State capital it may be, but TALLAHASSEE is a provincial city of oak trees and soft hills that won't take more than two days to explore in full. Around its small grid of central streets - where you'll find plenty of reminders of Florida's formative years - briefcase-clutching bureaucrats mingle with some of Florida State University's 250,000 students, who brighten the mood considerably and keep the city awake at night.

Though built on the site of an important prehistoric meeting place and taking its name from Apalachee Indian ( talwa meaning "town", and ahassee meaning "old"), Tallahassee's history really began with Florida's incorporation into the US, and its selection as the state's administrative base - the local Native Americans, the Tamali tribe, being unceremoniously dispatched to make room for the trio of log cabins in which the first Florida government sat in 1823. The scene of every major wrangle in Florida politics - including the controversial ballot recount of the 2000 presidential election - Tallahassee has seen its fortunes hindered by the lightning-paced development of south Florida. Oddly distanced from most of the people it governs, the city has a slow tempo and a strong sense of the past - the city remains a conservative place.

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The Town

Tallahassee

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