Moving to Florida

[CPM]

Bunch of braggarts.

 

[ChristmasElf]

The problems that i've had in grocery stores is purchasing ethnic foods such as some mexican, chinese, korean, japanese and indian food products, the stores in California had these items, here it has to be special ordered (spoke to the manager, I'm find with ordering items, just wasn't expecting it)/QUOTE]

I hear ya...we just got back from 2 week vacation @ WDW. We had a timeshare, so we went to the grocery store (large chain) to do some shopping. We love Mexican food, so we went looking for some tortilla's and other items. I'm used to having a whole aisle dedicated to just Mexican foods and a whole end aisle just dedicated to different tortilla's. We couldn't find anything. We asked the store manager, for a second he didn't know what we were talking about...tortillas??? Then he walked us to a small tiny little section in the middle of an aisle. One brand of tortilla's and a few mexican related items. We were dumbfounded....

While Florida is a nice place to visit...it's not home. Give me good old California any time...any day. No humidity, no afternoon rain, no freaky bugs, or reptiles. I'll take my Wine Country weather (except this past week...where's my fog!?!) any time. Icebrat...how could you have left SF?? The most beautiful city in the world!!! Oh yeah...we have hills and mountains too. I need different scenery to look at besides just trees and swamps.

There is actually a HUGE population of Spanish/Mexican that live in Florida. If you were to shop anywhere up and down OBT (Orange Blossom Trail) you wold see PLENTY of SuperMarkets that carry mostly Spanish/Mexican food products. Up and down Colonial (Hwy 50) there is an unbelievable amount of Asian/Chinese/Japanese/Korean markets.
There are also India/Thai markets in these areas as well.

I don't know how many "swamps" you actually can claim to have seen in the Orlando area. We do have beautiful areas with lush landscaping in most neighborhoods and if you were to have driven out near Clermont you would have seen mostly rolling hills and plenty of greenery.
As for the reptiles, unless you paid a visit to Gatorland over on S. OBT, you didn't run into too many as, as soon as an alligator is spotted, there is a trapper out to catch it and remove from the area.

As far as the "large chain" you shopped at, I am sure it was a PUBLIX, which if you went to the one on Vineland (near Dixie Stampede and the Premium Outlets) yes, they will have a smaller section of Mexican foods as that is a mostly tourist targeted store. Next time wander a touch further and you will have no trouble finding what you want.

 

[ChristmasElf]

I don't understand why people think we spend all day boarded up in the A/C. people aren't dying like flies here like they are in California due to the heat.

I don't own a coat. I mow my lawn in January rather than breaking ice. it works for me.

Once in a while I call a relative up North. I just tell them "I was looking around the freezer for dinner, and I thought I would give ya a call"
Very rarely do they see the humor in this.

 

[slo]

I voted for when I retire - to bad my DH doesn't agree. Oh well, I'm only 35, I have alot of years to convince him otherwise

 

[Virgo10]

Once in a while I call a relative up North. I just tell them "I was looking around the freezer for dinner, and I thought I would give ya a call"
Very rarely do they see the humor in this.

I'll have to remember that line for the upcoming winter.

 

[tribus121]

I would love to move to flordia when I retire but only for the winter I Hate The cold here ( eastern canada )during winter but I also hate steamy hot weather in Flordia during the summer too

 

[Muffy]

We're moving to FL in 2 weeks! We close on our home in Celebration very soon. It will be a vacation home for now and retirement home later.

 

[Feralpeg]

Once in a while I call a relative up North. I just tell them "I was looking around the freezer for dinner, and I thought I would give ya a call"
Very rarely do they see the humor in this.

I love that! If you don't mind, I'll borrow it to use on my Missouri friends next winter!

 

[safetymom]

I can't wait until January and I talk with my friends up north.

 

[CPM]

Once in a while I call a relative up North. I just tell them "I was looking around the freezer for dinner, and I thought I would give ya a call"
Very rarely do they see the humor in this.

I love this!!

 

[Eric95403]

As far as the "large chain" you shopped at, I am sure it was a PUBLIX, which if you went to the one on Vineland (near Dixie Stampede and the Premium Outlets) yes, they will have a smaller section of Mexican foods as that is a mostly tourist targeted store. Next time wander a touch further and you will have no trouble finding what you want.

Is Winn-Dixie a large chain store? I know they named a dog after it, they're not out west. I traveled up and down OBT on the way to my cousins house....which they have a pond in their back yard (a few houses claim it I guess). They have an aligator in that pond, so they can't go outside. Oh yeah, the pest control guy didn't come out, so the ants were out of control in the yard too. Something about fire ants being possible poisonous (and biting like crazy) makes it impossible for them to go outside and enjoy their yard. Their "encaged yard"...which is bizarre in it's own right...isn't too large. What the hecks with those closed in back yards???? Gotta love Florida... I like my large backyard that I don't need an enclosure to enjoy.

