Florida

[jiacinto]

Discuss please

[Wonk]

1. r

[Ivory_Tower]

5. Beat me to it

I was going to discuss the order of the letters in the name.


Hmmm...is that what we're supposed to discuss?

[lynndew2]

30. FLORIDA HAS GATORS, FLORIDA HAS GATORS,

FLORIDA HAS GATORS, FLORIDA HAS GATORS, FLORIDA HAS GATORS, FLORIDA HAS GATOR YAAAAAAY DATS GREAT!!! YOUR TURN, I AM OUTTA BREATH

[proud patriot]

2. I was there once

did the whole Disney World ,Epcot, Universal Studio thing
as well as club med Sandpiper .

It felt weird having the ocean on the other side of me .
I was born raised and still live in the Bay Area and
that was my only experience on the east coast .

[jab105]

3. I live here...

so does Jeb, bummer:(

[searchingforlight]

4. . . . . is a sinkhole.

[Droopy]

6. Most of what I know about Florida comes from the road

Seeing as how I am a truck driver. I know they have strict laws governing trucks carrying produce and livestock. They have agricultural checkpoints set up along side the road that all trucks have to stop in.

I went down to Florida for a little tour one time when I was in between jobs. It's been several years. It was about a year or two after hurricane Andrew came through and wiped out most of Homestead. I stopped into Homestead for a nights stay and the lady working the desk at the motel asked me if I was looking for work. I guess they had a lot of people coming down there for that reason. Anyway I checked out the Atlantic coast on the way down, went down to key west and on up the Gulf side on the way back. My impressions were the weather is dismally hot and humid for an Ohio boy, much of Florida caters to tourists and tourism may be their biggest industry and Key West is way over-rated.

That's about all I know about Florida.

[ButterflyBlood]

7. produces great bands!

as friends rust, twelve hour turn, palatka, i hate myself, poison the well, gunmoll, less than jake, combatwoundedveteran, hot water music, ect. ect.

[jab105]

11. LESS THAN JAKE!!!

I know them...my boyfriend recorded at Roger's studio once:)

Gainesville used to have such a great band scene...For Squirrels (RIP), Less Than Jake, Sister Hazel...

got ruined with the 2am curfew IMO...and when the Covered Dish and Hardback shut down...

[ButterflyBlood]

45. they still do from what i've seen

www.noidearecords.com

although a lot of the great bands have broken up. I'm sure Gunmoll is still around though, one of the guys in it used to be in LTJ.

[catzies]

19. New Found Glory!

Are they still around?

[ButterflyBlood]

44. yes but they moved to California

and I hate them anyway.

however thaks for reminding me of one of their old bands, Shai Hulud. Another great one.

[Birthmark]

8. Worst...state...ever.

This place is a pit. I can't wait to leave.

[jiacinto]

10. Where in FL

are you?

[jab105]

12. Where is everybody in Florida...

how many of us are out there?:)

[Scurrilous]

35. I live in Miami.

Anyone who can't have a good time in Miami isn't really trying! :)

[watercolors]

51. Cocoa Beach area

been here since 1963, love it, but have seen too many changes that are not for the best.

[Birthmark]

21. Near Orlando

Volusia County.

[JanMichael]

18. Come join us in the Exodus to NC!

Come we leave the pit.

(This is Stephanie: I love Florida; I could stay down there and fish with ShakeyDave and hang out with Mrs. SD for a long time and be completely happy.)

OK, so my new bride doesn't agree with me....

[Birthmark]

23. NC is one possibility.

Canada is rapidly moving up the list.

[Best_man23]

9. The Keys is home for me

Live and work in Orlando, went to school in Tampa.

Left for the Windy City for a few years, but came back.

[joeybee12]

13. Miss Florida was crowned Miss America last night!

Another case of dirty voting!

Investigate!

[BlueJazz]

14. I live in St.Petersburg....

....Tampa Bay area.
After living in many, many places, I must say that the Tampa Bay Area
...St.Pete, Clearwater, Sarasota is one of the best kept secrets around, as far as good places to live.
Search the Web for "best places to live" and this Area usually comes up in the top 20.

Now if you're talking about Jacksonville then that's a different story...Barf!!


Mr.Bush Baud Man! He Vedy, Vedy Baud Man!!

[nono]

15. Florida

Jacksonville is home port now, I spent several years in the keys.

[jab105]

16. Grew up in Ft. Lauderdale....

went to Gainesville for college, and I'm still here:)

[nono]

17. Great Town

Stoped their for a couple of mo's.

[catzies]

20. Would anyone buy or not buy a house in St. Augustine?

I was Miami born and raised and I've been in California since '79 but I want to buy myself my retirement house there, but rent it out until I got there in 25 years. Good idea or not?

[Bush_has_Parvo]

26. St. Augustine is a beautiful city

I have only visited, so I don't know the real estate market there. It's the oldest city in the US, and I could think of worse places to wake up to every morning.

