hey all you florida peeps

so my sis just came back from a week in florida. they stayed on the gulf side landing in orlando, spending the day at universal, then the rest of the time at the ocean. well, after exploring the area, they want to pack up, sell everything and move there. it's a long-term goal, but seems they are kind of serious.
I know that you cannot explore all the in's and out's of the state on a week vacation, and clearly, all they are seeing are the good, and not the fact that you still have to work and have the associated problems, yardwork to consume time, etc..

just wondering if a few of you florida peeps would mind some offtopic conversations on the subject..

I want to ensure that they have the good and bad to make a decision :)


email me if you have some time to chat about your fine state :)

[email protected]
I'll forward the info to her..

Just had some of my really close boating buddies move to Englewood, below Tampa, two weeks ago from Cali. Not by their choice, his dad is in failing health so they made the move. So far he hates it and wishes it were otherwise but it is what it is. I guess it depends a lot on where your coming from too I guess. They are the type that are out on the boat at least twice a week and he's bummed as there's nothing near him, says he ain't boardin' with gators either!

Florida is a great place... if you like living on the surface of the sun, bugs the size of volkwagons, snakes that eat dogs, crocks that eat row boats, getting to rebuild your blown away house about every few years, learning a second language... stuff like that ;-)

Oh, and Ed lives in Florida too LOL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KSmith

Oh, and Ed lives in Florida too LOL

---

Now, let's play nice Kapt'n Smith.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wolfeman131

Now, let's play nice Kapt'n Smith.

---

I'm sorry, I beg forgiveness :-)

ed has given me some insight into florida over the years and hoping he responds to this, as I would value his opinion since he's not native to that area..

anyone?? anyone?? :)

Everything is dependent on your viewpoint. The only place that I have lived that I like better than FL is SoCal. The downsides: No state income tax, but about 7% sales tax. There is a state wide and the city usually has a little one too, so 7-7.5 is what most people pay. The unemployment in FL is the highest in the nation, the real estate market is the worst in the nation. That is a good thing if you are moving here and buying cheap. Population exploded in most parts of FL for several decades. However, the road infastructure did not keep up. Traffic is bad in all large cities. Since it never really freezes here, the bug population is large. It's a great place if you like summer and slightly cooler than summer. Some places have a "snow bird" season, which is when older people move south for the winter. This adds to the traffic problem (it's hard to drive effectively when you can't see over the dash). FL produces a lot of crops for the world, people from a country south of the U.S. does a lot of the labor. They are seldom insured when driving their cars. Tourism is the #1 industry in FL, so there are a lot of people who come to visit.

To this forum, you can ski year round. There is a lot of outdoor activities that you can do.

if you move to florida you can have all the pro wake boarders and surfers ride in your boat like ed, you know, cause they all live there and hang with ed

@sandm, Ed shows to be banned from the site, for now anyways. You might need to wait a few days for a response from him until he comes back as eDrama....

Bugs: Bug spray
Sun: sunblock and stay wet so go in the boat every day
Traffic: work at home, that's why we have the internet
Tourism: no state income tax and every time their cards are swiped it puts money in the state coffers
Old drivers: hide in the boat
Uninsured illegal immigrants: makes UM/UIM coverage expensive but they will also cut your grass for 5 bucks
Gators: After a few years you start rooting for them because the Seminole chop is so annoying
real gators: just don't boat at night. They sleep during the day and go out to eat every night.

Bugs: Ok I have been bitten by 2 mosquitoes this year in Florida, I was almost carried away by them this summer on a visit to Indiana. Literally had to swat off 20 to 30 on each arm.
Sun: Well it is the Sunshine state!
Traffic: depends on where you live in Florida, I am originally from Atlanta (Acworth) where it took me 2 hours to get to work, here in Panama City you can cross the county in 30 minutes.
Tourism: no state income tax so your paycheck is bigger and we try to stay away from Panama City Beach (can't afford the beaded necklaces needed)
Old drivers: that is a Southern Florida thing, oh and we use the term Q-Tips when driving behind skinny old ladies with gray hair.
Uninsured illegal immigrants: Again more of a southern/middle florida thing but a problem in a lot of areas, there are 500K thousand in the Atlanta area and I have seen 2 here in Panama City
Gators: Think positive here, have you ever tasted it? Pretty dang good stuff man! And even in my kayak I have a extremely difficult time sneaking up on them, they tend to want to leave. Now a 21ft ski boat I can't even get within a 1/2 mile of them before they take off.

Yep, best thing I ever did was move to Florida about 10 years ago. I have never seen so much wildlife, exotic birds, eagles, gators, fish, snakes, turtles (all 3 of my kids pet baby turtles I pulled out of the pool!) and all of this in my backyard (we live on the water). And luckily haven't been bit yet! But best of all the water sports, boat in the lake in March out first of November (some people never take the boats out of the water). Winterizing it means parking it in the garage or even the yard until March 1st again. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zegm

Gators: Think positive here, have you ever tasted it? Pretty dang good stuff man!

---

And, there is something so satisfying about taking a big bite out of a gator-- maybe that it would gladly do the same to you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kaneboats

And, there is something so satisfying about taking a big bite out of a gator-- maybe that it would gladly do the same to you.

---

Yeah I never thought of it that way, but it makes total sense. Very well put!

guys above with there respons's pretty much got it all.

as for gators in the lake, dont really even think about them much anymore-now the 1st year down here was a different story