Man’s journey to the moon began in Florida. From the beginning, Florida has been the principal launch site for the U.S. space program and towering rockets continue to thunder skyward from Cape Canaveral. Florida has always been a discoverer’s paradise, since the time of the early Spanish explorers. From interplanetary probes to cutting edge marine research, that long tradition persists to this day.

Florida visitors can choose from many famous air and space destinations, such as the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, the Air Force Museum in Fort Walton Beach and Polk City’s Fantasy of Flight, and Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium. Florida boasts many impressive interactive science centers, such as Jacksonville’s Museum of Science & History (MOSH), the Orlando Science Center, Exploration V Children’s Museum in Lakeland, Ocala’s Discovery Science Center, the Brevard Museum of Art & Science in Melbourne, the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa and the Odyssey Science Center in Tallahassee. Of course, the largest science and discovery destination in the world is Disney’s sprawling Epcot Center in Orlando. Florida has many zoos and aquariums, including the Miami Seaquarium and Miami Metro Zoo, the Florida Aquarium, Busch Gardens Safari and Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Marineland near St. Augustine, the Gulfarium in Fort Walton Beach, and SeaWorld, Disney’s Discovery Island and Universal’s Discovery Cove, all in Orlando.

Naturally, Florida’s subtropical climate makes it the ideal location for some of the world’s largest collections of rare and exotic foliage. You’ll find acres of botanical wonders at Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, Historic Bok Sanctuary in Lake Wales, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, the Fairchild Tropical Garden and University of Miami Gifford Arboretum in Miami and Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach.