Art, culture, and natural history

At the Hilton, you’re just a short stroll away from some of the best art, performing arts, and natural history exhibits in the Southeast. UF’s Cultural Plaza, directly across the street from the Hilton, is home to the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and the Florida Museum of Natural History and its Butterfly Rainforest, with a special exhibit going on during the conference. Downtown is the Hippodrome State Theatre, one of Florida’s two professional theaters featuring award-winning stage productions.

Water, water everywhere

North Central Florida boasts the world’s largest concentration of first magnitude freshwater springs, and nothing’s more refreshing on a sultry summer day than a cool dip in one of the many area springs … except maybe a half-day float trip down the Ichetucknee River just north of Gainesville. Or rent a canoe or kayak and book a river adventure on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail.

If it’s coastal waters you crave, you couldn’t be more centrally located: Gainesville is an easy 90-minute drive away from the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Check out historic St. Augustine and the beaches on Florida’s East coast or the quaint fishing village of Cedar Key on the Gulf coast.

Antique shopping

You’ll find a treasure trove of antique shops in the historic towns of High Springs, Micanopy, and McIntosh just outside of Gainesville. Stroll the streets of these quaint southern towns, grab a bite to eat, and enjoy the Old Florida charm of the towns themselves.

Living history

No writer’s visit is complete without a pilgrimage to Cross Creek and the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who penned the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling. In addition to the citrus groves of the Rawlings farm, you can return to Gainesville and enjoy a roam around the Dudley Farm, a turn-of-the-century working farm where chickens and Florida Cracker cattle join artists and poets. And just up the road is the Historic Haile Homestead, a restored Cracker house with its history written right on the walls by generations of people who knew they lived in a special house at a special time.