[ornotna]

22. Venice

20 minutes south of Sarasota. I like the Tampa area, we have our problems, but hell, name a part of the country that doesn't. Lots of entertainment, good resturants(best steak house in the country-Berns),great progressive radio statio-WMNF. And if you're real adveturous, There's Ybor city after dark
There's good and bad, but like I said, that's everywhere.

http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/bs_frame.htm
http://wmnf.org/
http://www.skipperssmokehouse.com/
http://www.castle-ybor.com/

And Sarasota county has some of the best beaches around.

[alarimer]

27. great radio station

They are available on the web though I never get a chance to listen. I really miss having a progressive radio station that plays a wide variety of music. I am in Corpus Christi, there is only one decent (commercial) radio station. And no good public radio station (only an NPR station that plays classical or opera). Texas sucks compared to Florida (hell, compared to most places LOL)

[flama]

43. Hi, neighbor!

If you're 20 minutes from Sarasota, you're not too far from me. It takes 35 minutes from the Nokomis Publix parking lot (which is really in Laurel?) to Main Street & 41, travelling on US 41 during morning rush hour, that is. Using I-75, it's about 15 minutes from my house to Exit 207, Bee Ridge Road.

The radio in my van is welded to WMNF! Some hours on weekends, though, I plug in a tape (yes, I've only got a tape player, not CD) when their music isn't quite to my liking.

We don't venture too far for good food. There's enough of it close. And we don't enjoy the great beaches enough either. I'm allergic to UV so in Florida, as well as when I lived in Arizona and Illinois, I'm mostly an indoor kinda gal. I have ventured to Siesta Key Beach, Caspersin, and Nokomis Beach more than once, though, when I can find some solid shade.

We live in a rather quiet and pretty part of Florida, notawol, and day trips can get us to some awfully interesting spots. ;-)

[ornotna]

50. Hi to you too

You are close. I had no idea there was a fellow DUer so near. I don't go to the beach all that often, but when we do we go to caspersin. we hang out in the woods with the grills and have a cookout while the kids go to the beach. I don't usually travel that far to eat either, but I have gone to Skippers for the entertainment, very cool place. We do live in a nice spot don't we. Now I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for a van with a DU sticker on it. ;)

[mitchtv]

24. Florida

People go to Florida to die:puke:
they come to California to LIVE

[sweetladybug]

29. I'm in Wewahitchka, Florida at this time(about 30 miles from Panama City

But I also own a home about 30 miles from Nashville, TN. We'll probably be going back to TN in a few months.(thank God) Florida is a nice place to visit but I don't like living here. The people in the panhandle area are some of the most racist and judgemental people I have ever met in my life, the pay is low and a person is lucky to find a full time job making $6.00 per hr. If you're lucky enough to find even a part-time job, every place wants to run a drug test, criminal back ground check and a credit check. They want to know everything about your personal life.) An employee has no rights to their privacy and laws are for the employer not the employee.

[jiacinto]

32. I see nothing wrong with a criminal check

nt

[FlaGranny]

39. My son has traveled all over the country.

Arizona is his second favorite place to spend time. Florida is his number one place to be. His favorite pastimes are golf, good restaurants, nightspots, and sports. All are found in high abundance here. As are fishing and polo. Florida colleges turn out some of the best football players in the country. That's all I can think of right now, must get to work.

Edit: He lives in the Atlanta area because of his job, but he doesn't much like Georgia.

[Susang]

25. Cocoa Beach rocks!

Hopefully, I'll be there in about a month for some surf and fun in the sun. Maybe I'll even spot Major Nelson and Jeannie!!

[scarlet_owl]

28. Florida, It's America's Wang

That is all I know about Florida.

[joeybee12]

31. America's Wnag--a great line from the Simpsons!

I think that episode was out around the time of the Florida voting debacle.

[scarlet_owl]

33. One of my favorite episodes!

[kayleybeth]

34. I grew up in Florida

Now a Louisiana transplant.

[Awsi Dooger]

36. I greatly prefer Miami to my current hometown of Las Vegas

In fact it's always a tremendous downer when I return to Las Vegas after a summer or Christmas holiday in Miami. If I can manage to alter my sports statistics job to do it completely online or via computer, I'll relocate in a Sunshine State second.

I can play a better and much less crowded golf course in suburban Miami for $15 than $75 will allow in Las Vegas. The weather is far superior also, all year long. No 115 furnace, no sustained 60 mph winds, and wonderful rain. Give me a break about humidity. The dependable and scenic sky late afternoon showers dilute even the most humid August days. Whenever I'm there attending a Miami/Florida football classic in the wondrous Orange Bowl two weeks ago, for example, I wonder why I ever left.

Yeah, the traffic is much worse than during my childhood in Miami, plenty of Spanish-only establishments and areas, plus annoying as hell toll roads. But I have traveled to 49 states and prefer South Florida to just about every place other than maybe San Diego. The rest of the state I don't know as well. The only place I despise is Gainesville, for obvious reasons.

