Amenities at Venice Beach Villas include gas barbecues, lush gardens and beach bikes.
This efficiency at Venice Beach Villas, three blocks from Venice Beach, goes for $141 a night in high season.
Twice weekly sunset drum circles near the pier on Casey Key bring out the belly dancers – and the spectators.
A view of the beach from the Beachcomber’s patio. Casey Key sports some of Florida’s most opulent beach houses, but the southern end has an unfettered style.
An exterior view of one of the Beachcomber’s three dwellings. This five-unit building maintains its Old Florida vibe.
The beaches are wide, the sand is soft and the sunsets are spectacular along Florida’s central Gulf coast. But can you find decent lodging for under $150 in high season? Here’s what we found.
The roof of a Sunrise, Fla. home sits in the pool early Wednesday after a tornado damaged more than two dozen homes in the area. Officials say a tornado left a 1.1 mile-long trail of damage in the suburban South Florida neighborhood.
Brothers Levi and Micah Schmitz play with their towels in the wind along Clearwater Beach in Clearwater Beach, Fla., on Wednesday.
A small car from an extermination company splashes through a puddle on Monday in Miami Beach, Fla.
Christi Engel, 14, paddles her kayak down the flooded streets of Viera, Fla., on Sunday, after high winds and rain hit Brevard County.
Erin Mahoney and her friends, shown in this March 17 photo, drove 23 hours from Syracuse, N.Y., to Fort Lauderdale for the sun and sand. Orbitz.com ranked Fort Lauderdale among the top 20 spring break destinations for 2011.
Lucy Blount, left, does a flip while Hannah Blythe watches March 10 in Pensacola Beach, Fla.
Casey Thompson, on spring break from the University of West Georgia, sleeps on the beach March 10 in Pensacola Beach, Fla. while crews continue to clear the area of residue left by the Gulf Coast oil spill.
Workers clean oil left over from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on March 10 at Perdido Key State Park in Pensacola, Fla.
Alyssa Vincent, 21, of Richmond, Va., floats in a swimming pool during a spring break party in Miami Beach on March 16.
A woman walks along the beach with a surfboard March 10 in Pensacola Beach, Fla.
Kevich Vargas, left, watches as his friend, Arcain Meza, catches a football March 17 on the beach in Fort Lauderdale.
Escalating fuel prices are putting the brakes on some road trips. According to the motorist group AAA, the average for a gallon of regular is up 37 cents since Feb. 22, the second-fastest rate of increase in the industry's history.
Some would-be vacationers are staying home, while others will "still travel, but compensate by spending less," says AAA spokesman Troy Green.
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery pauses between the Orbiter Processing Facility-3 and the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) during a move called a "rollover." Once inside the VAB, the shuttle will be joined to its solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank. Later this month, Discovery is scheduled to "roll out" to Launch Pad 39A for its launch to the International Space Station on the STS-133 mission. Expected to lift off on Nov. 1, Discovery will take the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, to the ISS.
In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians install insulating blankets to the hatch of the Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM, to protect it and its contents from the harsh environment and temperatures of space. Space shuttle Discovery and its STS-133 crew are planning to launch Nov. 1, 2010, and will deliver the PMM, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station.
On Sept. 7, 2010, an early-morning rain shower during the sunrise caused a meteorological and optical rainbow show next to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Atlanta Braves center fielder Rick Ankiel watches as a fan tries to catch a home run hit by Florida Marlins infielder Logan Morrison during a baseball game in Atlanta. Florida won 7-1.
The Arizona Diamondbacks starter, center, celebrates after throwing a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 25, 2010, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Jackson, 26, was 6-7 with a 4.92 ERA before the break.
Jackson's injury required hip replacement surgery, which sidelined his pro career until 1993. At 28-years-old, He signed with the Chicago White Sox after being cut by the Royals. Shown here in training camp in Sarasota, Fla. in 1993, Jackson would hit 16 home runs and 45 RBI in 85 games that season.
LeBron James announces he will join the Miami Heat as fans celebrate at Duffy's in Boca Raton, Fla.
Tampa Bay Rays' Andy Sonnanstine finishes putting a tape beard on an advertisement for Rays pitcher David Price Bobblehead Day before a game between the Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla. Sonnanstine has changed the likeness several times.
From left to right, Gina Durell, Island Durell and Linda Harrison of Pensacola, Fla., watch as crews clean up oil washed ashore on Pensacola Beach.
Jan Moss
Clearwater, Fla.
My first thought when I rise in the morning is of a triple shot espresso. It isn't the coffee itself that warms my day, it is the process of making the cappuccino that I enjoy. It is decadent, creamy, and perfectly balanced. It's my "acceptable" drug of choice.