The nicest part of the Florida Trail is a live bombing range. The swamps have bog bridges, so you don‘t have to slog through alligator and snake infested waters and it was one of the few sections I felt safe in; most of the Florida Trail is plagued with armed rednecks that come out at night and roam the woods with spot lights and dogs.
To go through it, you first need to hitch hike or get a trail angel to take you to a place where you see a video on the dangers of walking through a live bombing range.
The video starts with a happy little girl skipping through the woods and then cuts to film of fighter jets dropping bombs and the narrator boasting the merits of multi-use land. I may be wrong, but Florida seems like the only place in the world that would think of combining a park and a bombing range.
Then, in the video you see a hiker surprised to find what looks to be a cruise missile. 
She then takes some flagging tape out of her backpack and begins roping it off. She flags down a ranger, or what ever you call the person that patrols a bombing range/recreational park and reports the armament to him. I never saw one of those guys; I never saw anyone. And as prepared as I thought I was for any event, I had never thought of bringing flagging ribbon in the advent of finding live armament in my path.
You are not to leave the trail, and you are to camp at designated camp sites only, but the trail was so enjoyable to hike, that I kept hiking and would just camp anywhere I was at dusk . Afterwards I thought this rule was probably because there could be bombs in the bushes.
Two days after I walked out of the bombing range they tested the “Mother of all Bombs� there and people in Alabama said they felt it.
My guess is that the armed “rednecks” were out hunting for game, not for hikers. Wild hogs are “rooting up” many areas of the South and they are often hunted at night.
I live near the bombing range. At night, you can hear the bombs explolding. No way would I sleep in the bombing range. I know how many bombs they drop a night. I’ve never heard of casualties, though. I guess that is good. Don’t you?
I have been wanting to hike the FT. I had no idea the rednecks came out at night. Nice to know before I take the kiddies out to “meet Mother Nature.”
Shannon
Sounds like you were passing through Eglin AFB, right? It sounds weird to say, but it’s a beautiful area. Don’t pick up the ordinance, though…!