I have devised a list or two of Florida's BEST and.....WORST!!!
The Best
1. Smells.
When you walk out to get your paper in the early morning it smells...well...tropical! Sort of moist, a hint of moldishness, mostly fragrance from the trees and shrubs...early morning is my favorite time here! It's not hot yet, and no-one is around...
2. The Beaches
We are fortunate enough to be within driving distance of some of the best beaches in the United States, if you follow that sort of thing...talcum powder sand, and lots of it, plenty of places to sit, even when it's crowded...and great for walking and shelling!
3. The Views
You can't beat the drive to the airport or the views when you are just going downtown, for instance. The Gulf of Mexico has a beautiful color, especially in winter, when it is turquoise blue.
You can go downtown by Marina Jack's (the main town meeting place!) to a walking loop right next to it that takes you around a point in Sarasota Bay. There are benches everywhere where you can contemplate your navel....
4. The Seasons
What, you say? Florida doesn't have seasons! Oh, yes it does. Just a bit more tempered than "up north"....summer is hot (not much more than the low 90s though), and it gets hotter than that sometimes in New England! Fall is cooler (like right now, today, October 2nd) where the lows finally edge into the 60s at night...Winter is chilly, at least in our area! The highs sometimes don't get out of the 40s believe it or not, and we have had a few days each year of frost! I'm told that Sarasota even experienced some snow! But that was long before we moved here...and finally Spring, where the temperatures start slowly rising, and the grass wakes up, and the breezes cool you off...perfect for sitting on your lanai with your coffee in the morning!
5. Outdoors
You can sit outdoors practically anywhere, even in winter! In restaurants, they have these heater things that heat the space around you if you are outdoors...
Florida homes are designed with the outdoors in mind: you can open a slider right onto the screened patio in most instances, and in most instances the bedroom has french doors that open to the screened patio as well...Christmas parties are especially wonderful, because usually the sliders are open and you can sit and chat either outside or indoors...
6. The Fourth of July
There's nothing like enjoying the fireworks while sitting in a beach chair on the Gulf of Mexico...
You need to get there early, of course, and bring your cooler! (no alcohol, though, you're not allowed to drink on the beach!)
7. The Wildlife
I have always considered Florida wildlife exotic and magical! The little white birds you see everywhere still entrance me, and once there was a great blue heron standing on our garage! Lots of ducks and turtles in our "lakes", and even cormorants, spreading their wings to dry. In winter I once saw a bald eagle fly over the house, and an osprey with a fish in its talons! Not so much fun but still interesting are the snakes and gators...and of course the omnipresent geckos, who look very similar to the little guy in the ad! Did you know that their tails come off if you try to grab them by it? I found that out one morning when I ran screaming from the kitchen because a gecko's tail was on the floor whipping around, and the cat came around the corner with the rest of it in her mouth!!!!! (the tails "live" for a while, much like a chicken after you cut off its head!)
8. Christmas
People here go all out with the lights! It's fun to cruise the neighborhoods and look at them all...it's almost like a contest! And last year, some people have lights that "dance" to music that is piped into their yards...so much fun! There's something weird but amusing to put Christmas lights on a palm tree!
9. Teenagers
For the most part, teenagers who encounter you on walks, or in stores, or anywhere will speak to you and call you ma'am. Excuse me? I don't see anyone else here....are you talking to ME???
I've found that consistently here, and it never ceases to amaze me....in a GOOD way! When we walk the dog, they always say hello, or good morning! Nothing surly about them!
10. Visitors
I love when family and friends visit! Then I get to do the tourist things, like shop at high-end St. Armand's circle, go to Jungle Gardens, the museum, G. Wiz (the science museum), the aquarium, the boat ride around the bay...and of course Busch Gardens, and all the Orlando stuff!
Also, eat out!
11. Year round fresh fruit and veggies
Nothing like it!!!!
12. Air Conditioning
I try to tell people who are reluctant to be here in summer: you stay inside in the air conditioning, just as you would in your warm home in the winter! That is, if they don't want to be out in the sun and be in the pool or at the beach, which is a great time to go, incidentally. Not as many people! And virtually everywhere is air conditioned....it's a must!
13. No heavy outerwear, no coats to drag to work, no huge fuel bill, and NO SHOVELLING!!!!! BUT, as I said before, it DOES get cold every so often. Last winter, I had to wear my New England jacket 5 or 6 times!!!!
14. Good for your skin!
The humidity keeps your skin nice and moist, so it never dries out that much! We went on vacation to Colorado once, and I was itching all the time because my skin was so dry!!!
