• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

How did you come to live in Florida?

Lighten up Guro305. You sound angry. Man, you must have had some very bad experiences with people from the north. I was born in Cuba, migrated to New Jersey in 1956 and have been coming to Florida for the past 38 years. I love it here and that is why my wife and I keep coming back. I now have a house in Florida and N.J. and could not be happier. :crazy03:
If people whine, let them. It is their problem not yours.

:thumbsup:
 
Heck, NO place you live will ever be perfect. If it were, YOU wouldn't be there because you would be at the end of the line trying to get there.

There are some things about Maryland that I do miss, but not even close enough to ever think about moving back there. Nothing there is worth losing the ability to see butterflies in the yard around the house in January. :D

Or to be able to walk down to the tangerine grove in December while wearing shorts to pick some fresh tangerines.......
 
Rich Z said:
Heck, NO place you live will ever be perfect. If it were, YOU wouldn't be there because you would be at the end of the line trying to get there.

There are some things about Maryland that I do miss, but not even close enough to ever think about moving back there. Nothing there is worth losing the ability to see butterflies in the yard around the house in January. :D

Or to be able to walk down to the tangerine grove in December while wearing shorts to pick some fresh tangerines.......
Click to expand...


You are 100% correct sir! I have been here since 1979. Do I miss New York...Rockefeller center at Christmas....DUH Yea! Do I miss the 20 degree temps in Jan. thru March...Hell no!

And let’s not forget that New York IS the center of the universe. More culture on Broadway alone then entire states! (Boston, Taxachuttes!) My whole family is still "up north". I miss THEM....not the area....I go up to visit THEM...not the area (except Manhattan at Christmas time:rolleyes: )
 
Lou G said:
Lighten up Guro305. You sound angry. Man, you must have had some very bad experiences with people from the north. I was born in Cuba, migrated to New Jersey in 1956 and have been coming to Florida for the past 38 years. I love it here and that is why my wife and I keep coming back. I now have a house in Florida and N.J. and could not be happier. :crazy03:
If people whine, let them. It is their problem not yours.

:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Hahahaha! Angry, no not really. But sick of the whining!!!!!! That's all I ever hear from "northerners." Whine, whine, whine, whine, whine! Whine so much they could have their own W(h)inery! I must admit though, it's not as bad here in Palm Beach Co. then other places. At least for the most part, the ones in Palm Beach are happy to be here. Broward Co., samething. In Miami-Dade they are non-existent....we ran 'em out years ago. But whenever I go elsewhere in Florida, especially Central Florida, oh my God it's like hearing an ex-wife! New Jersey folks aren't as bad. New Yorkers, mostly the only ones I hear whining are the Long Islanders and the ones from the Bronx.

Now Tv_dir, I have to agree with you. The ones from Taxachusettes are the damn worse. You'd think they would've stop complaining about everything by now after the Dead Sox won the World Series but I guess not!!!!:lmao:
 
I have been here in the Tampa Bay area since 1969. My parents moved here in 68, while I was in the service. At first, I was not sure I could handle Clearwater, Florida after growing up in Chicago. In fact, when they moved here I was coming home on leave, but decided to go to Chicago for a week first and stay with a friend of mine. Well that was January of 69, and the weather in Chicago was like 20 degrees below zero. I called my parents to try to explain that I was not looking forward to a small town and I was staying in Chicago for one more week. Well before I told them this news, I simply asked what they were doing, and the response was sitting in the Florida room. With that, I asked what the temperature was and they said 80 degrees, I informed them my flight arrived in Tampa at 2:15 the next afternoon.

Upon arriving at the house, I took a tour and when I opened the door to the garage there sat a 66 big block convertible Sebring Silver. I asked my father who did it belong to, knowing it was not his. He simple said that the keys were in it. The deal was I could keep it if I want to take over the payments. That was a quick decision. My father owned a service station and it turned out that the car belong to a customer that just wanted to get out of the payments. So had I decided to stay up in Chicago, I do not think my father would have kept the vette around waiting for me.
 
dalejr9afan said:
I have been here in the Tampa Bay area since 1969. My parents moved here in 68, while I was in the service. At first, I was not sure I could handle Clearwater, Florida after growing up in Chicago. In fact, when they moved here I was coming home on leave, but decided to go to Chicago for a week first and stay with a friend of mine. Well that was January of 69, and the weather in Chicago was like 20 degrees below zero. I called my parents to try to explain that I was not looking forward to a small town and I was staying in Chicago for one more week. Well before I told them this news, I simply asked what they were doing, and the response was sitting in the Florida room. With that, I asked what the temperature was and they said 80 degrees, I informed them my flight arrived in Tampa at 2:15 the next afternoon.

