Cheers for the comment on the water and plank shot.
I've lways loved water, even did a Civil Engineering degree so I could make dams, but ended up programming computers!
The only tips I can give you for the water shots is to get a tripod, set the camera's ISO setting to the slowest (ISO 100 on my 10D, 50 on yours), put it in Aperture Priority mode (Av or A on the mode dial) and put that it it's biggest number and that's how you get the longest shutter speed. You can do this on the beach when a wave hits a rock etc.
If you can get a cable release, they help - stops the camera shaking when you press the button.
But in Florida, you've got loads of light, so probably best off with suerp fast shutter speeds and capture things like this ferris wheel, those palms etc. Really like the composition of the wheel - yer eye's led around the perimiter, it's not a standard view, almost feel slike the wheel's coming on top of you.