Not so good things about Florida
1. The heat
My husband Scott would be the first to tell you that the heat and humidity of summer is oppressive and miserable. He sweats a lot, I hardly at all, which makes the comfort level difficult...and I have to admit, that at times, especially early evening when there is no breeze, it can be almost hard to breathe! And you can't open the doors in the evening. You have to wait till fall and early winter. Then it gets too cold!
2. "Season"
You always know when "season" is heating up. The traffic increases, you can't walk into a restaurant without a reservation, the hospital is more crowded, the tourists are everywhere! During spring break time, you literally can't get onto the beaches. It's impossible!
3. Wildlife
As I mentioned before, gators and snakes, I keep my distance! But there are bugs here that need saddles, and they are always trying to terrify me! "Palmetto" bugs, spiders, huge unknown ugly things, infestations of "sugar ants" and moths...we keep our pest control guy busy! And fire ants! If you ever get the pleasure of meeting one you will never forget it! The bites last for a month! Mosquitoes, surprisingly enough, aren't very plentiful. I think it's because they have a good spraying program here...
Every May we have our love bugs, these little guys that are attached to each other by the ass, and one walks forward and one walks backward...kinda funny, they don't bite or hurt you, they are just a pain because of their very numbers! And they are a nightmare for your car...you have to get them washed off or the acid in their bodies will affect the paint! Amazing!
4. It's far away from our families
Need I say more? We couldn't be farther away from the grandchildren...
5. Christmas
There's nothing more depressing than being in a warm climate at Christmas. That's the only time I don't want to be here! (Besides of course not being with my family)...it's just not right to spend Christmas in shorts and flip flops
6. The Sand
That aforementioned talcum powder sand gets all over everything, and it sticks like glue! You should see the trunk of my car!
7. The Electric Bill
It's the biggest utility bill we have. During summer ours tops out at over 350 dollars, which to me, seems pretty steep. We try to keep the air stable at night or when we are away, but it adds up!
I'm sure I'll think of other things to add....stay tuned!!!!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Cuisine
As I said before, it never ceases to amaze us that people here eat out, rather than cook at home. The downturn in the economy maybe changed this phenomenon slightly, but when we go out, every place we've been to is packed, even in summer! Restaurants here do a booming business, and yet we've seen them come and go...it's also a volatile business as well, occasionally profitable depending on just the right combination of conditions..
Because one of my favorite things on earth is going out to eat (thankfully for Scott, though, I love to cook!), I present the definitive restaurants in our part of the world...(in other words, my "best of" list!)
Best Burger
Tied! The Hob Nob in downtown Sarasota, and the newly opened Five Guys (of Obama's liking too, evidently!)
Best Pizza
We recently tried several, and we always come back to Gio. Thin crust (a must!), charred, garlicy, divine ordinary toppings such as pepperoni (small rounds, slightly burnt at the edges)...divine!
Best Fries
Tied again! McDonald's, of course, no argument there, but Chick Fil A's fries are interesting and delicious!
Best Fast Food
Chick Fil A. McDonald's on Sundays.
Best Breakfast
First Watch...a varied menu...and available all day long. For a usual bacon-and-egg breakfast, Peaches in various area locations.
Best Chinese
This is a hard one. In our opinion there is no "best" here...But China Village is as good as it gets!
Best Japanese
Daruma. Although they changed their locale, they still serve sublime teppanyaki and sushi and Japanese favorites...but they no longer have "best view".....
Best Sports Bar
Gecko's, various locations. Our favorite overall!
Best Mexican
Mi Pueblo, without a doubt. My Mexican background knows authentic!
Best French (and probably most likely to empty your savings account!)
Maison Blanche. Some of the best food I've ever had in my life!
Best Date Restaurant
Euphemia Haye, Ophelia's, Bijou
Best Quirky Restaurant
The Melting Pot: all fondue, with melting chocolate fondue with strawberries for dessert!
Best Steak
Not here! Since we've been there, it's Bern's Steak House in Tampa. I have never had better steak. Ever. Here, probably Ruth's Chris.
Best View
Tied! The Colony Dining Room, The Beach House. Both sit right on the Gulf, and so do you!
Best Beach Place
The Beach House, Mar y Vista, The Sand Bar. Again, right on the water!
Best Italian
Has to be Carrabba's. Unbelievable. Try Brian's Chicken....
Best Barbecue
The guy on 17th and Tuttle, on Saturdays. His sauce is to die for!
I'll probably be adding more to this, as I think of it!
Because one of my favorite things on earth is going out to eat (thankfully for Scott, though, I love to cook!), I present the definitive restaurants in our part of the world...(in other words, my "best of" list!)
