On a recent roadtrip, I got to take my time along Florida’s Gulf Coast, from Tallahassee south. What a quirky variety the coast boasts, with more old time Florida than the Atlantic corridor. Unfortunately, my mission to see the Mermaid Water Extravaganza at Weeki Wachee was stymied for the second visit in a row, the first attempt made over a decade ago. (This time, there were no shade trees for the car or Zeno, with no kennel or dog-aid offered.) My mermaid dreams-come-true will just have to wait; in the meantime, the attraction’s entrance is still quite evocative. Meanwhile, the “Smallest Post Office in the U.S.” provides gator-mail while a backroad dirt track through the Everglades is revealing. [please hover over images for captions]