State - Florida

[sonya123]

Ok, here is the Florida thread.

My comments on Florida ( NO , it is not all bad...LOL)
There are many outdoor things that are fun to do in Florida. Actually, I think Florida has more things to do than any other State all the way around

Beaches are nice, my favorite is the Atlantic coast , we have friends in Ormond by the sea with a great beach ( no houses on a lot of it) , St Augustine SP ( actually it's called Anastasia but it's next to St. Augustine sorry )is awesome too.
If you like no waves and blue water , probably Clearwater beach is nice.
Springs; if you are not afraid of gators and snakes, float trip down Ichnetucknee is awesome , but there are many other nice springs

Bird watching: Orlando wetland park , Everglades

Then there are the theme parks of course . We had season tickets most years for Universal. IMO Islands of Adventure has the best rides including Harry Potter and the Hulk ( if those are still there)
Water parks are great also. There used to be Wet and Wild ( daughter was a lifeguard there for a few years) but that was shut down and they built a new one. We moved before it opened

Best hiking but can be a little scary : Ocala national forest. We used to camp at Juniper Springs a lot

I have to go take care of animals , will post the BAD later LOL

 

[joel]

I do not know, Texas & Alaska have a lot going for them.. I have been to Florida more than once & enjoyed it, never to Texas & Alaska.
But I stand by my bias.

Ok, here is the Florida thread.

My comments on Florida ( NO , it is not all bad...LOL)
There are many outdoor things that are fun to do in Florida. Actually, I think Florida has more things to do than any other State all the way around

Beaches are nice, my favorite is the Atlantic coast , we have friends in Ormond by the sea with a great beach ( no houses on a lot of it) , St Augustine SP ( actually it's called Anastasia but it's next to St. Augustine sorry )is awesome too.
If you like no waves and blue water , probably Clearwater beach is nice.
Springs; if you are not afraid of gators and snakes, float trip down Ichnetucknee is awesome , but there are many other nice springs

Bird watching: Orlando wetland park , Everglades

Then there are the theme parks of course . We had season tickets most years for Universal. IMO Islands of Adventure has the best rides including Harry Potter and the Hulk ( if those are still there)
Water parks are great also. There used to be Wet and Wild ( daughter was a lifeguard there for a few years) but that was shut down and they built a new one. We moved before it opened

Best hiking but can be a little scary : Ocala national forest. We used to camp at Juniper Springs a lot

I have to go take care of animals , will post the BAD later LOL

 

[Amish Heart]

Never been to Florida, but my sis and her son love it there. She's in Land O Lakes.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I've been to Florida several times on business. I guess it's OK. Too hot, humid, flat and too many people for me.

 

[Caribou]

My SIL and biological father live in FL, two good reasons to stay in AK. Better reason, I don’t like and snakes. Not to mention gators.. I did want to visit Disney World but they went woke.

 

[sonya123]

Ok so here are ALL the bad things about Florida
It's a great place for a vacation but imo a terrible place to live.

Weather: you walk outside most of the year and wall of humid heat hits you. I would never be able to do what we do here in Florida, I would probably die from heatstroke
So , unless you are at the beach, a spring or a water park, forget about doing ANYTHING outside in summer. Then you have the absolute torrential downpours that happen mostly on your commute home in the afternoon/evening
Our electric bills were around $500 a month every month except maybe January, when they were $400 and very often we still had the ac on. ( we have been out of FLorida for 9 years, so that would probably cost way more now)

traffic: just horrible! took husband at least 2 hours to get home unless he left really late , I 4 is the worst interstate for commuters except maybe I 5 in LA
and when we left there was construction and it was even worse
then add in all the tourists and old people driving, and you get lots and lots of accidents , our car insurance was double in Florida from Virginia ( no tickets or accidents)
no vehicle inspections, which sounds good, but really isn't. It means all the illegals drive with no license and cars with no lights or brakes and again, lots of accidents

cost of living is very high, regardless of no income tax, unless you have a really really well paying job ( we did) , forget about living in Florida. Many jobs are low paying tourist industry jobs and you won't be able to afford a house or even rental . Property tax and insurance are sky high too.
There is a hospital practically on every corner but they still suck and wait times for the ER are horrible ( compared to Virginia, only been to any in those 2 States)

