There is few places left that are naturally nice but central florida is one one of them.  It is a hidden treasure away from the beach seen.  The city of Ocala has many historic features, musems, hotels and night life to keep anyone entertained.  It still hosts the charm of a small town but hides many great theaters and dining.  Ocala  is one truly, tradional, beautiful florida city to visit.

On the outskirts is a park called silver springs that is much fun with its glass bottom boats and water so pure you can see the bottom of the river.  There is also Ocala national forest that is too good to pass up.  You can see many cracker old florida homesteads, alligators, monkeys, tropical plants; and etc to make you loose track of time.

After falling in love with central florida… I now consider this my part time residence and where my writers cottage is.

http://www.ocalamarion.com/

The Manatee is unique and a creature that is under protection. It can be found in florida and sometimes migrates as far as Virginia and Florida. the closes land animal similar would be the elephant. These are known as very gentle creatures that dates to the dinosaurs. This is truly  a treasure that lives amongst our American Landscape.

http://www.savethemanatee.org/manfcts.htm

 Las Vegas, Nevada pegs itself as the Entertainment Capital of the World.  There is more shows that goes on in Las Vegas than any city at a simultaneous time.

“Established in 1905, Las Vegas officially became a city in 1911. With the growth that followed, at the close of the century Las Vegas was the most populous American city founded in the 20th century (a distinction held by Chicago in the 19th century). The city’s tolerance for various forms of adult entertainmentearned it the title of Sin City, and this image has made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs. Outdoor lighting displays are everywhere on the Las Vegas Strip and are seen elsewhere in the city as well. As seen from space, the Las Vegas metropolitan area is the brightest on Earth.”

Read wikipedia article here.

Tommorrow Vermont votes on gay marriage.  This could be the second state in the Union to allow gay marriage; as California is in limo on the issue.

The state of allowing same sex people marry is a cross roads and much of it is left in state hands.

America’s Castles and Other Treasures supports equal rights for all Americans.  This blog believes in total equality.

 The USA has one of the largest land masses for farming. Within the farming regions of the USA there has many crops produced such as corn, soybeans, many other vegetables and many fruits.  There are also specialty products produced such as barley for beer, grain for liquors and many award winning wines.

Also it ranks one the lowest users of pesticide use in the world.  There is also much land used for organic farming and organic farming is gaining ground each and every year.

With a diverse climate in the USA it lends itself to much production of different crops, naturally. Also with its diverse climate it means that there are many summer crops that is produced in some regions that can be produced in winter in other regions.

The USA ranks number 4 in cropland for organic farming and there are others that rank higher per capita; so there is still room for improvement with farming techniques but it improves yearly.  

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