T For Travel

SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Disneyworld are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to attractions that the Florida map has to offer. There are more that 50 other off beat and off kilter attractions on the map of Florida and they are definitely worth a look.  Here are a few:

1. African Queen- Key Largo, Florida: A marina at the Holiday Inn Key Largo is where the original boat from the 1951 movie “The African Queen” calls its permanent home.
2. Ancient Spanish Monastery- Miami Beach, Florida: Newspaper Tycoon William Randolph Hearst had this 1141 monastery dismantled and moved to its current location. Now it serves as a church.
3. Big Cat Rescue- Tampa, Florida: This is the largest big cat rescue on the map of the world.
4. Butterfly World- Coconut Creek, Florida: The largest butterfly aviary in the world.
5. Coral Castle- Homestead, Florida: A carving called America’s Stonehenge put into reality by obsessive artist Ed Leedskalnin over a 28 year period.
6. Creations Pop Culture Museum- Del Ray Beach, Florida- This museum houses movie memorabilia and TV memorabilia.
7.   Dinosaur World- Plant City Florida: An outdoor attraction that calls itself the “world’s largest dinosaur attraction.” It features life-size dinosaur replicas and a fossil dig area.
8. Gatorland- Orlando, Florida: Features gator shows and up close animal encounters.
9. Jungle Adventures- Christmas, Florida: A 20 acre wildlife sanctuary. Bears, deer, bobcats, alligators, monkeys, snakes, and turtles call this home. View wildlife feedings, or take a jungle cruise at this unique sanctuary.
10. Perky’s Bat Tower- Sugarloaf Key, Florida: This was built back in 1929 by a Keys entrepreneur to attract mosquito eating bats. Although it never did attract any bats, it is now listed as a historical building.

Florida is full of amazing and interesting off beat attractions that are far from anything you may find at the Magic Kingdom or on the map of the world.

American journalist Roxana Saberi was released from a Tehran, Iran prison this month.  After spending over four months in one of the perhaps most notoriously unfair prison systems on the map of the world, the Northwestern University graduate will return to the United States map as soon as possible according to her lawyers.

Her original eight year sentence was trimmed down to a two year suspended sentence.  A suspended sentence means that if she commits another crime her record will be updated.

Saberi was charged with collecting and passing on information to U.S. intelligence officials.  After her arrest she was interrogated for weeks and convicted after only an hour long trial. Her sentence has been reduced, but the espionage charge still stands in her conviction. She was detained initially not for her alleged espionage charges, but for buying alcohol, which is prohibited in Iran.

The appellate court ruled that the Iran Court applied the wrong article of the penal court, that plus the political pressure most likely led to the sentence being reduced.

Saberi is now free to leave the country and return to the US map, the turnaround of decision from the court was said to be abrupt.

This case has become a diplomatic turning point for talks between Iran and the United States. The move to release Saberi was seen as good public relations for both parties involved.

This is not the first American Iran has detained. In October a California State University at Northridge student was detained for being part of a women’s rights campaign. Her charges were later dropped, but she, Esha Momeni, is still not allowed to leave Iran.

One has to wonder why Saberi got the preferential treatment, most likely because she is a journalist. It has to be disheartening for Momeni to still be unable to leave Iran,( while Saberi does.