Destin Harbor is a popular destination for corporate events. Groups can party in the shallow bay wat

The Sunshine State is at once both predictable best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle and unexpected. Planners know meetings in Florida will be sunny and warm, but they might be surprised by what they learn on site visits. They might not know of Daytona Beach's stock-car racing history or the growth of Orlando's I-Drive district. They might be glad to learn of the storied past in St. Augustine or the distinctiveness of each little town in the Beaches of South Walton. There's best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle a duality between what's expected and unexpected, what's new and old, that keeps planners rediscovering Florida.
"The captain, rearing cautiously in the bow after the dinghy soared on a great swell, said that he had seen the lighthouse at Mosquito Inlet." That's a line from "The Open Boat," a short story by American author Stephen Crane, first published in 1897. Based on Crane's own experience, the story chronicles four men battling the high seas in a dinghy after their ship wrecked and sank. They're guided to shore by a small, flickering light in the distance, the lighthouse at Mosquito Inlet.
That lighthouse still stands today in Ponce Inlet, formerly Mosquito Inlet, Fla., a small oceanfront locale just south of Daytona best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle Beach. The Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, the tallest in Florida, is non-operational. It's now a museum in a mostly tourist-centric section of town, but it reminds visitors of the area's seafaring past. The 23 miles of beaches and Atlantic Ocean coastline have long served as the reason people visit the Daytona Beach area, most notably when it first became a resort destination in the early 20th century. Daytona's wide beaches became the test track for automobile best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle and motorcycle racers at that time. In 1936, Daytona Beach hosted the first stock-car best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle race on the beach, and in 1948, the first NASCAR-sanctioned race was held there. It became known as "The World's Most Famous Beach."
Daytona best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle still sees record best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle numbers of visitors each year for its beaches and high-profile events like NASCAR's Daytona 500 and Bike Week, but it's also gaining a reputation as an accessible beach town for meetings and events. "Every inch of the beach is open to the public," says Georgia Turner, director of specialized markets at the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Eleven miles of the beach are still open to vehicles. That's the kind of unfussy, best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle easy-going attitude you find throughout the town.
Daytona Beach begs planners to build in time for recreation during events. Located best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle in Northeast Florida, the weather is mild year-round, allowing for kayaking, sailing and boat tours in Ponce Inlet, even during the winter months. In the convention district is Ocean Walk Shoppes at Ocean Walk Village, a dining and entertainment destination near Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, one of the city's main meeting hotels, best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle located directly across the street from the Ocean Center convention facility. The Hilton has 744 guest rooms and 60,000 square feet of meeting space. Other nearby hotels include the Wyndham Ocean Walk Resort, Plaza Resort and Spa, and Fountain Beach Resort.
A few years ago, Ocean Center underwent a $76 million expansion that added 100,000 square best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle feet of exhibit space and 30,000 square feet of meeting space, doubling the size of the facility. The expansion was completed in 2009, and the center, which sits on the famous A1A boulevard near a number of the city's hotels and resorts, is only 400 feet from the beach. Adjacent to the Ocean Center is Peabody Auditorium, a 2,500-seat historic facility with a 4,000-sq.-ft. lobby suitable for receptions. Across A1A and on the beach is Daytona Beach Bandshell, an outdoor amphitheater built in 1937 that accommodates best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle 5,000 people for events.
When Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport opened in 2010, the region, which was already a favorite among drive-in Southeastern visitors, opened to a new meeting and conference market. The airport best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle gives attendees from Baltimore to Texas and thousands more connecting in Atlanta easy access to the region's white sandy beaches, laid-back attitude and outdoor recreation.
The Emerald best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle Coast comprises Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island. The area has condominiums, rental homes, hotels in every price range and resorts. Flip-flop friendly eateries are around every corner, as are recreation options including kayaking and hiking in Blackwater best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle River State Forest, inshore and offshore fishing, and science, military and cultural museums.
Destin Harbor is a popular destination for corporate events. Groups can party in the shallow bay waters of Crab Island, enjoy dinner cruises in the harbor, or head into deeper waters offshore for snorkeling or dolphin watching. There's shopping, dining and entertainment at the Harborwalk Marina and the area surrounding Destin Bridge.
Meeting facilities and off-site venues dot the shoreline of the Emerald Coast and the inland lakes and rivers. The Emerald best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle Coast Conference Center, which has more than 35,000 square feet of space, and Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin Air Force Base are popular choices for events in Fort Walton Beach.
