November 2008 Newsletter

Hi subscriber, welcome to the November newsletter of the Florida Review & Travel Guide.

This month the theme is bed and breakfast with hardly a mention of the theme parks!! If you've ever wanted a more Floridian holiday but without renting a villa or a condo, then why not consider bed and breakfast at one of Florida's traditional inns and bed and breakfast establishments (more details below).

Gas Price Rises

After the crazy price rises in gas (petrol) last month, prices have tumbled back to between $2.50 and $2.75 a gallon on average across Florida, making them comparable with 2007 prices. In some parts of the USA such as Ohio, prices have fallen to just under $2 a gallon whilst in others like California, prices remain over $3 a gallon.

Las Vegas Casino Cruises

Las Vegas Casino Lines finally started sailing on October 21 using their 900 passenger Liquid Vegas cruise ship from Port Canaveral, joining the SunCruz Casino's SunCruz XII.

The Liquid Vegas will offer day and evening cruises seven days a week, with an extra late-night cruise on Friday and Saturday nights from 1:30 am to 4:30 am.

To read more about casino cruises in Florida, click here.

Hubble Shuttle Flight

The last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope by the Space shuttle Atlantis has had to be rescheduled for early 2009 after unexpected problems with an instrument control unit on the telescope put paid to the original launch plan. Additional spare parts will now need to be commissioned before the servicing mission can take place.

As a result, Atlantis has been removed from launch pad 39A and the Space shuttle Endeavour which was sitting on launch pad 39B (as a backup rescue craft) has been moved to launch pad 39A to take its place.

This will allow work to commence on modifications to launch pad 39B in readiness for the first test flight of the Ares 1X rocket next summer which is part of NASA's Constellation programme to return astronauts to the moon. However even this work will be delayed as a second shuttle will still be needed as a back up for the Hubble mission.

Underage Drinking

Florida is tough on underage drinking and no where more so than at the Halloween Horror Nights celebrations at Universal Studios.

The legal drinking age in Florida is 21 and anyone founding drinking or even holding an alcoholic drink during the Halloween Horror Nights event faces being given a "trespass warning" and being banned from the entire resort area, possibly for life.

Alcohol is freely available for sale from street vendors during the evening celebrations so it is easy to see how people could fall foul of the law.

Also remember it is illegal to have an "open container" of alcoholic beverage in a car unless it is in the trunk (boot) or in a locked glove compartment.

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Florida books published in November

This month there are a bunch of new Florida maps published by Rand Mcnally, the latest 2009 editions of the various Zagat Miami restaurant guides, Frommer's Walt Disney World & Orlando 2009, Universal Orlando 2009 and The Hassle-Free Walt Disney World Vacation 2009 plus a couple of alternative Florida books including the 10th edition of Florida Off the Beaten Path and the 2nd edition of Florida's Finest Inns and Bed & Breakfasts (reviewed below):

• BlackBook Guide to Miami 2009
• Time Out Miami and the Florida Keys
• Frommer's Walt Disney World & Orlando 2009 by Laura Lea Miller
• Rand Mcnally Daytona Beach Street Guide
• Rand McNally Daytona Beach
• Rand Mcnally Deland/Deltona/Debary
• Rand Mcnally Easyfinder Daytona Beach
• Rand Mcnally New Smyrna Beach
• Rand McNally Palm Coast
• Rand Mcnally Lakeland
• Rand Mcnally Polk County Street Guide
• Rand Mcnally Winter Haven
• Florida Off the Beaten Path, 10th edition: A Guide to Unique Places by Diana and Bill Gleasner
• Hiking South Florida and the Keys: A Guide to 41 Great Walking and Hiking Adventures by M. Timothy O'Keefe
• Florida: A Journey Through Its Colorful Past
• Zagat Miami Beach Restaurants Pocket Guide 2009
• Zagat Miami/So. Florida Restaurants 2009
• ZagatSurvey 2009 Palm Beach Restaurants Pocket Guide
• Insiders' Guide to the Florida Keys and Key West, 13th edition by Nancy Toppino
• The Florida Marlins by Mark Stewart
• The Hassle-Free Walt Disney World Vacation 2009 by Steven M. Barrett
• Universal Orlando 2009: The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Theme Park Adventure by Kelly Monaghan
• Florida's Finest Inns and Bed & Breakfasts by Bruce Hunt

All these books and more can be found in our new Florida book directories for US and UK visitors.

If you like the idea of staying in a hotel as opposed to self catering in a villa or condominium but like a more personal service and informal environment, then why not consider one of Florida's inns or bed and breakfasts (B & Bs), sometimes called "homestays".

Even if you plan on spending most of your time in Central Florida visiting the theme parks, you can still find bed and breakfasts only a short drive from Walt Disney World and Orlando.

There are hundreds of individual inns and bed and breakfast establishments throughout the state of Florida ranging from small historic hotels and homes to romantic getaways and beach-side cottages offering real Southern hospitality.

Many of the inns and bed and breakfasts date back to the late 1800s/early 1900s and are located in historic districts and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A lot of these historic properties have been painstakingly restored and are full of character and decorated with beautiful period furniture; a far cry from most people's perception of the 21st century image of Florida's hotels, motels and high-rise condos.

