Tobacco and beer: now there’s a classic combination. If you want to have a cigar with your favorite brew but you’re not so keen on the hazards of smoking, we’ve got just the thing for you. Straight out of the US cigar capital, Florida, comes the Humidor series of craft beers from Cigar City Brewing Company. Aged in Spanish cedar — the same wood that’s used to make cigar boxes — each of these funky beers is laced with the flavors of your favorite stogie like sandalwood and spices. Pop one open, toss it back, and relish the creative mingling flavors of two of the world’s cherished vices.

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Welcome to Titusville shows the impact of the 30 year Space Shuttle program on the residents of Titusville, a city that lies only a few miles from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

For a lark, I spent last night cruising Worth Street in West Palm Springs, Florida, the longest, cleanest, most deserted street I’ve ever seen, which is jammed with a string of high-class stores, flogging everything from travel jewellery (for the terrified billionaire), to sweaters and blazers in every colour imaginable. That’s right, who said The Rich had poor taste?

These fascinating mosaics of twenty-first century human habitation are proof that planned housing isn’t always dull and distasteful, for the bird’s-eye photographer at least. What may be endless rows of generic streets and blocks at ground level suddenly become giant patchwork quilts from the air, perhaps in a weird way proving that there is more to life than what meets the pedestrian’s eye.

I spent a weekend down in Longboat Key, Florida, a few weeks back, doing very little but lying on a deck chair by the pool, contemplating life and my small place in it, and enjoying the rather lush and salubrious surrounds of the Longboat Key Club and Resort. Yes, it’s a tough life, but, well, y’know, someone’s gotta do it. [photos by Alison Zavos]

With its own private beach, rooms and balconies that face onto a vast expanse of pristine ocean (the water was slightly milder than bath water, but only slightly), and a bar situated far too enticingly by the swimming pool and serving an endless supply of debaucherous cocktails (the banana one practically had me swinging from the trees), this is just about the most relaxing place I’ve holidayed at.

The Longboat Key Club and Resort is nestled in an area with a small but interesting array of stores and restaurants nearby, including one newly opened bakery selling indulgent French treats. It really is a beautiful part of the world and well worth a few days of total immersion. Tell the dolphins I said hi.

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Located on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico Drive, in the stunning surrounds of Sarasota, Florida, the Longboat Key Club and Resort is just about the most relaxing place on earth. Seriously. With a bountiful Florida sun beating down, it’s too easy to zone out beside the pool, drinking cocktails, reading sporadically, and imagining that this is how life should always be lived. Only it isn’t. Well, for most of us anyway. Paris Hilton, really! What are you doing wasting time in LA?

Situated on the edge of the Gulf, with a vast expanse of pristine white sand beckoning ever onwards, the Longboat Key Club and Resort is a total escape from the bustle of inner-city living. The rooms are modern and comfortable, and they come with private balconies, many of which overlook the crisp blue ocean. Last year, whilst there, we saw dolphins swimming along the shore line. Cliched, yes, but pretty spectacular all the same. But it’s symbolic of this area, which is unhurried in a way that the urban chaos of my daily surrounds of Brooklyn, New York, most certainly is not.

Longboat Key Club & Resort
301 Gulf of Mexico Dr
Longboat Key, FL 34228-4034
(941) 387-1621

Dark Castle is a duo from Saint Augustine, Florida, that makes sweaty, hallucinatory, heavy-as-hell doom metal. Frontwoman Stevie Floyd emasculates dudes with her dexterous riffage and gutteral growls while drummer Rob Shaffer uses a bass drum as a floor tom to ensure the destruction of your lower intestines. They’re touring through September. Don’t miss these guys live.

Musicians in Jacksonville, Florida, often plop themselves amongst breakfasting families to nurse their hangovers at the Fox Restaurant. The food is a step above normal greasy spoon fare, but is just as cheap, with a full breakfast costing as little as three dollars. They even offer bananas as an alternative to grits or hash browns.

I’m keeping a sharp eye on Florida illustrator Francis Vallejo. Upon first glance, you’d never realize that he is about to enter his senior year at the Ringling School! Vallejo has the draughtmanship and expressive brush work of a top tier, seasoned professional. Having already busted out work for clients such as Vibe and grabbed awards from the Society of Illustrators among many others, he is onto great things.

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