal of the State of Florida." Some people also
consider the "In God We Trust" phrase the State Motto, although there is no official designation of a
State Motto in the Florida Statutes
Florida's present Constitution, (Art. II, Sec. 4), continues to require the seal to be prescribed by law. In
1970, more than 100 years after the first specifications were drawn, the Florida Legislature made one change in
the official description (CH. 15.03), changing "cocoa tree" in the former language to "Sabal palmetto
palm." The sabal palmetto palm had been designated as State Tree in 1953.
Through the years, interpretations of the elements of the Great Seal have differed considerably. The steamboat,
for instance, has been depicted in a variety of ways. The various images of the Indian female have drawn criticism
from historians conscious of her clothing. The earliest official Great Seal pictured a mountainous background,
something absent from the Florida terrain. Another effort showed a feather headdress on the Indian, a blunder insomuch
as Indian males wore the headdresses.
Through it all, however, the elements in the Great Seal have remained consistent. Chapter 15.03 of the Florida
Statutes in addition to specifying elements of the Great Seal, provides that the Department of State shall be the
custodian of it, and that the Department of State alone has the authority to approve its use or display. A further
provision prohibits any commercial use of the Great Seal.
OK!! Now that you have checked out the weather here in Tampa lets and seen the state symbols, it's now time
to see what there is to do!
If you are looking to do something outside, check out the following attractions in the Tampa area. Adventure Island
An outdoor waterpark!! Busch Gardens An outdoor theme
type park! Florida Aquarium Tampa Bays newest attraction!! Lowry Park Zoo Open range zoo in Tampa!! Salvador Dali Museum Famous Paintings!
The Tampa Bay area has some of the best parks and beaches in the WORLD!!
Check out local parks below.