Upon arriving at the house, I took a tour and when I opened the door to the garage there sat a 66 big block convertible Sebring Silver. I asked my father who did it belong to, knowing it was not his. He simple said that the keys were in it. The deal was I could keep it if I want to take over the payments. That was a quick decision. My father owned a service station and it turned out that the car belong to a customer that just wanted to get out of the payments. So had I decided to stay up in Chicago, I do not think my father would have kept the vette around waiting for me.
Click to expand...

Sounds like destiny to me!:thumbsup:
 
I'm a native also, 5th generation. But I have been exposed to other parts of the world and therefore have been corrupted. I too know that other parts of the country are not drenched with 90% humidity from May until November. I also have knowledge that mosquitos can't hold a candle to a sand gnat, I don't care what state you're from (if you don't live near Wakulla County, you probably don't know what I'm talking about). The sand gnat could end the war in Iraq.....EVERYBODY would leave! We here in the panhandle don't benefit from the "ocean breezes" that occur in south and central Florida. We get pure gulf tropical moisture, which added to 98 degree temps in July, August, and September equals pure misery! I can work on my Vette in the winter months unlike you folks in the north. Just not in the summer, I'll have a heat stroke.
Seriously, it does get pretty lousy around here in the summer. I would like to move to North Carolina. The temps are about 10 degrees cooler, and the winters aren't that bad. My wife is from there, pretty country too.
 
After 35 yrs in Cape Cod Ma. area and Boston, points south, dealing with the snow, cold, did i say cold, I headed south in 98. Still here. can drive the vette yr round vs 5 months. :dancer01:
 
Parents moved down here from Pittsbugrh when I was 2 years old. Ive been down here for 35 years! I love everything but all the people and environmental destruction. Growing up I could catch snook and tarpon in the local canals (south florida........ broward county) We would even catch large blue claw crabs and eat them. I could drive 10 minutes away and target shoot in the woods where the local road actually ended. Now.......well now the canals are too polluted for even a catfish to survive, if a blue claw existed it would be toxic from mercury and a shopping center resides in my old shooting spot.
I will definiatly stay in Florida but one day I shall move to northern Florida or the western Panhandle
 
Well my grandfather farmed in Maine and southern Florida during the early 1900's.Mother was born in the back seat of a model t just south of Jacksonville .
I was born in Maine but always spent a lot of time in Daytona where my family ended up.
In 2003 my car refused to spend winters in Maine so it moved to Orlando and I followed on weekends. (smart car)
The car has taken my wife and I all over Florida showing us Key West ,Sebring and the panhandle.
Yes our car is a snow bird.
 
I grew up in Olean, NY. South of Buffalo. My wife Judy was a Navy brat and her family had settled in the near by town of Bolivar, NY. In 1982 I was working for Kay-Bee Toys in Greensburg, PA just East of Pittsburg and had the honor of picking where I would like to go from a list of about 50 stores that were opening that year. We selected Melbourne, FL.
We have no regrets when it comes to the weather. No Snow, No Ice Storms.
But I have to admit after 25 years here, we still miss the fresh water lakes without alligators and driving through mountians. And most of all our parents and siblings.
 