then there are the mosquitos, and the giant cockroaches /palmetto bugs plus gators that will come out of a lake and eat your dog ( happened to a good friend, and it was a large dog) , the homeless are everywhere and so are the illegals
Almost anything within Orlando city limits is ghetto. We lived in a small decent neighborhood surrounded by ghetto on 3 sides, so even if our neighborhood seemed ok. you could not leave a kids bike out on the driveway or it would be gone in half an hour. Schools mostly suck too. While our kids were in highschool, one of daughter's classmates was drowned by gang members in a retention pond ( she was pregnant) and 2 were set on fire on a biketrail nearby we used to go walk the dogs on and rollerblade. Crime is very high. Lots of crazies in Florida , even in rural areas. LIke I mentioned Ocala. Lots of people get murdered there in the forest, so if you ever hike or camp there, make sure you can defend yourself ( but gun laws are good in Florida so you can)

and then there are the hurricanes.....be prepared to spend many miserable weeks or even months of no power and a leaky roof , while you sweat to death and have no ac in August or September. It's just miserable ( been there done that)

ok done LOL

edit: not done, forgot to mention sink holes that could just swallow up your house one day

 

[Swing]

I went to 1st and parts of 3rd grade in the Pensacola area. My grandparents lived out towards the Naval base area. During the Bay of Pigs time, I was in Elementary school in Ft. Walton Beach. I still go back and visit those areas as much as I can. Do any of you know of A & E Drug store? It was more of a gift shop and one side has a lot of fabrics.

Years later, in early married I lived near Orlando while they were talking about Disney buying a swamp And look at what that man and his ideas could do with a swamp. I remember one time there were ice cycles down there. And with only heat exchangers, we didn't get really warm for a couple of days.

And a couple of years later I lived in St. Petersburg. I really liked it. I remember the fruit being so much and large in the grocery stores, I did enjoy those fruit departments. I also remember all the old little old ladies behind the steering wheel of those big Caddy land cruisers. And all the flowers on the graves that are down there.

The last night I lived in St. Petersburg, one of those flying palmetto bugs was determined to dive bomb me. He was at least 3 inches long, and it took a can of raid to discourage him.

Then about 7 or so years ago I got to know Ft. Meyers area as I had some family down there to visit.

Oh, and remember the Love Bugs.?

 

[Mountain trapper]

Ok so here are ALL the bad things about Florida
It's a great place for a vacation but imo a terrible place to live.

Weather: you walk outside most of the year and wall of humid heat hits you. I would never be able to do what we do here in Florida, I would probably die from heatstroke
So , unless you are at the beach, a spring or a water park, forget about doing ANYTHING outside in summer. Then you have the absolute torrential downpours that happen mostly on your commute home in the afternoon/evening
Our electric bills were around $500 a month every month except maybe January, when they were $400 and very often we still had the ac on. ( we have been out of FLorida for 9 years, so that would probably cost way more now)

traffic: just horrible! took husband at least 2 hours to get home unless he left really late , I 4 is the worst interstate for commuters except maybe I 5 in LA
and when we left there was construction and it was even worse
then add in all the tourists and old people driving, and you get lots and lots of accidents , our car insurance was double in Florida from Virginia ( no tickets or accidents)
no vehicle inspections, which sounds good, but really isn't. It means all the illegals drive with no license and cars with no lights or brakes and again, lots of accidents

cost of living is very high, regardless of no income tax, unless you have a really really well paying job ( we did) , forget about living in Florida. Many jobs are low paying tourist industry jobs and you won't be able to afford a house or even rental . Property tax and insurance are sky high too.
There is a hospital practically on every corner but they still suck and wait times for the ER are horrible ( compared to Virginia, only been to any in those 2 States)