Whilst some do not have the same level of facilities as a hotel such as en-suite facilities, Florida's inns and bed and breakfasts are much more personal than the sometimes bland hotel chains.

Most offer authentic home cooking including gourmet breakfasts and the informal atmosphere of staying with a Floridian family. With some you can expect extra indulgences like chocolates, fruit, full English afternoon tea and lemonade and then wine and cheese in the evening all included in the room rate.

Some bed and breakfasts have only a handful of rooms whilst others have upwards of 20 rooms, some with suites with a separate sitting room. Generally, inns tend to be larger and often have restaurants serving lunch and dinner though many bed and breakfasts will also serve other meals by prior arrangement.

To read more about Florida's bed and breakfasts, click here.

Did you know that the Florida Review and Travel Guide has catalogued over 1,000 books about a variety of Florida topics in our Florida Book Directory in conjunction with Amazon.

If you are looking for a book on anything from Florida Advent Calendars to Walt Disney World you will most likely find it in our Florida Book Directory.

As well as hundreds of guide books to the regions and the theme parks, there are also books on such diverse topics as Florida ghosts, native Americans and the Seminole wars, the art deco architecture of Miami, Florida's amazing wildlife, maps, weather, vintage post cards, all manner of outdoor activities, children's books with a Florida theme, property and retirement in Florida and 2009 wall and desk calendars.

With Christmas fast approaching, a book makes a great present for someone planning a Florida holiday and next month we will bring you our pick of the crop, the Florida Review and Travel Guide "Top 10 Florida book list".

We have two Florida book directories, one for US vistors and one for UK visitors.

Florida's Finest Inns and Bed & Breakfasts is written by Bruce Hunt and the second edition is published in November 2008 (First edition was published back in 2001).

Bruce Hunt is a native Floridian and has also written two volumes entitled Visiting Small-Town Florida. He has an easy going writing style and enjoys tracing the history of the places he has visited and the lives of people he meets.

If you are looking for alternative accommodation to the big hotel chains then this book will help you pick and choose suitable places to stay.

Included in it's 240 pages are descriptions of 135 of Florida's best inns and bed & breakfasts, split by region.

For each inn you will find the usual factual information such as address and telephone number, email and website address, number of rooms, typical room rates and amenities.

What makes this book more enjoyable to read are the detailed descriptions of the inns and their surroundings and recommendations on local restaurants. There are also tales of pirates, ghosts and some of Florida's founding fathers including the rail magnates and hoteliers, Henry M Flagler and Henry B Plant.

To read the complete review of Florida's Finest Inns and Bed & Breakfasts, click here.

November and December 2008 desktop wallpaper calendars

The free Florida desktop wallpaper calendars are now available in widescreen format as well as standard format so if you have a widescreen monitor you can now download a new widescreen calendar.

Free desktop calendars for November 2008 (Kraken at SeaWorld) and December 2008 (Manatee at Homosassa Springs) are ready to download now.

Note that some of the larger files can be 200-300k in size so if you are on a modem dialup line it will take a few minutes to download.

To view and then download the Florida free desktop wallpaper for November or December now, click here.

Also don't forget if you are looking for inspiration on what to do on your Florida vacation, why not take advantage of our collection of free brochures where you will find information on many activities including golfing vacations, eco-tours, scuba diving and Caribbean cruises.

Read more...

With Halloween out of the way, all of Florida switches from scary mode to festive mode with Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon. This month there are two public holidays; on November 11, it is Veterans Day and then on Thursday, November 27 it is Thanksgiving.

This means that all the major theme parks are going to be very busy Thanksgiving week, especially as the parks start to unveil their festive season celebrations.

However, once the Thanksgiving weekend is over, the parks then become very quiet until the Christmas/New Year Holiday season, which makes it a great time to visit as the weather is still quite good and all the Christmas decorations are up and the theme parks are in full swing with their Holiday season activities.

As with last month, there are a number of local county fairs throughout the state celebrating the fall.

For full coverage of November events throughout the State of Florida, click here.

The Atlantic hurricane season is coming to a close and most predictions were fairly accurate with an above average number of names storms and major hurricanes.

In November, rainfall is expected to be about average across the State with average temperatures though expect some colder spells.

In the north around Pensacola and Jacksonville there will be a periods of sunshine with occasional showers and noticeably lower temperatures at night. On the West coast, daytime temperatures will be in the low 60s/mid 70s and the nights will be in the high 30s/low 60s. On the East coast, daytime temperatures will be slightly higher in the mid 60s/mid 70s and at night in the mid 40s/high 50s.

Across the Central region, it will mostly sunny and warmer with high 60s/low 80s during the day dropping to high 40s/mid 60s over night.

Down in Miami and the Keys, it will again by sunny with daytime temperatures more even with low 70s to mid 80s during the day and high 50s to low 70s over night.

To check out the rest of the weather for all of Florida including a live weather map, monthly temperature and rainfall charts across the State and the latest hurricane news, click here.

We plan to bring you a newsletter on the first day of each month with details of upcoming events and news from across Florida.

Copyright © 2008, Stephen Downs, Florida Review & Travel Guide. All rights reserved. Please do NOT reprint or host on your website without explicit permission from http://www.floridareview.co.uk.

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