3 Best Sights in Northeast Coast, Florida

Built in 1792 by Zephaniah Kingsley, a landowner who produced Sea Island cotton, citrus, sugarcane, and corn with the aid of about 60 slaves, this is the oldest remaining cotton plantation in the state. Take a self-guided tour of a barn and 23 tabby (a concretelike mixture of sand and crushed shells) slave houses to learn about the lives of the people who labored here. Weekend open-house hours are available, yet limited from 10 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 4 pm to protect the structure.

One of America's most cherished authors found inspiration in this out-of-the-way hamlet about 20 miles outside of Gainesville. The 90-acre park, set amid aromatic citrus groves, has a playground for kids and short hiking trails, where you might see owls, deer, or Rawlings' beloved "red birds." But the main attraction is the restored Florida Cracker–style home, where Rawlings wrote classics such as The Yearling and Cross Creek and entertained the likes of poet Robert Frost, author Thornton Wilder, and actor Gregory Peck. The house is guarded closely by spirited roosters, and access to its interior is only available by guided tours.

This 10,000-square-foot Victorian mansion, built in 1886 for hatmaker and philanthropist John B. Stetson, is regarded as Florida's first luxury home. Though the mansion is now a private residence, tours allow you to marvel at the wood parquet floors, intricate interior carvings, and 10,000 panes of original leaded glass windows. You'll also learn about the Gilded Age mansion's rich history, including famous visitors and a "contractor" named Thomas Edison, who installed his friend Stetson's electricity. In November and December, the mansion is decked out with one of the most elaborate Christmas decoration displays in the country.