Best Burger
Tied! The Hob Nob in downtown Sarasota, and the newly opened Five Guys (of Obama's liking too, evidently!)
Best Pizza
We recently tried several, and we always come back to Gio. Thin crust (a must!), charred, garlicy, divine ordinary toppings such as pepperoni (small rounds, slightly burnt at the edges)...divine!
Best Fries
Tied again! McDonald's, of course, no argument there, but Chick Fil A's fries are interesting and delicious!
Best Fast Food
Chick Fil A. McDonald's on Sundays.
Best Breakfast
First Watch...a varied menu...and available all day long. For a usual bacon-and-egg breakfast, Peaches in various area locations.
Best Chinese
This is a hard one. In our opinion there is no "best" here...But China Village is as good as it gets!
Best Japanese
Daruma. Although they changed their locale, they still serve sublime teppanyaki and sushi and Japanese favorites...but they no longer have "best view".....
Best Sports Bar
Gecko's, various locations. Our favorite overall!
Best Mexican
Mi Pueblo, without a doubt. My Mexican background knows authentic!
Best French (and probably most likely to empty your savings account!)
Maison Blanche. Some of the best food I've ever had in my life!
Best Date Restaurant
Euphemia Haye, Ophelia's, Bijou
Best Quirky Restaurant
The Melting Pot: all fondue, with melting chocolate fondue with strawberries for dessert!
Best Steak
Not here! Since we've been there, it's Bern's Steak House in Tampa. I have never had better steak. Ever. Here, probably Ruth's Chris.
Best View
Tied! The Colony Dining Room, The Beach House. Both sit right on the Gulf, and so do you!
Best Beach Place
The Beach House, Mar y Vista, The Sand Bar. Again, right on the water!
Best Italian
Has to be Carrabba's. Unbelievable. Try Brian's Chicken....
Best Barbecue
The guy on 17th and Tuttle, on Saturdays. His sauce is to die for!
I'll probably be adding more to this, as I think of it!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Famous and Infamous Florida Weather
When we moved to Florida, it was in the middle of summer. Typically, it would rain most afternoons, tropical downpours which would last only a short time and then the sun would come out again...
In October, the weather "breaks", that is, it ceases to be quite so humid and the temperatures are in the balmy 80s, and for the first time, in the 60s at night, instead of the 70s and occasionally 80s...This is the reason for living here, I think. The rains let up, the sky is a beautiful blue, the hurricanes have pretty much left...gorgeous!
Did I mention hurricanes? In recent "hurricane seasons", we have witnessed quite a few "close calls" (thank goodness we never had a direct hit)...the memorable year of 2005, when there were 3 or 4 hurricanes, including the horrific Charley, we were very fortunate to have had virtually no damage while those around us were not so lucky. Our next-door neighbor lost half his tree, and the people across the street had a solar panel come loose and fly into their pool cage....
As nurses, we were required to either stay in the hospital during the hurricane (and work, of course!) or relieve the people who were in the hospital afterwards. As luck would have it, I always seemed to be on the "relief" team, while Scott was on the "alert" team...the only time I was on the "alert" team, I was at a conference in New Orleans (pre Katrina), so I was unable to come home to fulfill my obligation.
I was rather afraid at times to be at home alone while the wind howled outside. The wind is pretty impressive, worse than any storm I'd seen or been in in New England...and we weren't even directly in the storm! The animals were unsettled, pacing around the house, or hiding in the closet! But we survived, to live another year till the next season!
The first year we were here, we weren't prepared for New Year's Eve...so much of life here is conducted outside, so we were anxious to attend the First Night celebration in downtown Sarasota. The truth was, it was the coldest night of the year, with temperatures bottoming out in the upper 30s. I couldn't believe it could get this cold!!! I was uncomfortable and miserable, even in my New England down jacket! So yes, it DOES get cold here, for roughly two weeks or two months, depending on which year you are talking about....Last winter, for example, it was consistently cold for the better part of January and February, and even most of March! But the year before that, it was only a little chilly for about two weeks....so you never know!
Once April comes along, although there are a couple days that might be called cold, overall, summer is back, ready to settle in until October again!
But that's what I like about Florida weather...all the restaurants have outdoor seating, you can sit and look at the Gulf of Mexico while sipping your drink, and enjoy the nice breeze...there is even a restaurant, a diner-type affair called the Hob Nob, where you can walk right up to the bar from the parking lot, or to a picnic table on the side, for some of the best burgers in town!
