I Stopped Hating Florida Long Ago

Home Turned Out to Be the Place I Thought I Wanted to Leave

We hear so much about presidential candidates–and so little about life in the states that elect them. In “Beyond the Circus,” writers take us off the trail and give us glimpses of politically important places. Today, Florida.

The name Julia Tuttle rarely evokes more than a quizzical expression from Floridians, but in the heart of downtown Miami, amidst glittering steel spires and Art Deco architecture, stands a life-size bronze statue of the oft-forgotten Mother of the Magic City. Her skirt is decorated with reliefs of pioneers working the land, Native Americans …