Multiple properties in the region give planners the flexibility of condominium accommodations with on-site meeting space. The Palms of Destin Resort and Conference Center has one-, two- and three-bedroom condos, and a conference center with a 5,200-sq.-ft. ballroom and five meeting rooms. Resorts of Pelican Beach, which includes Pelican Beach Resort and Conference Center and The Terrace best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle at Pelican Beach, have almost 6,000 square feet of meeting space. The gated resort's conference facility is in a separate two-story building from the condominiums, and can handle meetings of up to 350 people. best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle Additional meeting spaces are available in the Pelican Beach Resort best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle and Terrace buildings on property.  ResortQuest by Wyndham owns two beachside towers with meeting space in the region including SunDestin Resort, which has an executive conference center with nearly 3,000 square feet of space, and TOPS'L Beach and Racquet Resort with 2,000 square feet of meeting space.
On most maps, the Florida Keys are barely visible. The narrow string of land looks like a cartographer's mistake, as if he accidentally left his pencil best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle dragging along the paper as he finished drawing the state of Florida. But the 120 miles of islands that extend from the state's southern tip shouldn't be forgotten, especially as a destination for corporate events and retreats. Why? Offshore fishing excursions, fresh Florida seafood, beachfront meeting venues, killer sunsets—the list goes on.
The Keys are made up of five distinct destinations, each with its own special magnetism to lure visitors. Key Largo is the northernmost locale, the first key one reaches when driving south from the mainland. It's known as much for its underwater adventures as it is for its palm trees and perfect weather. The area attracts a generous number of divers each year who come to explore John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, America s first underseas park, as well as the Spiegel Grove, a 510-foot Navy ship intentionally best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle sunk in 2002 to help build a new reef sanctuary. Meeting planners can build in snorkeling or diving excursions to events, often with the help of hotel staff like that at Hilton Key Largo Resort, which has 200 guest rooms on 13 gulf-front acres and 17,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as a private beach area for events. Ocean Reef Club is a 2,000-acre private community with 275 rooms, best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle 30,000 square feet of space, 36 holes of golf, tennis courts and a spa.
If group members are as interested in sailfish, tarpon and bonefish as they are in the meeting, the next key Islamorada is the place to be. Recreational fishing captains help organize hourlong, half-day or full-day best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle fishing excursions for small groups. Cheeca Lodge and Spa has a laid-back vibe but exceptional service that planners can appreciate in a corporate meeting venue. The recently renovated property has more than 200 rooms (many with Atlantic Ocean views) and 4,600 square feet of meeting space. Marathon, located in the heart of the Keys, has fishing and underwater attractions like its northern neighbors, and it has Hawks Cay Resort, a 402-room island retreat on private Duck Key. With 20,000 square feet of waterfront meeting space, it's one of the Keys' most spacious resorts, and it has a spa, five pools and private marina.
Big Pine Key, south of Marathon, is the nature lover's place of respite, but meeting attendees likely want to get straight to Key West, the funky, historic, southernmost town in the continental United States. Delta, best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle American and low-fare AirTran Airways fly into Key West International Airport, making the island that feels like a few thousand miles away not so difficult to reach after all. It's Key West's attitude—flip flops for board meetings and a bucket of Coronas best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle during lunch events—that best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle makes it a corporate retreat best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle destination unlike most others.
Historic Old Town Key West, or the area south of White Street, has a smattering of meeting hotels within comfortable bike-riding distance of one another (when in Key West, do as the locals do). Most have beach access or dockside harbor views. Southernmost Hotel Collection, a group of four hotels best time of year to travel in mexico on a motorcycle on the island's south side, offer a variety of room types and meeting options for groups, and nearby Casa Marina Resort, a Waldorf Astoria property, has 311 rooms in elegant, Mediterranean style. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has welcomed the rich, the weary, the artistic and the vacationing since the 1920s. Its largest ballroom has almost 5,000 square feet of meeting space.
This year, Fort Lauderdale turns 100, and the coastal community is starting to show its age—in a good way. The city, which became known as a spring break hotspot thanks to the 1960 movie "Where the Boys Are," is growing up and maturing, turning into a respected beach destination with high-end resorts and award-winning restaurants. The city hasn't completel