# Has anyone ever been to Florida?



## Landry

I have been planning on taking a trip to Florida for a few years now. My question is for those who have been to Florida, what city do you recommend I visit? I am thinking of either Miami or Orlando. I'm only thinking of going to Orlando because of Disney Land, I always wanted to visit it as a child but never got a chance to.


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## jpgeek

I love the beaches in Miami and I would recommend it for adults for a create social scene


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## Rick

I live in the Tampa Bay area and have made many trips to both Miami and Orlando. They are really two very different vacation destinations. Miami is relaxing on the beaches during the day and also has a hot night life. Orlando is a fantasy fairy tale and amusement rides during the day with less but adequate night life available.

But if you've always wanted to visit Disney and never have, by all means go there first! I never got a chance to go as a child either. My first visit was at 30 years of age and it was everything I'd always dreamed of! It was like being a child again. Since then I've been back a dozen times and that feeling of renewed youth has barely diminished!

Come visit us!


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## loriann

I live in the Orlando area and I absolutely love the community here. We get a lot of tourists who want to come see disney world and I like that its not a fast moving city. Ive been living here for over ten years and I will definitely recommend orlando as a hot spot. LOL


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## InsomniacGirl

While I don't live in Florida (but wish I did, lol!) I have family members in Clearwater, Largo and soon Sarasota/Bradenton, as my son, his wife and my granddaughter will be moving there for job relocation in several months.

I agree with everyone, Orlando is great for Disneyworld! I enjoyed Gatorland, very interesting to see all of those alligators! The winter estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford at Fort Meyers were very impressive to visit, when I was there quite a few years ago. I could name a million other places because Florida is just such a wonderful state to visit and vacation at. But if you're making a choice between Miami and Orlando, I agree....Orlando is a great place. 

~~ Jeanne


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## SeaSparkle

Landry said:


> I have been planning on taking a trip to Florida for a few years now. My question is for those who have been to Florida, what city do you recommend I visit? I am thinking of either Miami or Orlando. I'm only thinking of going to Orlando because of Disney Land, I always wanted to visit it as a child but never got a chance to.



Where did you end up going Landry?  

I love going to Orlando.  Spent several vacations @ New Smyrna Beach, but haven't been down to Florida in quite some time now.


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## SifuPhil

I always had good times in Florida, even when they were bad.

I had a scholarship to FIT in Melbourne (near Cape Canaveral) back in '76, but somehow they over-enrolled students and I was one of the first to get chopped. The legal case went nowhere. 

But the town itself - about a half-hour drive or so from Orlando - was fantastic.

St. Augustine - great town. As are so many of the smaller town in the area.

Miami? I drove through there as fast as I could: I'm from New York, I don't want or need another slum.

But my all-time favorite was Key West - if I had a lot of money I'd be living there. There was just something wonderful about that town ...


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## R. Zimm

I'm from SE Florida and have been all over the State and just like anywhere else there is something for everyone's tastes. We used to think we would retire near Orlando to induce the grandkids to visit and take them to Disney but Disney as a corporation has gotten way to wierd for our "tastes" so we are thinking eslewhere now.


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## Dorothy

I have been to Miami, and Pensacola, either one of those are nice places to go, if you love the beach especially, because they have some beautiful beaches with white sand, and of course it is nice and sunny there. I really like Florida. I think just about anywhere in Florida would be good!


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## Artic137

Yes i have i love the beaches up there but people are rude


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## pchinvegas

Landry said:


> I have been planning on taking a trip to Florida for a few years now. My question is for those who have been to Florida, what city do you recommend I visit? I am thinking of either Miami or Orlando. I'm only thinking of going to Orlando because of Disney Land, I always wanted to visit it as a child but never got a chance to.




Orlando is fun much to see and do if you want hustle and bustle. Give me Key West, laid back, fun easy going. Great food, music, entertainment and culture. Florida has much to offer. I normally go every year and spend time with my BFF in Lake Placid, a retirement city and we do weekend trips to other places and a cruise. Great fun.


