Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park

The Cross Creek farm where Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote about backwoods Florida, including The Yearling, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. The farmhouse, barn and a still-producing orange grove are kept much as they were in the 1930s and 1940s. This is old rural Florida, before air conditioning and interstates. The grounds are open daily, but the house is shown only on guided tours, Thursday through Sunday. Pair it with Gainesville and the springs nearby.