Best Florida Beach Areas for Relaxing

New Smyrna Beach New Smyrna Beach is a laid-back beach town without crowds, noise or pollution, which gives visitors a relaxing beach experience. Although northern beach is accessible to cars, majority is traffic free, allowing for peaceful sunbathing and strolls along beach. New Smyrna has a small town feel in its architecture and atmosphere. There are no high-rises along beach, only low-rise buildings and these accommodations range from bed and breakfast inns, family-size condominiums or oceanfront motels.

Sanibel Island Sanibel Island is one of unique barrier islands of world, having an east-west orientation when most islands are north south. This gives island great sandy beaches with plenty of shells. Check out Bowman's Beach for peach and quiet, you won't find any hotels here. You can park and walk over a bridge to secluded white beach. There are barbecue grills in area so it is a great spot to have a picnic and enjoy beach.

Punta Gorda Punta Gorda is located about 30 miles north of Fort Myers. There is plenty of waterfront in this town, and a very nice riverfront beach area. Here you can enjoy swimming, fishing, canoeing, hiking and walking in woods, it is a great place to get away from crowds. The town of Punta Gorda has street art, water views and interesting murals that enrich historic downtown district that also has cobblestone streets and gaslights, and many fine shops and restaurants.

Best Florida Beach Areas for Golf

Sarasota Sarasota is a sophisticated resort town near Gulf of Mexico. For beach lovers there is Sarasota’s 35 miles of fine, pure, sparkling white sand beach to enjoy. As far as golf is concerned there are 32 golf courses in Sarasota area and almost 20 more if you include surrounding cities of Bradenton and Venice. You will find one for every level of ability available for your golfing pleasure.

Jacksonville Jacksonville has twenty miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches and lots of nearby state parks to explore. You will find lots of things to do and lots of beaches to explore in Jacksonville. For golfers there are over 25 golf courses in area. Several championship golf courses are located nearby; many of which are ranked among top in country offering challenges for players of every skill level, ranging from top ocean side resorts to popular public courses.

Naples Naples, located on a stretch of southwest Florida that is not bordered by barrier islands, has seven miles of silky, white sand beach that overlooks tranquil waters of Gulf of Mexico. There is plenty of shopping and dining in area once sun goes down beachfront. There are also dozens of excellent golf courses in area. From May through October, golf courses are not as crowded and you can pick your tee time and be assured of a leisurely round. Also, many private courses are open to public during these months.

This is only a sampling of some of great beaches located along shores of Florida. There are many more that can fill your Florida beach vacation needs year round.

Jolana Klobouk is a former travel agent who has traveled extensively for work and vacations with her family. For more travel information, visit her travel websites: http://www.best-family-beach-vacations.com and http://www.FlyFromCanada.com

The precocious 12 year old (or were they 8 year olds): Valentin (Argentina), Elina (Sweden), Whale Rider (New Zealand), and Hard Goodbyes (Greece) each dealt with an overly wise child coping with world of adults.

Valentin was charming, but definitely slight. It's a very cute film, but doesn't have much to say. Whale Rider and Hard Goodbyes, on other hand, bowl you over with power of what they have to say and how they say it. In Whale Rider, winner of both audience award for best picture and best director, an 11 year old Maori girl bucks tradition to bring Maori attitudes about communalism into 21st century. In Hard Goodbyes, my favorite film from festival, a young boy in 1960s Greece refuses to believe that his father is dead. The film is a lyrical look at denial and growing up.

The Embalmer (Italy), sends a politically incorrect message.

The dwarf as sexual analogy:

Both "Wild Dogs" (Canada) and "The Embalmer" (Italy) use a dwarf character to show sexual dissolution. In Wild Dogs, filmmaker actually has a point to make and film is engrossing and moving. The Embalmer, unfortunately, is just a big mess of a film with a politically incorrect message to spread about sexual obsession and a gay dwarf who can only be happy by falling in love with a straight man.

The Hebrew Hammer (U.S.) is a fun and silly film.

The silly silly film: So Close (Hong Kong), In July (Germany), and The Hebrew Hammer (U.S.) each had such a thoroughly implausible plot but were all equally enjoyable that they all made for memorable viewing. So Close is about two Hong Kong assassin sisters (or is that sister assassins) and CSI style Chinese American forensics specialist who chases them. There was a lot of slow motion falling glass in this one, but any film that allows stiletto heels to be part of an assassin's arsenal has to be on a must-see list. In July stars Moritz Bleibtreu, so obviously everybody with an eye for an attractive male star should see this one. It's a road movie, and you'll just have to suspend disbelief and go with destiny/coincidence storyline and enjoy film. The Hebrew Hammer was billed as first ever "Jewsploitation" film and producers weren't kidding. It was hysterically funny with Andy Dick as evil Santa Claus intent on ridding world of phrase "Happy Holidays" and getting rid of Hanukkah altogether while Adam Goldberg plays The Hebrew Hammer. The film even steals shots and music from classic blaxploitation films, mostly Shaft series (definitely not Samuel L. Jackson remake version).

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Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com