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## rkunsaw

Several years ago we went to Fort Lauderdale and took an overnight cruise to the Bahamas, then to Orlando and Sea World.

In 2011 we stayed at a bed & breakfast on the beach at St. Augustine. I really liked the history of St. Augustine and the beach too, but both trips were good.


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## SifuPhil

SeniorGolfer said:


> I just moved to Orlando and it's okay... different compared to san francisco!



Wow - I would say so! The only hill in Orlando is Space Mountain ...

Culture - VERY different. Food - VERY different. Shopping - VERY different.



Lack of a Chinatown - VERY different.


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## That Guy

My brother-in-law is an FLA native and when they were first married I was invited to come visit one summer.  Really was looking forward to seeing the everglades!  But, my folks nixed that idea.  Probably some overprotective plan to keep their teenage son from discovering the wonders of the wide world.

Anyway, not too interested in visiting the everglades these "daze" . . . from what I've seen about burmese python invasion (reference snake talk in garden thread...)

Besides . . . I'm a Californian!  Florida??? (koff koff....)


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## Pappy

We spend our winters in Palm Bay, Fl. It is on the east coast, about halfway down off I-95. We are 10 minutes to Indianatlantic River and 15 minutes to the ocean. We lived in a over 55 park, all double wides, and live quite cheaply. We love the area and there are tons of activities for us old teenagers. The only thing that bothers me are my stupid allergies to the pine trees out back.


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## That Guy

Pappy said:


> . . . us old teenagers.



Good one, Pappy.  I love it!


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## Pappy

That Guy said:


> Good one, Pappy.  I love it!



I was told once that I should act my age. Plenty of time for that in my next time around.

i don't sweat the petty things and I don't pet the sweaty things.


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## SifuPhil

I keep seeing posts from my high-school buddy / sparring partner / Best Man who moved to Florida, right to the same area (Space Coast) that I'm considering. They had Mother's Day breakfast at a restaurant right on the inlet with a sunrise as wallpaper, the crying of gulls as background music and the smell of salt air as incense.

I hate him.


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## Pappy

SifuPhil said:


> I keep seeing posts from my high-school buddy / sparring partner / Best Man who moved to Florida, right to the same area (Space Coast) that I'm considering. They had Mother's Day breakfast at a restaurant right on the inlet with a sunrise as wallpaper, the crying of gulls as background music and the smell of salt air as incense.
> 
> I hate him.



if you ever get a chance to attend an Easter Sunrise service on the beach, do it. The sun rising over the ocean, birds singing and gulls doing what they do. It is a beautiful few minutes. Never been too religious, but for a few minutes, how can you not think there must be something great out there.


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## SifuPhil

Pappy said:


> if you ever get a chance to attend an Easter Sunrise service on the beach, do it. The sun rising over the ocean, birds singing and gulls doing what they do. It is a beautiful few minutes. Never been too religious, but for a few minutes, how can you not think there must be something great out there.



Well, when I was down there as a student as well as a tourist I used to do my T'ai-Chi on the beach whenever I got the chance - always at sunrise. 

I've never been religious either, but I _did_ appreciate and admire the natural beauty.


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## That Guy

Pappy said:


> if you ever get a chance to attend an Easter Sunrise service on the beach, do it. The sun rising over the ocean, birds singing and gulls doing what they do. It is a beautiful few minutes. Never been too religious, but for a few minutes, how can you not think there must be something great out there.



Surfing at sunrise, especially Easter Morning, is a religious experience.  Heck, surfing anytime is a religious experience.


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## janfromflorida

Look, it's hurricane season here - Port Orange, south of Daytona Beach.  So if any of you guys up north with a yen for Florida living want to trade homes until November 1st (end of the season) that would be great.  My last year in PA in waist high snow, I prayed to get out of there. Unhuh, be careful what you ask for!  In '04 our area was hit with FOUR hurricanes and the whole state was declared a disaster area.  I'd give my eye teeth to be back where there is actually springtime with lilacs and tulips!   But if you to come visit by all means do the man-made attractions, our state treasury needs the bucks!


