Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man Defends His Homeland

In his typically humorous style, Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer Is Much Faster) author Barry proclaims his love for Florida and shares his experiences at some of the state's tourist traps. He offers his unscientific assumptions that the Sunshine State became a "joke state" as a result of the 2000 presidential election, and that some people who come from other places stay because they can't find their way off the peninsula. He extols the area's virtues: it's warm, not boring, and has low taxes and amazing women. He checks out the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters, where there's a lot of merchandise for sale featuring a creature few have spotted. In the town of Cassadaga, known for its spiritualism, Barry meets a medium. He visits Weeki-Wachee, home of a mermaid show, and the Villages, a wildly popular retirement community. Each sight is rated with a possible five out-of-order Mold-A-Matics, although Lock & Load Miami, where he shoots a machine gun, earns six. He spends time at Gatorland and Spongearama, rants about celebrity DJs at the hottest club in Miami, and barhops in Key West.