We love the summer, when we have the state to ourselves, so we go to the beach, walk into restuarants without a reservation, and just enjoy the sunsets...and less traffic....but we welcome the tourists and snowbirds back so they can spend money here, too!
In October, the weather "breaks", that is, it ceases to be quite so humid and the temperatures are in the balmy 80s, and for the first time, in the 60s at night, instead of the 70s and occasionally 80s...This is the reason for living here, I think. The rains let up, the sky is a beautiful blue, the hurricanes have pretty much left...gorgeous!
Did I mention hurricanes? In recent "hurricane seasons", we have witnessed quite a few "close calls" (thank goodness we never had a direct hit)...the memorable year of 2005, when there were 3 or 4 hurricanes, including the horrific Charley, we were very fortunate to have had virtually no damage while those around us were not so lucky. Our next-door neighbor lost half his tree, and the people across the street had a solar panel come loose and fly into their pool cage....
As nurses, we were required to either stay in the hospital during the hurricane (and work, of course!) or relieve the people who were in the hospital afterwards. As luck would have it, I always seemed to be on the "relief" team, while Scott was on the "alert" team...the only time I was on the "alert" team, I was at a conference in New Orleans (pre Katrina), so I was unable to come home to fulfill my obligation.
I was rather afraid at times to be at home alone while the wind howled outside. The wind is pretty impressive, worse than any storm I'd seen or been in in New England...and we weren't even directly in the storm! The animals were unsettled, pacing around the house, or hiding in the closet! But we survived, to live another year till the next season!
The first year we were here, we weren't prepared for New Year's Eve...so much of life here is conducted outside, so we were anxious to attend the First Night celebration in downtown Sarasota. The truth was, it was the coldest night of the year, with temperatures bottoming out in the upper 30s. I couldn't believe it could get this cold!!! I was uncomfortable and miserable, even in my New England down jacket! So yes, it DOES get cold here, for roughly two weeks or two months, depending on which year you are talking about....Last winter, for example, it was consistently cold for the better part of January and February, and even most of March! But the year before that, it was only a little chilly for about two weeks....so you never know!
Once April comes along, although there are a couple days that might be called cold, overall, summer is back, ready to settle in until October again!
But that's what I like about Florida weather...all the restaurants have outdoor seating, you can sit and look at the Gulf of Mexico while sipping your drink, and enjoy the nice breeze...there is even a restaurant, a diner-type affair called the Hob Nob, where you can walk right up to the bar from the parking lot, or to a picnic table on the side, for some of the best burgers in town!
We love the summer, when we have the state to ourselves, so we go to the beach, walk into restuarants without a reservation, and just enjoy the sunsets...and less traffic....but we welcome the tourists and snowbirds back so they can spend money here, too!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Florida Fauna
When we left Connecticut, at our goodbye party our cake had a giant plastic bug on it. Very amusing. They all thought that we would have to contend with bugs the size of platters and various other creatures!
What we actually found were sweet little gecko lizards. They are everywhere here, especially in summer, when they fly off the side of the house and scamper over the landscaping stones when you come out your front door. They vary in size from teensy, about an inch long, to pretty gigantic in the gecko world (although not quite as big-seeming as the fellow in the insurance ads. Why does he have an English accent, anyway?), about 5 inches long. Thanks to Charlie, our pest control guy, any insects I ever found inside the house were dead! (Of course I have to amend that, because we have a moth invasion from some pancake mix, and occasional swarms of ants on our guest bedroom window, fortunately not when any guests happen to be in it!) We lived very happily with these creatures until....
One of our neighbors was walking his dogs at sunset, and he happened to be walking by when I was in the garage, so we stopped and visited for a minute. "So," he said, "are you aware you have bats in your belfry?" "Uh....come again?" Evidently he had seen a number of bats flying around our chimney..."huh...." I said. He told me this in May.
In late September, I happened to be in the office on the computer, when I heard a "thunk" on the blinds on the window next to me. I glanced in the direction of the sound and jumped up screaming! For there, inching its way up the vertical blind slat slowly, was a little bat. He was about 8 inches long and more afraid of me than I was of him. Where was Scott? He was working and I happened to be off. Of COURSE he was working...so I thought to myself how do I get this bat out of my house??? I closed the office door and ran to the kitchen, got a big wad of paper towels, grabbed the little guy, (I had a quick peek at his face, which was horrified at the idea of being treated this way), ran screaming out our front door, with our dog, Luke, barking after me, and threw the paper towel wad with all my might! Then I high-tailed it back into the house, dragging Luke with me...
