A Few Of FR's Finest....Every Day....09-17-03....Florida~The Sunshine State

dansangel

[MEG33]

My husband and I took a delayed honeymoon in Miami right after he graduated and just before OCS.We drove from Texas and thought it was terrific.I remember we stopped the car around Panama City to feel the sand because it was so white! In those days there was no development there.I've been back for conventions to Miami and spent a week in Sarasota but that first trip was the best,of course.

[MEG33]

Good Morning all.To all of you in Isabel's path,stay safe!

[The Mayor]

[dansangel]

Mornin'((((Meekie)))))

Have a safe and Happy Humpday!

[dansangel]

((((((Gail)))))

Thank you for coffee and biscuits. Ft. Walton beach is supposed to be a lovely area. I'm not that familiar with it, but have heard much about it!

IMHO, *all* of FL is beautiful! :-)

[dansangel]

(((((MEG)))))

Miami has grown tremendously - not all for the better, but there has been a lot of rehab to the beach area.

I went down to meet a friend from England who traveled over and was appalled at the condition of some of the hotels on the strip where she stayed. That was back in 1980. Now, the "average person" probably souldn't afford to stay at these same hotels since the whole area has been redone.

Sarasota is another neat area over on the West Coast. My heart is on the Atlantic side, though.

[dansangel]

(((((The Mayor))))))

Thank you for your gift of steaming hot coffee. Hope you have a wonderful Humpday!

[The Mayor]

I hope so too! I am running a job fair at a Home Depot store.

I'm looking for a few good crews..

[dansangel]

Sounds like fun! Hope you find some really great people.

[MaryFromMichigan]

"I need sleep. I think I'm getting sick..."

How are you this a.m.?
Please get well and stay that way.
(((Calpernia)))

[LadyX]

Be still my heart!
Talkin' here about the land of my birth; one of those rare creatures born (in Miami) and reared in Florida.....we lived in Coral Gables, and moved up the coast to Melbourne when I was nine - in adulthood returned; lived in several more places, plus Panama City on the West Coast.

Remember the Keys from age four on a family fishing trip there, clinging desperately to the piling, certain if I hooked a fish it would pull me into the sea..:))

My two sons reside there; one in the West Palm Beach area - the other the Ft. Lauderdale area.

Long Cut, St. Augustine is fascinating, isn't it? The varied history of it is so interesting - the necessity of having the houses so close together to protect the residents from the assorted 'hostiles' who wanted to possess it, ownership ebbing and flowing.

To stand at the point where Ponce de Leon came ashore is to be able to 'see' his vessels - and appreciate the sight he saw that prompted him to declare the spring there a Fountain of Youth!

By virtue of the Indian Chiefs being required to take the tallest eligible young woman of the tribe for his wife, and their good diet, the result was the Indians were seven feet tall!

In the theater building over the spring, a lifesize paiting shows them greeting the puny Europeans - Ponce de Leon a mere four feet tall, as were so many Europeans then, with their inferior diets.
The Indians, of course, had access to vegetables and fruit most of the year, and plentiful game. Luckily, they were friendly!

Most Americans do not realize that this occurred in 1513, and was the first time American soil was dedicated to our God.....Jamestown and Plymouth Rock came more than a hundred years later, as the first English colonies.

Dansy and .45MAN - I remember when Miami Beach was mostly sand dunes and palmettos, going there to swim, before WWII....when most of both coasts were, too.
Sebastian did not even have a caution light, and was a blink of the eye in the dash ( 45 mph the highest speed limit on all of U.S. 1 ) through.

My grandparents moved from Pennsylvania to Orlando in 1909, when my father was ten years old.
In 1923, he married my mother (from South Carolina) and took her there to live. I know the Old Florida as persons today never couls imagine. Saw the Cape develop in the county where I resided, and watched space flights launched.

The West Coast sands are finer and softer, but eveywhere are the magnificent sunrises and sunsets and skies filled with beautiful clouds - - those things I miss.

Long Cut - in your treks between Daytona Beach and Jax, did you ever discover the awesome scenery at Bulow Creek and its State Park?!!
It is so lovely, John James Audobon spent two months there sketching the changing savannas and birds!

The huge ancient oak at the park is something to see, too.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. You have a lovely day too ...

[FreeTheHostages]

[dansangel]

Thank you for posting your memories/impressions of the beautiful state of Florida (((((((LadyX))))))

I just *knew* you would have bunches to add.

I wanted to put so much more into the thread, but it would have turned into a book. There is just *so much* to see and do in the Sunshine State. Words defy the beauty of the sky each and every day. It is ever-changing, much like the surf below. And that only scratches the surface....

I have definitely made it my *mission* to get back there.

[FreeTheHostages]

Lovely job! Wonderful.

I sincerely have always had a question about people who live in Florida. What about the heat and humidity though? If you live there all year round, doesn't it get real bad in the summer?

[dansangel]

If you live there all year round, doesn't it get real bad in the summer?

If you live on the Atlantic side of FL, there is always an ocean breeze to regulate the air. Up north, it gets more hot, more oppressive and more stagnant than in FL.

As to the humidity, we actually have higher humidity here in Hotlanta than we ever had in FL. I would put those white crystals (the chemical name escapes me) in the closets to keep the humidity away from clothing, etc. As long as things are vented properly and you run the A/C, humidity is usually not a problem. ((((((Freezie)))))))

[Aquamarine]

Beautiful job on the opening post Dansy!
My mom and her side of the family are from Florida so I've been fortunuate enough to spend alot of time there in my life, sometimes months at a time. She was born in Hollywood and was just a baby when her family went through that terrible Hurricane in 27 (I think). They lost everything and barely lived through it, her family eventually settled in Jacksonville. My grandfather was the Chief of Police in St. Augustine at one time.

[Aquamarine]

Ever spent any time down St. Augustine way? Beautiful beaches, great food and fun, and wholly conservative. My favorite part of Florida is that streetch of A1A along between Jax and Daytona.

That would be the Palm Coast area. Beautiful area, we have some friends who have a condo there on the International Coastal Waterway that let us stay there in the past. Perfect place to retire!

Didn't know you were in Iceland now, are the volcanos still active in that area?

[dansangel]

Thank you ((((((Aqua))))))) for sharing your story.

My grandfather was the Chief of Police in St. Augustine at one time.

*That* must have been a really cool job! I've been there twice - once in 1982 when my daughter was only 5 and again with .45MAN a few years ago before we left FL. It's a really interesting and historic place!

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I love Daytona!

I have a friend who might still be up there in Iceland. Her husband's pararescue, I believe. She's sent some beautiful pictures!

Dh went through NAS PCola, and it's bee-eutiful over there! Nothing like those beaches!