Most of my boyhood friends who left the Miami area for college and early career have now returned.

[FlaGranny]

40. What are the obvious reasons

you hate Gainesville? One of my sons graduated from Florida. He absolutely loved Gainesville. Said he would have lived there, but there were few jobs in his field available in Gainesville. He liked the college-town atmosphere.

[catzies]

46. It hink he's joshing in a jocular, college-rivalry sort of way.

Hurricanes fans and Gators fans don't see eye to eye.

Did anyone see the Dave Barry written movie "Big Trouble" starring tim Allen? It got short shrift because of its unfortunate inclusion of a suitcase nuke and its Sept 11 2001 release date didn't help but there was a hilarious running gag of Miami AM sports radio fans calling in about the 'Canes and the Gators.

[FlaGranny]

49. Duh! Never thought of that. Well, I DO have a problem!

One of my sons went to Miami and the other to Florida. It's hard to watch them play each over. Miami always wins, but I'm not sure if that makes me happy or sad. :-)

This is a conflicted household - Gators/Canes.

[Awsi Dooger]

53. No conflict in my family

My dad properly taught me to hate the Gators when I was about 6.

When I was maybe 11 I was sitting 20 yards away when Florida pulled the infamous Great Gator Flop in the Orange Bowl, intentionally falling down to pushup position on defense so Miami could score and Florida get the ball back for senior QB John Reaves. He was about 10 yards short of the NCAA career passing record.

To this day, Florida claims no one from the sideline called for it. Right, that young assistant coach who I watched run the length of the sideline and put both palms down before the play while yelling "get down, get down" was simply a mirage.

Gainesville would be swell minus its premier attraction, uprooted and airlifted into the Bermuda Triangle. Wonderful Ocala would certainly creep much closer given that Gator extinction. Horses are more insightful and have better taste than you might think.

Unfortunately, Miami doesn't annually beat Florida. The wimp Gators pulled out of the series year-to-year in '87. We won't dismiss them again until '08. In the mid-to-late '90s they would have chomped our ass for several seasons. Too bad.

I must admit the Gator fans took the 38-33 Orange Bowl debacle two weeks ago with proper disbelief and flowing tears. It was so wonderful to behold in person.

[catzies]

47. That's my goal, AwsieDooger!

"Most of my boyhood friends who left the Miami area for college and early career have now returned."

You know how salmon swim to sea, then swim back to where they were spawned to die? ;) I already spawned but my daughter is a native Californian and will stay here.

I'm picking St. Augustine as a retirement base because I prefer the Atlantic to the Gulf, and I'm sure it's cheaper than Miami, but still close enough to get ther with no problems.

[Awsi Dooger]

52. My cousin lives in St. Augustine and loves it

In fact, many of my parents' friends and some of mine have bought or built retirement homes from Melbourne to St. Augustine.

And why not, the old fort is great, not too crowded or expensive and lots of golf and accessible cities.

No shot for me. Once you cruise north of Broward the state becomes Gator Country in a hurry. I would rather turn salmon than be bombarded by that every year.

My sister lives in Orlando but visits my parents less than I do, coming from Las Vegas. When/if I wise up and return it will be within a few football fields of Shorty's Barbeque and old Bird Road.

[Cheswick2.0]

37. worst thing about florida.....it is flat and humid

best thing is the diversity of culture.

The problem with florida is that it wasn't big enough for me and my ex-husband after he moved his girlfriend (now the 2nd wife)in across the street from me. Fucking assholes!
That is why I am back in Pa.

[FlaGranny]

41. You probably have never been to Ocala.

Beautiful horse country, rolling hills, streams, white fences, huge oak trees, green fields, and gorgeous thoroughbreds. One of the prettiest places I've ever seen. But you MUST get off the main streets and roads to see it.

Edit: The rolling hills are little, but not flat. :-)

[Cheswick2.0]

48. you are right, I haven't been to Ocala

I am sure I would think it was pretty too. I think much about florida is beautiful. I guess I am a tall mountain peaks kind of person.

[SiobhanClancy]

38. After many years in the Keys

I'm now back where I started...in New England. I do love and miss the Keys,though,and lately I'm hearing them calling me back:)

[Samurai_Writer]

42. Treasure Coast

I just moved to Florida last year, to the Treasure Coast. It's about 1 hour north of West Palm Beach. I love the clean air, being close to the beach (east coast), and the laid-back atmosphere. I hate that 99% of the people here seem to be Republican, ultra-conservative, uber-religious bigots and racists. I haven't made a real friend on this coast the whole time I've been here. I have met a few cool people from Tampa, though. I am in a social club that holds dances and parties throughout the state, and that is how I meet most of my friends. They all seem to live in Tampa, Orlando, or Fort Myers... no one near where I am.