Next morning, when Scott came home from work, I relayed all this information to him, and he listened, shaking his head...vowing to examine the chimney for signs of the critters. (He found nothing inside it) I thought, oh well, there was just one guy who found his way into the chimney...
A couple weeks later I had gone out with the girls after work, and yes, I had a little to drink. I arrived home around 9:30 or so. (you guessed it, Scott was working)...so I went to the computer to get my email, when I heard....flutter, flutter, flutter coming from the general direction of the chimney...I went to investigate, made sure the glass fireplace doors were firmly closed, and went back to the office. After about half an hour, Luke started frantically barking, and he was staring at our stereo speaker (we had the old, piece-of-furniture kind)...so I carefully moved it, and there was a bat behind it! So I went to the kitchen, grabbed a tupperware container and a piece of cardboard, put the bowl upside down on top of the bat, slid the cardboard underneath it, ran screaming out the front door with Luke barking after me! A few minutes later I retrieved my bowl (empty), and so it went.
The next day, Scott was off, so when he got up he called the Florida Wildlife Guy. He told Scott how to get rid of the bats (wait till they are gone at night then seal up the chimney) because if he had come he would have charged us 200 bucks an hour or something. We opted, needless to say, to have Scott do it. The guy said we could wait till sunset to see how many of them there were, so we did. We sat by the pool, staring at the chimney, and saw how they were getting in...there was a spot in the corner where the aluminum flashing met the body of the chimney that had come loose, so they were happily setting up housekeeping inside that spot! And we watched.....and watched.....and probably hundreds of them flew out from the chimney, chattering to each other as they left...saying bat things like, "they're having a sale at Walmart!" and so on...
After dark, Scott got the ladder and got up on the roof and put sealant on the flashing, which was quick-drying, and hardened within an hour....with lots of neighbors adding their two cents: "Are you going to send them to my house?" "Watch out for guano! It's slippery!"
The next morning we waited to see what would happen when they came back...and boy were they pissed! They tried and tried and tried to get back in that chimney and couldn't and eventually they all left.........or so we thought........out of the corner of my eye I noticed that one of them was flying around the inside of the pool cage! How DO they DO that??? So Scott took care of getting rid of the last bat, and one more thing happened. When we opened the back door to go back into the house, our cat chased this poor, hapless frog into the house and was playing with the poor thing. I finally caught it and put him outside our pool cage door....and he was gone when I looked a little while later.
Froggies do visit the pool from time to time and unfortunately they frequently die and end up in the pool skimmer. Oh, and one time a frog jumped out at me from the toilet in the guest bathroom! Geez, good thing my heart is strong...
There is a "lake" (and I use that term loosely) behind us, and I've seen various herons and ducks headed for that location with quick stops on our garage roof to scope out the area...and in winter, beautiful hawks and ospreys. One time I actually saw a bald eagle fly by! But nobody would ever believe what happened next, bird-wise.
I was out by the pool reading one day, when I saw this beautiful heron land on my neighbor's roof with a fish in its mouth! It didn't take Luke long to figure out that he was there, and he jumped up and barked his head off! This caused the heron to fly off, but not before he dropped the fish on the neighbor's roof! Next evening when we were out with the dog, we saw our neighbor, Steve, and said, "So! Are you going to get that fish off your roof?" He said, "What fish?" We told him the story, and he just smiled and shook his head...We DID feel a little sorry for him, because he was in his 70s having to go up on his roof. At least his roof didn't have the steep pitch that ours did...
And that's our experience with the wildlife. No gators, not yet! But we've seen peacocks running wild in the neighborhood. And buzzards! Supposedly, quite recently, a gator was actually sighted in one of the "lakes"....and, incredibly, a coyote walked by one evening! But we've seen neither. A little too big for my wad of paper towels...
What we actually found were sweet little gecko lizards. They are everywhere here, especially in summer, when they fly off the side of the house and scamper over the landscaping stones when you come out your front door. They vary in size from teensy, about an inch long, to pretty gigantic in the gecko world (although not quite as big-seeming as the fellow in the insurance ads. Why does he have an English accent, anyway?), about 5 inches long. Thanks to Charlie, our pest control guy, any insects I ever found inside the house were dead! (Of course I have to amend that, because we have a moth invasion from some pancake mix, and occasional swarms of ants on our guest bedroom window, fortunately not when any guests happen to be in it!) We lived very happily with these creatures until....
One of our neighbors was walking his dogs at sunset, and he happened to be walking by when I was in the garage, so we stopped and visited for a minute. "So," he said, "are you aware you have bats in your belfry?" "Uh....come again?" Evidently he had seen a number of bats flying around our chimney..."huh...." I said. He told me this in May.
