As the United States hits its semiquincentennial in 2026, Florida plans to celebrate.

Florida officials have already begun placing statues in counties named for founding the fathers, including Monroe, Madison, Hamilton and Franklin counties.

The state also released an official road trip with stops that highlight Florida’s contributions to the Republic. The road trip includes these 11 locations in North Central Florida.

Birthplace of Gatorade

The University of Florida launched Gatorade, and Florida’s Official Guidebook lists the accomplishment as a symbol of Florida’s pioneer spirit. The sports drink, now ubiquitous worldwide, started in UF’s College of Medicine under the direction of Dr. Robert Cade.

Gainesville still hosts the Gators that Cade helped with increased electrolytes and hydration, along with the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention, opening in 2018.

Birthplace of Tom Petty

The singer behind “American Girl” is also an American legend. Born and raised in Gainesville, Tom Petty worked at UF and cut his teeth on music in the city’s music halls.

“His songs, blending Southern grit and American storytelling, reflect his ability to influence the world around him,” the Florida Guidebook says.

Petty lives on in Gator tradition. Between the third and fourth quarters of each home football game, the stadium sings “I Won’t Back Down,” a tribute started five days after Petty died in 2017.

Historic Micanopy

Recorded as a Timucuan village in 1539, Micanopy contains a storied history among Florida towns and is the oldest inland city.

The town was called Fort Defiance during the Seminole Wars and is now known as “the town that time forgot.” The Old Florida feeling of Micanopy inspired Grady, South Carolina, in the film “Doc Hollywood.”

Home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Inspired by Cross Creek on the southeastern edge of Alachua County, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings moved to Florida and then wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling from her 72-acre orange grove.

She never left the state as Old Florida continued to inspire her works, including Cross Creek, South Moon Under and When the Whippoorwill. Her home is now a state park and open to the public.

Ginnie Springs

Gilchrist County, Florida’s youngest at just 101 years old, earns a spot on the road trip thanks to the privately-owned Ginnie Springs.

Named for a “Virginia” who once washed clothes there, the springs are known for their clear water and cave diving.

Suwannee River

A vital route from Florida’s interior to Fort Duval, the Suwannee River carried steamboats filled with lumber, cotton and tobacco for decades through Dixie County. Now, the river carries paddlers and fishers through the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge.

O’Leno State Park

The Santa Fe River disappears into a sinkhole in this Columbia County park, but fear not, the river resurfaces a few miles away.

O’Leno was built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps and is one of Florida’s oldest state parks. It blends history with recreation, from trails and suspension bridges to swimming.

Starke and Call Street

Featuring brick streets and antique storefronts, downtown Starke preserves its look as a railroad hub from the 19th century.

The historic district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and shows signs of Camp Blanding’s later influence during World War II.

Battle of Olustee

The site of Florida’s largest Civil War battle, the Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park, remembers the 10,000 Union and Confederate troops that fought within the pines.

The park stretches 700 acres and holds an annual reenactment. The battlefield was designated as Florida’s first historic site in 1912.

Cedar Key: Florida’s Maritime Heritage

This small gulf town reminds visitors of early Florida life through the Cedar Key Historical Museum and the Cedar Key Museum State Park, with model schooners, sawmill equipment and memories of the thriving pencil, lumber and shrimp industries that used its shores.

Silver Springs

Florida’s first tourist attraction, Silver Springs in Marion County, invited steamboat tourists in the 1870s and later created glass-bottom boats for visitors to see straight through to the springs below.

Now the site of Silver Springs State Park, the area was named a National Natural Landmark in 1971.

For a full list of Florida’s contributions, including the Blue Angels, the birthplace of air conditioning and the Senator Tree, visit the Road Trip Florida website.