After one of the coldest winters on record in Florida, many of us are ready to get out of our homes and into the summer sun. Fortunately, Florida offers plenty of opportunities for outdoor fun. Even our state moniker, “The Sunshine State,” begs us to venture into the great outdoors of our peninsula.
True, we have hurricanes and high humidity in the summer and cooling bills can skyrocket—especially in August and September—but the outdoor offerings in our state range from theme parks to campgrounds and from beaches to state parks.
But exploring the great outdoors isn’t as easy as navigating, say, a block of bars displaying the rainbow flag. Knowing where LGBTs congregate outdoors can be a challenge, so we’re hoping our Outdoor Guide to LGBT Living will motivate you to get off of the couch and find your way to some fun in the sun.
Campgrounds
The best known LGBT campground is, of course, Sawmill (see page 42). But there are other places where our community communes with nature. Camp Mars in Venus, Florida, offers full RV hookups, tent sites and campers available for rent. For more info, check out CampMars.com. It caters to both men and women.
Camp David, located in Inverness, is a clothing optional camping resort targeting gay men. The private membership campground encompasses 16-acres of heavily wooded space and offers a natural environment for men to enjoy. For more information visit CampDavidFlorida.com.
If you like your camping with a medieval twist, you may want to travel to north Florida’s Mystic Lake Manor in Madison, Fla. The gay-owned castle is a functioning bed and breakfast with 10 rooms sitting on 36 acres. There are also several electric and primitive tent sites. Sun decks and clothing optional pool areas are available to all guests. For more information visit MysticLakeManor.com.
If you truly want to get away from the West and Central Florida LGBT community, visit The Compound Campground along Florida’s Emerald Coast near Pensacola. The 16-acre campground is just off of Interstate 10 and caters to the entire LGBT community. Tent sites, RV hookups and its clothing optional, fenced in pool and hot tub area is open throughout the day. For more information visit TheCompoundCampground.com.
For a larger list of LGBT campgrounds in Florida, visit FloridaGayCampgrounds.com.
Beaches
Sun, sand—and skin. What more do we need to know to draw us to the beaches along Florida’s coast? Of course, big name beaches like South Beach and Smathers Beach in Key West may not be close by our front doors, but we have plenty of offerings in West and Central Florida to get our SPF on.
Sunset Beach on Treasure Island, just outside of St. Petersburg, sees a weekly convergence of LGBTs to its white shores on Sundays. The southern most point of the beach—about half a mile south of the popular straight bar “Caddy’s,” has been an LGBT destination ever since the long-gone gay bar BedRox graced its shores in the 1990s.
For those who live a bit further south, there’s North Lido Beach, near the shops of St. Armands Circle in Sarasota. And for our East Coast brothers and sisters, there’s Cocoa Beach and Daytona Beach—both with LGBT niches along the miles of white sand.
Enjoying the surroundings
Most of our state is surrounded by water, and even if you don’t enjoy swimming, there are other opportunities to enjoy the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
In the heavily LGBT-populated Gulfport, there are Art Walks along the water and an Art Cruise that provides sunset views of Boca Ciega Bay on the first Friday of every month. The cruise is operated by Dolphin Landings of St. Pete Beach, which offers dolphin sighting tours in the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Not everyone enjoys the water and sea-sickness medicine has only come so far. So if you prefer to enjoy the outdoors from a solid foundation, check out one of the Front Runners groups in Tampa Bay or Orlando.
The recreational joggers have scheduled runs throughout both areas and invite seasoned marathoners and beginners to join the ranks. Visit OrlandoFrontRunners.com or FrontRunnersTampaBay.org for more details.