In late September, I happened to be in the office on the computer, when I heard a "thunk" on the blinds on the window next to me. I glanced in the direction of the sound and jumped up screaming! For there, inching its way up the vertical blind slat slowly, was a little bat. He was about 8 inches long and more afraid of me than I was of him. Where was Scott? He was working and I happened to be off. Of COURSE he was working...so I thought to myself how do I get this bat out of my house??? I closed the office door and ran to the kitchen, got a big wad of paper towels, grabbed the little guy, (I had a quick peek at his face, which was horrified at the idea of being treated this way), ran screaming out our front door, with our dog, Luke, barking after me, and threw the paper towel wad with all my might! Then I high-tailed it back into the house, dragging Luke with me...
Next morning, when Scott came home from work, I relayed all this information to him, and he listened, shaking his head...vowing to examine the chimney for signs of the critters. (He found nothing inside it) I thought, oh well, there was just one guy who found his way into the chimney...
A couple weeks later I had gone out with the girls after work, and yes, I had a little to drink. I arrived home around 9:30 or so. (you guessed it, Scott was working)...so I went to the computer to get my email, when I heard....flutter, flutter, flutter coming from the general direction of the chimney...I went to investigate, made sure the glass fireplace doors were firmly closed, and went back to the office. After about half an hour, Luke started frantically barking, and he was staring at our stereo speaker (we had the old, piece-of-furniture kind)...so I carefully moved it, and there was a bat behind it! So I went to the kitchen, grabbed a tupperware container and a piece of cardboard, put the bowl upside down on top of the bat, slid the cardboard underneath it, ran screaming out the front door with Luke barking after me! A few minutes later I retrieved my bowl (empty), and so it went.
The next day, Scott was off, so when he got up he called the Florida Wildlife Guy. He told Scott how to get rid of the bats (wait till they are gone at night then seal up the chimney) because if he had come he would have charged us 200 bucks an hour or something. We opted, needless to say, to have Scott do it. The guy said we could wait till sunset to see how many of them there were, so we did. We sat by the pool, staring at the chimney, and saw how they were getting in...there was a spot in the corner where the aluminum flashing met the body of the chimney that had come loose, so they were happily setting up housekeeping inside that spot! And we watched.....and watched.....and probably hundreds of them flew out from the chimney, chattering to each other as they left...saying bat things like, "they're having a sale at Walmart!" and so on...
After dark, Scott got the ladder and got up on the roof and put sealant on the flashing, which was quick-drying, and hardened within an hour....with lots of neighbors adding their two cents: "Are you going to send them to my house?" "Watch out for guano! It's slippery!"
The next morning we waited to see what would happen when they came back...and boy were they pissed! They tried and tried and tried to get back in that chimney and couldn't and eventually they all left.........or so we thought........out of the corner of my eye I noticed that one of them was flying around the inside of the pool cage! How DO they DO that??? So Scott took care of getting rid of the last bat, and one more thing happened. When we opened the back door to go back into the house, our cat chased this poor, hapless frog into the house and was playing with the poor thing. I finally caught it and put him outside our pool cage door....and he was gone when I looked a little while later.
Froggies do visit the pool from time to time and unfortunately they frequently die and end up in the pool skimmer. Oh, and one time a frog jumped out at me from the toilet in the guest bathroom! Geez, good thing my heart is strong...
There is a "lake" (and I use that term loosely) behind us, and I've seen various herons and ducks headed for that location with quick stops on our garage roof to scope out the area...and in winter, beautiful hawks and ospreys. One time I actually saw a bald eagle fly by! But nobody would ever believe what happened next, bird-wise.
I was out by the pool reading one day, when I saw this beautiful heron land on my neighbor's roof with a fish in its mouth! It didn't take Luke long to figure out that he was there, and he jumped up and barked his head off! This caused the heron to fly off, but not before he dropped the fish on the neighbor's roof! Next evening when we were out with the dog, we saw our neighbor, Steve, and said, "So! Are you going to get that fish off your roof?" He said, "What fish?" We told him the story, and he just smiled and shook his head...We DID feel a little sorry for him, because he was in his 70s having to go up on his roof. At least his roof didn't have the steep pitch that ours did...
And that's our experience with the wildlife. No gators, not yet! But we've seen peacocks running wild in the neighborhood. And buzzards! Supposedly, quite recently, a gator was actually sighted in one of the "lakes"....and, incredibly, a coyote walked by one evening! But we've seen neither. A little too big for my wad of paper towels...