then there are the mosquitos, and the giant cockroaches /palmetto bugs plus gators that will come out of a lake and eat your dog ( happened to a good friend, and it was a large dog) , the homeless are everywhere and so are the illegals
Almost anything within Orlando city limits is ghetto. We lived in a small decent neighborhood surrounded by ghetto on 3 sides, so even if our neighborhood seemed ok. you could not leave a kids bike out on the driveway or it would be gone in half an hour. Schools mostly suck too. While our kids were in highschool, one of daughter's classmates was drowned by gang members in a retention pond ( she was pregnant) and 2 were set on fire on a biketrail nearby we used to go walk the dogs on and rollerblade. Crime is very high. Lots of crazies in Florida , even in rural areas. LIke I mentioned Ocala. Lots of people get murdered there in the forest, so if you ever hike or camp there, make sure you can defend yourself ( but gun laws are good in Florida so you can)

and then there are the hurricanes.....be prepared to spend many miserable weeks or even months of no power and a leaky roof , while you sweat to death and have no ac in August or September. It's just miserable ( been there done that)

ok done LOL

I'm sure that you had a backup generator with plenty of fuel during the power outages.

 

[sonya123]

yes!! Nasty things ( love bugs)
Had to laugh at your palmetto bug comment, yes they do that LOL

 

[sonya123]

I'm sure that you had a backup generator with plenty of fuel during the power outages.

we did , but only after the first one that caused a 2 week power outage....
And then you can't plug everything into it. No stove ( so I cooked on the camping stove ) and no Ac ( cental ac was hardwired somehow in the electric system, nothing to plug in)
So it really didn't help much , other than run the fridge and charge the phones

 

[Mountain trapper]

we did , but only after the first one that caused a 2 week power outage....
And then you can't plug everything into it. No stove ( so I cooked on the camping stove ) and no Ac ( cental ac was hardwired somehow in the electric system, nothing to plug in)
So it really didn't help much , other than run the fridge and charge the phones

Then you needed a whole house generator with auto start and auto switch gear.

 

[Mountain trapper]

.

 

[sonya123]

Then you needed a whole house generator with auto start and auto switch gear.

no , what we needed and did was get out of that State LOL, no desire to ever live there again , don't like that sort of weather at all
we don't have ac at all here

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Yes, Florida is bad, bad bad.
DO NOT move here.

Everything south of State Road 40, which runs from Daytona Beach straight across to the Gulf sucks. Big time.
I know, I lived down there over half my life.

Oh, you forgot sharks, Eastern Diamondback rattlesnakes, water moccasins, huge freaking spiders, iguanas, and a myriad of other creatures that will refine your situational awareness.

Florida Man is a real species, we laugh about it down here.
Another thing you forgot is all the crackheads and toothless meth cookers.

I’ve lived here all my life, 75 years, and wouldn’t live anywhere else.

 

[Swing]

This Milk bottle is where grandfather would load us up a hot summer night in back of pick up truck, and go get ice cream. Papaw loved ice cream.

These images from a post I saw tonight about Florida.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

And don’t forget Florida’s invasive species such as 18 foot long pythons, six foot Nile Monitor lizards, cane toads whose poison will kill your dog, and other delights.

 

[Jim Costa]

I grew up with that milk bottle building in Pensacola, fla.
I think it was called Pensacola Dairy. It was a teen hangout referred to as the "Dairy".
The waitresses were on skates.
Great burgers.

 

[Jim Costa]

Swing: I lived in Pensacola 35 years and then moved to the next city over (Milton).

A & E Drug store is on New Warrington Road, where Cervantes street and Mobile Hwy intersect.

As I posted to another thread today, my idea of a romantic Florida vacation
is to stay at home, hug the air conditioner and say "I love you, I love you."

The "Milk bottle" was on Gregory Street. I am not sure if its still there.

The only critters I recall is the palmeto bugs - giant cockroaches.

 

[Jim Costa]

Rice Paddy Daddy. Although I see alligators at times, I only had a dangerous run with just one.

As a boy Scout Master, I took my troop to camp on Eglin Air Force base, back in the woods on a nice creek.
It was a wonderful summer weekend with great weather. The boys swam a lot.

Sunday afternoon I got a call from the mother of the newest boy in the troop, just 11 years old. She was upset about junior being bitten by an alligator.

At first she was a little upset but then she lost it when I said I didn't know anything about it. I couldn't blame her. I promised to check on it and call her back.

Then minutes later I had to tell her that according to his Patrol Leader,
they were all horsing around the cook fire and Junior was playing with
a lizard. It bit the tip of his finger and was dangling from it as Junior laughed.