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## SifuPhil

janfromflorida said:


> Look, it's hurricane season here - Port Orange, south of Daytona Beach.  So if any of you guys up north with a yen for Florida living want to trade homes until November 1st (end of the season) that would be great.  My last year in PA in waist high snow, I prayed to get out of there. Unhuh, be careful what you ask for!  In '04 our area was hit with FOUR hurricanes and the whole state was declared a disaster area.  I'd give my eye teeth to be back where there is actually springtime with lilacs and tulips!   But if you to come visit by all means do the man-made attractions, our state treasury needs the bucks!



Yeah, see, that's the catch - it's one to tout tourism but living there 24/7 is very different. It would be like my saying, "Come to beautiful Wilkes Barre, PA! We have the majestic *Susquehanna River* (which regularly floods), *Eckley Miner's Village* (a bunch of old, run-down shacks where miners used to live), and the wonderful *Planter's Peanut Museum*, which ...

... um ... sorry, they never built it. They just tore down the original Planter's factory and left a vacant lot.

Well, we have the majestic *Hotel Sterling*, which is ...

... darn ... it's falling down by itself, and all the funding for preservation went into the politician's pockets.

Hey, we're only 2-1/2 hours from *New York Cit*y! Yeah, there ya' go!


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## janfromflorida

Hey, don't you have that forever burning underground fire somewhere nearby?


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## That Guy

Tropical Storm Andrea made herself welcome along with accompanying tornados.  So, you must be well into enjoying that balmy Florida weather . . .    Is it too late to say batten down the hatches?


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## janfromflorida

Well, before dusk here it was bright, dry and sunny.  The sand had soaked up all the rain and the flowers were happily smiling.  Now we'll see what Andrea can do in her northern trek.  The good news here is that our drought index is corrected.  We have been desert dry for a good number of years now and this is the first we are normal.  Florida sits on a huge aquifer which has been sorely depleted by excessive overuse.  Many of our waters had dipped down, even including the famous Silver Springs, where the spring was in danger of going dry.  Hopefully we will now see the needed correction and save the crystal water for the glass bottom boats.


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## That Guy

janfromflorida said:


> Well, before dusk here it was bright, dry and sunny.  The sand had soaked up all the rain and the flowers were happily smiling.  Now we'll see what Andrea can do in her northern trek.  The good news here is that our drought index is corrected.  We have been desert dry for a good number of years now and this is the first we are normal.  Florida sits on a huge aquifer which has been sorely depleted by excessive overuse.  Many of our waters had dipped down, even including the famous Silver Springs, where the spring was in danger of going dry.  Hopefully we will now see the needed correction and save the crystal water for the glass bottom boats.



Yeah.  Hopefully that downpour will do something to ease the drought.  See that Andrea is making her way straight up the eastern seaboard.  So, everybody's gonna get a share...


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## Sly Fox

I remember Hurricane Charley, very bad. We had a small Tornado that made our street look like a war zone.  Trees down, our tree in the front yard felled on the back end (trunk area) of my wife's car.  Lucky for us we had that time some really nice neighbors, that came to help us cut up the tree.


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## janfromflorida

Sly Fox said:


> I remember Hurricane Charley, very bad. We had a small Tornado that made our street look like a war zone.  Trees down, our tree in the front yard felled on the back end (trunk area) of my wife's car.  Lucky for us we had that time some really nice neighbors, that came to help us cut up the tree.


Yeah, in '04 my husband and I ran away from the storms three times.  We lived in Ormond-by-the-Sea then and had a trailer to run away with.  The one store (can't remember which) followed us and then blocked our return after it had passed our area.  Charley, really tore up our area and the cleanup took many months.  I remember the long lasting, huge piles of trash, carpets, etc. along A1A from all the ruined condos and motels. Of course we learned to live primitive, with no power (ice, gas stations or AC) for two weeks! Our house was concrete block, but the water did come through one wall, flooded the carpet and ruined furniture.  Other than that we only lost our garage door and outside stuff such as the arbor. That truly was a year to remember!