Florida Homes
Now that we were more or less settled in our new place, and started working, we started examining our beatiful house a little more closely. The first thing that struck me was that in many of the homes we looked and had since been invited to, the bedroom was off the living room! We thought that was quite strange in that it offered us no privacy if we were entertaining...do we close the bedroom door? It feels a bit closed in...Do we leave it open? People sitting on our couch were treated to a few of our bed (made of course!) Oh well....the fact that the other two bedrooms (presumably for overnight guests...) were well-advertised as "privacy suites" didn't make me feel any better!
We opted to change up the furniture in our "great room" a bit: we bought a sizeable sectional sofa (it even has a pull-out double bed!), coffee table, and a huge "entertainment center" with new TV which fit in its location perfectly! The other characteristic of our "great room" that was most satisfying was a fireplace with faux-marble hearth...although we couldn't imagine ever using it in Florida, little did we know that wow, it gets cold! And we DID, and do, use it in the winter!
Now, most homes here have what they call a "covered lanai". A lanai is a kind of open area that is outside but is covered by the roof line of the home, open to whatever is in the back of the house. Ours, however does not have a "covered" lanai...it is simply our pool area, with no cover in sight. This is the only flaw we have discovered in our home... We have a larger space in the corner for our table and chairs from our deck in Connecticut, and a chaise with matching chair, which we bought.
We began a home equity line of credit, and the two improvements we made was resurfacing the pool and redecking the area with pavers. It is absolutely beautiful, and I'm glad the economy wasn't the way it was now (recent home equity bill: 3 billion owed, amount available to you: zero!!!) We also made one more: we replaced the Godawful 80s countertops with grey Corian. Had it been today I would have opted for granite, but hey, being 3 billion in the hole, no can do!
Most every home is made of concrete (well, concrete blocks, actually, covered with stucco, or some kind of stucco-like material. I don't want all you builders mad at me!) There are very few homes made of wood here, and most are one-storey, though many of the condos are two-storey, and so on. I like our neighborhood because all the houses are different. It made it easy for us to find our way at first. We'd been to neighborhoods where all the houses were exactly the same! I don't know how these people know which house is theirs. I'd have to put a colorful flag out front or something.
A few years ago we replaced the AC system and the roof. Thank God that was before our home equity line of credit went bust with everything else real-estate related! Some of that was the money we had had from the sale of our home. If you think nurses here make a lot of money, think again!!!!
We opted to change up the furniture in our "great room" a bit: we bought a sizeable sectional sofa (it even has a pull-out double bed!), coffee table, and a huge "entertainment center" with new TV which fit in its location perfectly! The other characteristic of our "great room" that was most satisfying was a fireplace with faux-marble hearth...although we couldn't imagine ever using it in Florida, little did we know that wow, it gets cold! And we DID, and do, use it in the winter!
Now, most homes here have what they call a "covered lanai". A lanai is a kind of open area that is outside but is covered by the roof line of the home, open to whatever is in the back of the house. Ours, however does not have a "covered" lanai...it is simply our pool area, with no cover in sight. This is the only flaw we have discovered in our home... We have a larger space in the corner for our table and chairs from our deck in Connecticut, and a chaise with matching chair, which we bought.
We began a home equity line of credit, and the two improvements we made was resurfacing the pool and redecking the area with pavers. It is absolutely beautiful, and I'm glad the economy wasn't the way it was now (recent home equity bill: 3 billion owed, amount available to you: zero!!!) We also made one more: we replaced the Godawful 80s countertops with grey Corian. Had it been today I would have opted for granite, but hey, being 3 billion in the hole, no can do!
Most every home is made of concrete (well, concrete blocks, actually, covered with stucco, or some kind of stucco-like material. I don't want all you builders mad at me!) There are very few homes made of wood here, and most are one-storey, though many of the condos are two-storey, and so on. I like our neighborhood because all the houses are different. It made it easy for us to find our way at first. We'd been to neighborhoods where all the houses were exactly the same! I don't know how these people know which house is theirs. I'd have to put a colorful flag out front or something.
A few years ago we replaced the AC system and the roof. Thank God that was before our home equity line of credit went bust with everything else real-estate related! Some of that was the money we had had from the sale of our home. If you think nurses here make a lot of money, think again!!!!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The New England Lawn Mower
The time came for the lawn to be trimmed. Now, in Florida, the grass is a little weird. When you walk on it, it's kind of spongy. The edges of the lawn next to the sidewalks are, well, sort of like a brown cake with green coconut on top! Scott very quickly learned that our "northern" lawn mower wasn't going to cut it. Literally! It was almost impossible for Scott to push, with all that squishy grass...so he decided that it would be easier to buy some larger back wheels for it. So he went to Home Depot and bought some larger back wheels. He gets back, and says ah, that's better! When Scott had finished with the lawn, he noticed our neighbor mowing his lawn with a ride-on lawn mower. Once inside the house we shared a laugh about our neighbor "mowing his postage-stamp yard with a ride-on mower!"