 

[safetymom]

Not everyone in Florida has fenced in yards. I have a beautiful back yard that I enjoy daily.

 

[Cool-Beans]

As I hope to move there one day, I'd like to hear about the fire ants from people who live there.

Read a Dave Barry article about them once. Are they as bad as all that?

 

[lowie]

As I hope to move there one day, I'd like to hear about the fire ants from people who live there.

Read a Dave Barry article about them once. Are they as bad as all that?

red ants ARE that bad. if you step in a 'mound' and not move for a minute they'll promptly crawl up your legs and start biting like crazy. some people are extremely allergic to them. i get small blisters and they burn and itch like crazy if i get bitten. the best thing to do it to treat your lawn with red ant killer and they'll stay away.

as for alligators... well, just call animal care and control and they'll send out a trapper to take it away. there is never a need to feel trapped in your home in florida...

oh, and those enclosed yards, we like to call them courtyards

 

[safetymom]

Fire ants aren't fun but they aren't bad enough to keep me inside.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

LOL I have to laugh at this post because I could have said it myself, yet here I am living in Florida. I agree totally with NJ above. I moved here initially because my then - husband was transferred and now I guess I just feel stuck.

Going to WDW is fun though.

I am in Central NJ...

Wanna trade houses?????

~rose~

 

[CPM]

As I hope to move there one day, I'd like to hear about the fire ants from people who live there.

Read a Dave Barry article about them once. Are they as bad as all that?

They can be quite dangerous. We have our yard protected against them. My Dh is allergic to them and the bites will make him go into shock. You get used to things like that here. You know not to step in a mound of sand that is built up somewhere it shouldn't be. It's no big deal.

Encaged yards? there are plenty of places in FL that have land and large yards. I know in my neighborhood, the only people that fence in their yards are people with dogs and small children. It's just like anywhere else.

gators in ponds. They shouldn't bother people as long as they haven't been fed. Gator attacks are pretty rare. At the golf course I work at, they are all over the place and there has never been an attack.

Okay, bye, going back to the beach!!

 

[ilovepcot]

Is Winn-Dixie a large chain store? I know they named a dog after it, they're not out west. I traveled up and down OBT on the way to my cousins house....which they have a pond in their back yard (a few houses claim it I guess). They have an aligator in that pond, so they can't go outside. Oh yeah, the pest control guy didn't come out, so the ants were out of control in the yard too. Something about fire ants being possible poisonous (and biting like crazy) makes it impossible for them to go outside and enjoy their yard. Their "encaged yard"...which is bizarre in it's own right...isn't too large. What the hecks with those closed in back yards???? Gotta love Florida... I like my large backyard that I don't need an enclosure to enjoy.

*Most* of the backyards you see enclosed are due to laws regarding swimming pools be enclosed. Small kids....drowning.

 

[Amity 3]

I got bit by a fire ant once, it stung for about a half hour. I guess I'm not allergic.

I saw a shark and a pod of dolphins in the Gulf last week. I saw a lizard in our lanai yesterday. an egret pooped on our van this morning. that's about it with my dangerous animal encounters for this month.

 

[PatriciaH]

Well, we will be in Florida 2 years next month so I though I would add to this thread

Good:
The weather from October-May
Being close to WDW, Universal, Sea World, Bush Gardens, Cypress Gardens, etc.
Lots (I mean tons) to do
Plenty of places to eat
Nice housing/newer/high ceilings/nice tile/pools, etc..
Can swim, walk, bike, wear shorts in the winter
Beautiful birds and wildlife
Georgous skys, sunsets, sunrises, clouds
Flowers, trees and green year round
Celebration is a nice place to live
Clean
Roads are good/well maintained
No state taxes


Bad:
Pay (stinks)
Right to work state
Cost of living (higher than Boston and NYC for us)
Cost of housing
Electric costs (doubled and tripled for people in Celebration this summer)
Insurance costs (ditto if you can even get it)
Hurricanes
Lightning (beautiful but scary)
Summer heat (we find the strength of the sun worse than the hummidity esp. this year)
Fire ants
Bugs (facinating but plentful)
Drivers (worse than NY/very scary)
Red Tide (and we thought we would go to the beach more here )
Lots of folks dumping and running from Celebration (too $$$ so they can't afford it anymore)
Homes are not built like they were up north (shoddy construction)
Schools stink
Hospitals/medical care is not as good
Crime is on the rise
Flat-not as scenic as other areas of the country (Yes, I think CA is georgous)


Hope this helps some of you! We are now deciding what to do-should we stay or should we go? We do like it here but the job situation is not good. Neither is the insurance, and electric bill situation. We have a condo now but I don't know if I would ever buy a house here. I think it is a great place for retired folks that are all set with their money. It is not a great place for young people.