Fresh seafood is the specialty all over Florida, and every imaginable variety is available, including Florida spiny lobster and stone crabs. But seafood is only part of the story - everything from Japanese to kosher can be found, including Chinese, French, Spanish, Continental, German, Greek, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Polynesian, barbecue and steak.

Don't stay in and cook at your Florida villa! You'll miss the opportunity to sample the state's offerings of Latin American, Caribbean and Cuban cuisine, including such delicacies as fish grilled in banana leaves, the spicy flavors of jerk pork and chicken (Jamaican barbecue) or the hearty taste of ropa vieja, a Cuban stew flavored with annatto oil. (There's a chain of restaurants in the state called Columbia that provides a good introduction to Cuban cooking with a somewhat more formal Spanish influence.) Much of Florida's cooking employs fresh ingredients and unusual seasonings that range from the sweet to the incredibly hot. Be sure to try Key lime pie - it's made from tiny yellow limes that grow locally. The juice is also sold in supermarkets.

You may want to ask the owners of your private villa for some advice about good places to eat before you travel out on your holiday - they'll know the best places as they will have eaten there themselves.