Okay, so I needed to get a handle on where all the main ports in Florida actually are. You see maps online, but I wanted something simple I could look at quickly.
First off, I just went looking for a list. Typed something like “list of florida seaports” into a search engine. Got a few different websites, government ones, Wikipedia, stuff like that. I pulled together a basic list of the big ones I recognized: Miami, Port Everglades down in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Jacksonville (JAXPORT they call it), Port Canaveral over by the space center, Key West, Palm Beach, Port Manatee, Pensacola, Panama City. Seemed like a good starting point.
Then I thought, okay, need a map to put these on. Searched again, this time for something like “blank map of florida”. Found a simple outline map pretty quick. Just the shape of the state, nothing fancy. Saved that picture.
Next step was actually putting the ports on the map. I opened the blank Florida map image in a basic photo editor, you know, like the one that comes with the computer, nothing special. Then, one by one, I looked up each port from my list using an online map thingy to see roughly where it was located along the coast.
Putting the Dots Down
I started dropping little dots or circles onto my blank map image. Put one up near Jacksonville, another one on the east coast for Canaveral, then Palm Beach, Everglades, Miami clustered down south. Flipped over to the Gulf side, put marks for Tampa, Manatee nearby, then way out west for Pensacola and Panama City. Oh, and Key West way down at the bottom.
Labeling the Mess
Just dots weren’t enough, obviously. So, I used the text tool in the editor. Next to each dot, I typed out the port name. Had to fiddle with the font size a bit. Down in South Florida, things got a little crowded with Miami, Everglades, and Palm Beach kinda close, so I had to nudge the labels around so you could actually read them.
- JAXPORT
- Port Canaveral
- Port of Palm Beach
- Port Everglades
- PortMiami
- Port of Key West
- Port Tampa Bay
- Port Manatee
- Port of Pensacola
- Port Panama City
Made sure the names were clear. Didn’t need exact addresses, just the general location and the name.
The Final Look
Took a final look at it. Did it look right? Were the ports generally in the correct spots? Yeah, seemed about right for a quick reference. It wasn’t a navigation chart or anything, just a simple visual guide. Saved the image file. So yeah, that’s how I put together my own little map of Florida ports. Took a bit of searching and clicking, but got it done.