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## SifuPhil

Y'all are making me think twice about wanting to move to Florida ...

... although I don't see that it's any worse than the periodic floods we get here, along with the crumbling infrastructure and the crooked politicians.


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## JustBonee

Have been to Florida several times.  It's a great scenic drive along the coast from Texas.  
Bay St. Louis (Ms) and Mobile were always nice stopping points. Took the kids/grandkids to Disney World a few times over the years.  Drove to Key West once, spent a week in Miami (loved touring the old hotel where Jackie Gleason did his Saturday night shows). 
Love all the beaches there, especially around Destin and Ft. Walton Beach.  Understand that a lot of that area that was public, is now private.


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## Pappy

Y'all come on down. Here is another Gators fan.


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## JustBonee

:threadjack: Last month my crazy son-in-law pulled the teeth out of a gator he found dead in a bayou near the Galveston coast.
What he is going to do with them, I have no idea!   Great conversation piece I guess.


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## Sly Fox

Sorry, referring to the post that SifuPhil was talking about moving to Florida.  


LOL.  You really do not want to move to Florida.  Live here in Port Orange 42 years plus.  Biggest mistake my wife and I made.  We should of never bought down here and just go back to New Jersey after I got out of the Air Force, where both my wife had grown up and my parents were still there. If I could travel by air again, we would fly to Austria ONE WAY and live there.  But that will never happen, as I have a massive spinal cord injury and the pressure flying would kill me instantly.  My wife has some family left in Switzerland and Austria.  I have been there about 8 times over years and my last trip there was one week after 911 in 2001.


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## janfromflorida

SifuPhil said:


> Y'all are making me think twice about wanting to move to Florida ...
> 
> ... although I don't see that it's any worse than the periodic floods we get here, along with the crumbling infrastructure and the crooked politicians.


Hey, those politicians are EVERYWHERE!


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## Sly Fox

janfromflorida said:


> Hey, those politicians are EVERYWHERE!



You are very correct.  Why do we need any politicians at all?  Look at all the members in Congress, Senate, etc. etc.  Do we really need all of these people to shuffle papers around?  Just think if we could pink slip most of these people, making them find a job that they need to work, we would NOT be in the big mess this country is in now.  Sure you may need to keep a handful in the Congress, Senate, etc. but NOT all the people they have.  Sorry to be so negative, but I thank this government for me being this way.  Since I left Vietnam when I was in the Air Force, it made me very bitter from all the lies, etc.  You all remember the song, Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies


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## That Guy

Sly Fox said:


> Sorry, referring to the post that SifuPhil was talking about moving to Florida.
> 
> 
> LOL.  You really do not want to move to Florida.  Live here in Port Orange 42 years plus.  Biggest mistake my wife and I made.  We should of never bought down here and just go back to New Jersey after I got out of the Air Force, where both my wife had grown up and my parents were still there. If I could travel by air again, we would fly to Austria ONE WAY and live there.  But that will never happen, as I have a massive spinal cord injury and the pressure flying would kill me instantly.  My wife has some family left in Switzerland and Austria.  I have been there about 8 times over years and my last trip there was one week after 911 in 2001.



Could you travel by ship???


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## That Guy

Sly Fox said:


> You are very correct.  Why do we need any politicians at all?  Look at all the members in Congress, Senate, etc. etc.  Do we really need all of these people to shuffle papers around?  Just think if we could pink slip most of these people, making them find a job that they need to work, we would NOT be in the big mess this country is in now.  Sure you may need to keep a handful in the Congress, Senate, etc. but NOT all the people they have.  Sorry to be so negative, but I thank this government for me being this way.  Since I left Vietnam when I was in the Air Force, it made me very bitter from all the lies, etc.  You all remember the song, Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies



Believe me, brother, I know exactly how you feel.


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## Sly Fox

That Guy said:


> Could you travel by ship???



