1. The Pride Of Watching Shuttles Launch From The Space Coast
NASA launches rockets into space from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Fla., on the state's “Space Coast.” When conditions are just right, you can see shuttles go up from practically all over in Florida.
2. Soap Suds And Frozen Ferns Make For A Winter Wonderland
As you may or may not be aware, there's not a lot of snowfall in Florida. But that doesn't mean there's no Winter Wonderland.
Globs of soapsuds are a perfectly adequate substitute for snow. As an added bonus, they're not nearly as cold as that frosty precipitation. Yeah, Florida kids slip and slop and slide around in soap bubbles. They have a blast, but to those who know what the real thing is like, it's also kind of sad.
But the iced-over ferns in Florida ferneries are truly something to behold. Because their freezing point is lower than water's, fernery operators spray down their ferns to encase them in ice and—seemingly counter-intuitively—protect them from low temperatures.
A vast expanse of icicle-draped ferns is a beautiful sight, and one parents sometimes take their kids out just to see.
3. The Best-Tasting Orange Juice Comes From Fresh-Squeezed Stolen Oranges
There's nothing quite like creeping surreptitiously through somebody's orange grove, snatching an armful or two of dangling fruit, then madly dashing home to make some delicious, fresh-squeezed Florida orange juice.
Of course, now we know stealing is wrong and that people depend on selling those oranges to pay their mortgages and feed their families. But kids don't get that.
For them, it's all about figuring out which groves you can successfully swipe from and which ones you're bound to get in trouble for sneaking into—and maybe sometimes trying to get away with it at the latter.
4. Joy Springs Forth From Springs
Florida has more natural springs than any other state, and the locals sure do take advantage of them. These bodies of water maintain a 70-degree temperature and are a favorite place to take a dip and spend a weekend or summer day.
These idyllic spots are an essential part of family life and outdoor recreation in Florida. People tend to hurry out the door as early as possible to make it to their favorite springs park before it reaches capacity and new arrivals are turned away.
Because nobody wants to get stuck going to their second-choice spot.
5. How To Drive In Wrath-Of-God Rains
The Sunshine State gets more than its fair share of monsoon-like downpours, especially during the summer. In many places around Florida, these storms predictably occur every afternoon or early evening through hurricane season.
Floridians plan their days around the torrential downpours, but everyone gets stuck driving in them sometimes. Which is no big deal. With zero visibility and four inches of water on the road, Florida folk drive through these rains full-speed-ahead like nothing's happening.
6. Following Up Some Gator Tail With Key Lime Pie
Oranges aren't the only food near and dear to Floridians. There's always gator tail, and even gator jerky you pick up from some shirtless, sun-scorched dude sitting in a lawn chair on the side of the road by a big homemade cardboard sign advertising his goods.
If you're lucky, he has Cajun boiled peanuts to go with it. Shelling them, getting coated with their juices, and eating them while operating a motor vehicle is a special talent you can really work on in Florida.
The state is also the home of real Key lime pie. People here also have a particular fondness for grouper sandwiches and blackened mahi mahi. Feel free to add your favorite part of Florida food culture in the comments below.
7. Chiseling Lovebug Goo Off Their Cars
Lovebugs. They sound so freakin' adorable, don't they? And it's so sweet how they attach to their mates and fly around coupled arm in arm (or genital in genital, as the case may be) for days.
They don't bite, sting, or spread any diseases. On paper, they sound perfectly harmless, other than their propensity for flying around you in large, slow-moving swarms.
But there's a profoundly dark side to these insects. Their soft, gooshy bodies explode on the cars that hit them, and the mess sticks on quite stubbornly. It's not just gross—the goo actually eats away at car paint as it bakes in the sun.
8. Florida Is Not Just God's Waiting Room
Florida is most famous of course for being the place all the old people from New York retire. And yes, Florida has the highest percentage of people over 65 of any state. But they aren't even close to being the main demographic moving down. In fact, people over 65 now make up only 10 percent of the people moving into one of the fastest-growing states in the country.
Younger people are moving down, particularly for the booming tech and healthcare sectors around the state. Many are eager to trade in the blizzards for year-round beach weather and maybe a pile of Christmas soap suds.
9. Jacksonville Is A Fake City
Something tells me this one will earn me some unrestrained hatred and name-calling in the comments section, but here goes...
Jacksonville's the largest city in Florida by population, the largest city in the U.S. by area, and the 12th most populous city in country. Sounds impressive, right?
It's not. Jax is a fake, a fraud, a usurper. In 1968, the city annexed its entire county, so what would normally be considered a broad metropolitan statistical area outside the city is all technically in the city limits.
10. Florida Is Comprised Of Two Completely Different States
Perhaps what Floridians understand about their state best of all is that it's actually two states: North Florida and South Florida.
The southern half of the state is considerably more cosmopolitan, overflowing with northeastern transplants who've done their best to bring Yankee culture far to the south.
The northern half, ironically perhaps, is much more southern. Consider it an extension of Georgia. It's more rural and has plenty of proud country folk.
And never the twain shall meet. Except in areas of Central Florida—but that’s another story.
Feature Image Source: Flickr user ImNotQuiteJack
Did we miss anything? Tell us what you think is unique about Florida in the comments below! 
