As a former resident of Mount Florida (Glasgow, Scotland), this is a US State for which there has always been an awareness. Those were the days when Hector saw Florida’s greatest son on stage five times: Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report) of Ft. Lauderdale. It took until 2025 to set foot in the south-east corner of conterminous USA.
With the Tropic of Cancer cutting through the southern tip of what to a Geographer, appears to be the biggest coastal spit on the planet, Florida has always been 
appreciated as a year round warm place. In my formative years, seeing Edward G. Robinson spend half of his screen time in Key Largo keeping cool in a bath, has always puzzled. If the temperate summer months were considered too hot to spend in Florida, why do so many Europeans now head there, especially when this leads into hurricane season, again as featured in Key Largo. It cannot all be down to Disneyland (Orlando) or watching rockets take off at the Kennedy Space Center.
Here’s an observation, despite the romance of the Florida Keys, there’s little there of note. Well, maybe a beach, but limestone outcrops aside (Brickell, Miami) if Florida is seen as one big spit, there are plenty of other beaches, Miami Beach even.
A coastal spit means a lagoon on the leeward side, behold the Everglades. Swamps mean mosquitoes, leading to Malaria. In my teaching days there was a BBC Horizon programme shown oft to students relating the seriousness of, and hence effective methods employed to control the spreading of the parasite.
In 2025, Marg and Hector found themselves in Miami FL for a few days either side of Cruise To The Edge. Two afternoons before the cruise were spent at Miami Beach FL, in the days after the cruise, the delights of Coral Gables (Miami FL) were thoroughly enjoyed.