He honestly thought it was a "baby alligator".
I have no idea how he came to believe that.

If the gator had been a little bit older it would have gotten me killed!

 

[zoomzoom]

The Mrs. and I visited FL I'm guessing 100 times before we finally bought a place there.

It's in suburbia so we don't get gators but there's plenty of other wildlife visible.

We're on the east coast, a few miles inland from the ocean. Close to plenty of places for activities. We watch Cape Canaveral launches from our driveway.

The Mrs. flies down there almost every month. I try to avoid the hottest months and go down maybe 5 times/year.

Insurance is really high. Home Ins is about 5x more than PA, car ins is about 3-4x more.

 

[zoomzoom]

What I do like is certain "taxable" things are A LOT cheaper there.

E.g. I smoke and was running low on cigarettes. I asked the Mrs. if she would get me some for me. "Get some for me" means that I'd like her to fly to FL, get me a few cartons and fly back home. She did it. The savings on the smokes was more than enough to pay for her round-trip airfare and the travel costs to-and-from the airport.

 

[Jim Costa]

ZoomZoom: My son did something like that once.
He is a"Boomer", chasing plant shutdowns for repairs, as a pipe welder.
They are short jobs by they pay like crazy. They require long hours because the plant must come back online as quickly as possible.

He finished a job in Wyoming and got laid off. Because he had a history of working around the country, he could file for unemployment in any state "he was in".

He and a buddy took a flight into California, filed, and returned to their trucks in Wyoming. He came back to Florida. He was drawing the highest unemployment rate in the U.S.

That was the first year of Covid, the year that they extended the unemployment an additional six months.

He got a year's vacation and was in hog heaven!

 

[Ekatarina]

I did travel in USA alone by myself a bit before 2001 different ways.
I was sleeping for the night where ever I could
(sometimes by the highway in the wood or field)
I was happy when I was close an *Overnight tent camping
so I could have a shower and do laundry

(My mother was so upset because I did not tell her ...
I phoned her to tell her when I was in NYC ...and boy she was upset )

Train* - Hitchhiking on highways* -
* Auto driveaway Company to deliver cars *FBI have my photo and fingerprints *
- Greyhound bus and Transportes Del Norte Bus

I only had with me a sleeping bag and backpack and few clothes 2 pair of running shoes - 3 pair of jeans and t-shirts
and of course *USA Visa good for 6 months, a valid *Canadian Passport and *Driver Licence

I hated the places where it was too hot and humid like
*Louisiana - Texas *South of Texas *Arizona - *New Mexico -

*Mexico ( Ciudad Juarez ---took bus to Mexico and Toluca )
and other places I went...I was a bit adventurous back then

 

[TexasCharm]

I grew up in Florida (shhhh, don't tell anyone!). I always say you aren't REALLY in Florida until you turn the corner and are in the peninsula, otherwise you're really in south Georgia or Alabama! lol

I couldn't wait to get out of Florida and the only part of Florida I liked was the Ocala area.. horse country. But as an adult, and going back and visiting family (on the Space Coast) until my folks died, I can see some allure.

Every place has it's goods and bads, and it can vary from person to person.

I prefer Texas, but really, the climate and critters are about the same.. the culture is different and a little more to my liking here in the Lone Star State..

 

[LadyLocust]

Had a friend who moved from Detroit area to Satsuma when she was about 8 years old and finished her growing up there. Shortly after her arrival, she developed "creeping eruption" which is evidently an infection that she got from the tiny shards of shell while going barefooted. The infection went from feet up the legs - meds and she was fine but she wasn't impressed. I've never been there.

 

[Jim Costa]

LadyLocust: Most native Floridians are immune for Creeping Eruption as we can walk on water.

 

[TexasCharm]

LadyLocust: Most native Floridians are immune for Creeping Eruption as we can walk on water.

FActs. lol

 

[TexasCharm]

What's not to love?

 

[Jim Costa]

The beauty of Florida is a high school couple is always near a beach on the weekends
where they can go to at night to watch the submarine races.

 

[sonya123]

LadyLocust: Most native Floridians are immune for Creeping Eruption as we can walk on water.

I think both of our kids are definitely , they walk barefoot all the time and are still alive