New Smyrna Beach is a lovely slip of island off Central Florida's east coast, an inlet below the bustle of Daytona and worlds away. Legend tells us Ponce de Leon landed here before sailing to St. Augustine to found North America's oldest city. Bordered on the west by the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon, the south by Cape Canaveral, the north by the notorious inlet of Crane's The Open Boat, and the east by the Atlantic, New Smyrna is paradise found. The town has fostered more world-class surfers than any other on earth. Here surfing is not a sport, hobby, or pastime. Surfing is a way of life with its own rules, language, culture, and customs. Open these pages to meet the pioneers and the professionals, the grommets, and maybe a kook or two.

New Smyrna Beach is beloved by residents and visitors alike for its small-town charm and fascinating 250-year history. In the last century, the city has evolved from a sleepy Southern beach town to a vibrant seaside destination.

Ponce de Leon is reputed to have entered the inlet now named for him at New Smyrna Beach during his first Florida exploration in 1513. Jonathan Dickenson crossed the inlet to safety with the Spanish in 1696, and Dr. Andrew Turnbull created his short-lived New Smyrna settlement in 1768. Later pirates and plunderers entered through the inlet and wreaked havoc, and American Indian chief Wildcat terrorized the area. Federal navy cannonading destroyed the community in 1863, and the freezes of 1895 and 1896 decimated the orange groves. The people of New Smyrna persevered through it all to make New Smyrna the charming community it is today. This book offers a wide view of this history, mostly through images from the family archives of Zelia Mary Wilson Sweett.

Jenna Palmer is recovering from a divorce that left her broke and furious after her ex ran off with the bartender from the local biker bar and her half of a lottery jackpot. Luckily, her P.I. business is paying the bills, and she's doing OK--until her ex turns up dead in her own home. Now she has to solve the toughest case of her fledgling career--or she could end up in jail for the crime herself. The distractingly handsome, by-the-book Detective Bryce Johnson is also on the case, and Jenna is his prime suspect. Time is running out, and leads are tough to find. While Jenna’s chasing down clues, Detective Johnson is chasing her, convinced that she knows more than she’s telling. There’s an undeniable chemistry sparking between them, but there’s a murder to solve and justice to be served.

This diary-like correspondence brings to life the dreams, efforts, and trials of Andrew Turnbull and the Smyrna colonists. When East Florida was ceded to England by Spain in 1763, Scottish physician, Dr. Andrew Turnbull, recruited over 1,400 Mediterranean colonists to establish the agricultural colony he named "Smyrnéa." Carita Doggett recounts that not only did the growing conditions prove less than ideal but how seemingly every imaginable calamity befell the colony before it failed in 1777. This edition of Dr. Andrew Turnbull and The New Smyrna Colony of Florida includes dozens of letters between Andrew Turnbull and others involved with his Smyrnéa venture. These documents, not available to Carita Doggett, were discovered in the tower of Ballindalloch Castle in Scotland where they had been archived for centuries.

Featuring 53 towns new to this edition, this book lists the most art-friendly small communities throughout the United States and in several Canadian provinces.

In the Ravenous Pig: seasons of Florida chefs/owners James and Julie Petrakis share the secrets behind some of the restaurant's most popular year-round dishes.