Well..........since I don't really LIVE in Florida maybe I shouldn't reply, but whatthehell :hehehe: since this is such a great bunch of people I'm sure y'all (or should it be all y'all) won't mind. In 1966 my father-in-law purchased a trailer in Holiday to get away from the Massachusetts winters. He was a paraplegic (limited use of everything below the waist) and was basically house-bound in the winter. He really enjoyed being able to get out and enjoy himself during the winters and always had the greatest tan when he and my mother-in-law returned north sometime in late April or early May. The exact date wasn't important because he was on permanent disability from a construction accident (a boom from a crane was lowered onto him causing massive injuries resulting in the paraplegia), so they just went back north when "it got too hot". In 1998, when my mother-in-law's alzheimers was getting very bad, my father-in-law decided to buy a "detached villa" in a 55+ deed restricted community. He decided to buy this particular house because it had a 2 car garage, a walk in shower, and only 1 floor, which nade it a whole lot easier to care for my mother-in-law. He got a Florida license, sold the Massachusetts house and the Florida trailer, and started to enjoy what was left of his life. My mother-in-law died in 2000, followed in 2003 by my father-in-law. In his great wisdom, my father-in-law also put his daughter's (the OTHER love of my life) name on the deed. After he died, we continued to visit Florida about once every 6-8 weeks for a long weekends during the winter. Bought the Corvette last year and BOY does it look good in that garage. We manage to visit it often and really enjoy the change in the weather while we're there. My wife cant wait to retire there, and as I get older I find myself enjoying the winters less and less. A little bit of that is the cold, but mostly it's because I have to deal with people from "the islands" trying to drive in stuff that they've never seen before in their lives! Originally from Pennsylvania, I've been driving in snow every winter since I got my license in 1964 except for the 2 years I was in Vietnam, and have gotten it down pretty good over the years. Anyway, although I don't consider myself a sun, sand, and surf kind of guy, I will probably retire to Florida when I'm done working. You know....."if Mama ain't happy.......ain't NO ONE happy"! Florida has it's +'s and -'s, but so does EVERY other state I've ever been in! When the -'s outweigh the +'s, I'll move. Getting closer and closer to that point up here in Massachusetts!!!! But as for Florida, we're enjoying it so much right now that it's hard to imagine NOT having it. The people we meet seem to be, for the most part, happy to be in Florida and able to be be outside most of the time. The people that I've become aquainted with on CorvetteFlorida are great people who just make you WANT to meet them. The weather is great if you like to be outside a lot(which we do). There is no doom and gloom winter attitude like I see up here. And perhaps the greatest point is that the weather is NEVER TOO BAD TO DRIVE THE VETTE in Florida. I don't mind getting it wet, but I don't want to get it frozen! It looks like I'll be following my father-in-law in about 6 years, getting my Florida license, selling the Massachusetts house, etc., etc., and becoming a permanent voting Floridian. I for one LIKE Florida!
Andy :wavey:
sorry for the long post, but I was on a roll!
 
Grew up in N.E. Missouri. A rural town called Wyacond, population 325
10 years ago on a very cold night, around 20 below zero , Wife, two dogs, and I was setting on the heat register covered with a blanket, a discission was made! Sold everything, even the beloved boat on the Lake of the Ozarks. We have never regretted moving to Florida. Our trips back north
are during the summer months only.
This is like being on Vacation all the time.
 
I'm glad folks are posting in this section again! I really like to read about how People decided to move here if they aren't natives. Glad you stopped in to tell us a little about yourselves!
 
Yeah, I enjoy reading these stories myself. I just reread my initial post in this thread, and I left out something. It was one of those pivotal events, much like the one I mentioned in that first post.

On one of our trips down to the Tallahassee area, we were on our last day and heading on home when we stopped in at one of those roadside vendors you see selling freshly picked pecans. The guy selling them was an old grizzled looking guy, and we bantered around with him while making the purchase. He happened to glance over at the tag on my Bronco and noticed the Maryland license plate. "Eh? From Maryland, huh? Well let me ask you something..." So he cocks his head and squinches up his face and asks.. "Just why the hell would anyone live up there anyway?" Well, that was a real good question. And the ONLY answer I could come up with was "Well, I guess it's because some of us were born up there and just don't know any better....." :lmao: Which was the God's honest truth.....
 
I am a Florida native. Born in Panama City, Fl. My father owned a charter boat and chartered out of Marathon in the winter, and Panama City in the summer. He sold his boat and settled in PC when I was born. I lived there until I was 19 and then moved to Naples for a year, then Atlanta for 5. I moved to Tampa 11 years ago and I LOVE it here. I think I'll stay here for the next 20 or 30 years and then head back to N Florida. People are always surprised when they meet a Fl native. Especially my husband's family in NY and Ct.
 
Rich, you left us in a tent on your new land. I don't remember seeing anything about your building a house, moving down permanently, and how long it took you to get settled etc etc. Enquiring people want to know.
 
A college friend dragged me kicking and screaming down to FtLauderdale one Spring Break. Loved it and kept coming back every Spring until I kind of outgrew it.

After my parents retired to FtMyers I would normally spend one week vacation with them and one week with my friends on the east coast.
I would always sneak in other trips around the Holidays.

When I took the early retirement it was a beeline to SoFla. I visit up North form time to time but would never move back.
 
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