Perhaps, but if we hit bad weather and the boat starts rolling with the waves, it would make my spinal cord worse.  I have gone two Neuro Surgeons, both told me, no way they can operate on me.  I can not go far driving my car, only shopping, doctors,etc.


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## That Guy

Sly Fox said:


> I have gone two Neuro Surgeons, both told me, no way they can operate on me.  I can not go far driving my car, only shopping, doctors,etc.



I'm sorry to hear that, Sly.  Hope they are keeping you as comfortable as possible.


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## Sly Fox

That Guy said:


> I'm sorry to hear that, Sly.  Hope they are keeping you as comfortable as possible.



Yes, they are. But now the DEA has decided they will NOT allow anymore prescriptions for narcotic pain killers to be filled by any pharmacy in Florida, because they want to stop the terrible abuse of prescription pain drugs.  They are trying to stop the Drug pushers by not allowing anyone to get a hold of the pain medications.  Such as the main one which is the top addicted drug, and it is the Only one I can take to calm down my pain 24/7.  That is Oxycodone.  I have been taking this pain medication for the past 9 1/2 years and had no issues into getting my prescriptions filled until about 6 months ago.  I am very limited now on how many I can take, soon I will have none to take and then their will be major issues I have to face withdrawal symptoms.  Is this fair?  No, it is not fair.  Their should be a better way to stop the Drug pushers from getting this medication and allow the people who are in pain like myself to get our scripts filled monthly.  I bet the DEA needed to have pain medication they could get it real fast for themselves.  I do not know what can be done.  I am NOT the only person who is in critical chronic pain, a lot of other people are in worst condition.  I thought into hiring a Lawyer to help me and all the other people into getting our LEGAL Scripts filled.  I had to sign a contract with my Pain Management doctor that I can only receive pain prescriptions from him ONLY, I take a Drug Test every month, to make sure I am not taking any other Drugs (street drugs, etc). This is NOT FAIR at all.  Taking only one per day now, is NOT helping me at all.  I am prescribed to take 5 per day, every 4 hours when needed.  So, here I am trying to take my mind off the pain now, by coming here to this Awesome site with so many very caring people.  I even wrote to Senator Mica our so called Congressman for our area in Florida.  He never answered my email to him, he was too busy trying to get re-elected.  Another one that should be pink slip.  Totally useless.


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## That Guy

Sly Fox said:


> Yes, they are. But now the DEA has decided they will NOT allow anymore prescriptions for narcotic pain killers to be filled by any pharmacy in Florida, because they want to stop the terrible abuse of prescription pain drugs.  They are trying to stop the Drug pushers by not allowing anyone to get a hold of the pain medications.  Such as the main one which is the top addicted drug, and it is the Only one I can take to calm down my pain 24/7.  That is Oxycodone.  I have been taking this pain medication for the past 9 1/2 years and had no issues into getting my prescriptions filled until about 6 months ago.  I am very limited now on how many I can take, soon I will have none to take and then their will be major issues I have to face withdrawal symptoms.  Is this fair?  No, it is not fair.  Their should be a better way to stop the Drug pushers from getting this medication and allow the people who are in pain like myself to get our scripts filled monthly.  I bet the DEA needed to have pain medication they could get it real fast for themselves.  I do not know what can be done.  I am NOT the only person who is in critical chronic pain, a lot of other people are in worst condition.  I thought into hiring a Lawyer to help me and all the other people into getting our LEGAL Scripts filled.  I had to sign a contract with my Pain Management doctor that I can only receive pain prescriptions from him ONLY, I take a Drug Test every month, to make sure I am not taking any other Drugs (street drugs, etc). This is NOT FAIR at all.  Taking only one per day now, is NOT helping me at all.  I am prescribed to take 5 per day, every 4 hours when needed.  So, here I am trying to take my mind off the pain now, by coming here to this Awesome site with so many very caring people.  I even wrote to Senator Mica our so called Congressman for our area in Florida.  He never answered my email to him, he was too busy trying to get re-elected.  Another one that should be pink slip.  Totally useless.



God Damn It!


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