After a few weeks, he said, I'm going to ask Dave where I can get a ride-on mower....I said, "Have you lost your mind? Just a few weeks ago we were making fun of him!" "But, Scott said, I just sweat bullets pushing our lawn mower. I think at least it would be more comfortable without so much exertion in this heat!" So...Rich told him about the guy across the street. He was selling his ride-on mower because he had just purchased a new one! Scott completed the sale, and brought the mower home. All he had to do was replace the seat, which was duct-taped together...(probably from taking a beating from the ....ah....ample neighbor!) So Scott happily replaced the seat, and tuned it up (he's handy thank God!), and he was good to go!
After the next few weeks, I looked out the window and saw Scott talking to Bob, the guy who mowed the common areas in our subdivision. I thought, huh, why is he talking to him? He looked a little focused, like he was talking about something important! When Scott came back into the house, I said, "so, you looked pretty intense talking to Bob out there!" And he said, what would you think if Bob did our lawn? That way we can go away if we want, without having to worry about the lawn..." "Sure", I said, "why not?" So we have Bob do it to this day! He doesn't charge an arm and a leg, and we noticed that quite a few people in the neighborhood use him!
After a few weeks, he said, I'm going to ask Dave where I can get a ride-on mower....I said, "Have you lost your mind? Just a few weeks ago we were making fun of him!" "But, Scott said, I just sweat bullets pushing our lawn mower. I think at least it would be more comfortable without so much exertion in this heat!" So...Rich told him about the guy across the street. He was selling his ride-on mower because he had just purchased a new one! Scott completed the sale, and brought the mower home. All he had to do was replace the seat, which was duct-taped together...(probably from taking a beating from the ....ah....ample neighbor!) So Scott happily replaced the seat, and tuned it up (he's handy thank God!), and he was good to go!
After the next few weeks, I looked out the window and saw Scott talking to Bob, the guy who mowed the common areas in our subdivision. I thought, huh, why is he talking to him? He looked a little focused, like he was talking about something important! When Scott came back into the house, I said, "so, you looked pretty intense talking to Bob out there!" And he said, what would you think if Bob did our lawn? That way we can go away if we want, without having to worry about the lawn..." "Sure", I said, "why not?" So we have Bob do it to this day! He doesn't charge an arm and a leg, and we noticed that quite a few people in the neighborhood use him!
The Year 2000
I think it was karma that we moved to Florida. Here is a brief timeline:
March, 2000
Scott and I vacationed in Sarasota. We wanted to pick a place on what we thought was the quieter coast of Florida, and we of course heard about the spectactular beaches there as well. We settled in at the "Rolling Waves Cottages" on Longboat Key. We were struck by the beauty of the water, and especially its color! We were used to Long Island Sound, a veritable cesspool of the detritus of countless thousands of us who descended upon the beaches in Connecticut during the very short summer season....so the light teal-blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico were more than inviting! We even engaged a real estate agent, Jana, and her assistant, Trey, to show us some of the homes for sale...
It soon became apparent that this was our destiny: A street named Honore Avenue (my middle name is Honoree)...the exit off the highway for the hospital was the same number as the exit off the highway for the hospital we worked at in Connecticut! (we're both nurses) Scott and I had long discussions about moving. He was more reluctant ("it's so hot, and it's a giant strip mall")...I didn't exactly disagree with that, but eventually he agreed that we needed to get away from the reality of the harsh winters in New England: we were both getting older, and some day we might get seriously hurt slipping on ice or being involved in an accident...But coming to this conclusion took long and anxious discussions between us...we were leaving the home we had known for 17 years, and the one where we raised our kids.....it wasn't a slam dunk for me, believe it or not....
April 1, 2000
After making the momentous decision that would change our lives (they needed a little changing: we were in a rut!) we invited a real estate agent to look at our house. After a little discussion back and forth, we decided to list it at 150,000 dollars, which for then we felt was fair for our tiny rural Connecticut home (with about an acre of land). But we held off listing it because our son, Todd, was getting married July 1 that year. So we waited until May.
May 15, 2000
We listed our house for 150,000 dollars.
May 21, 2000
We sold our house for more or less the asking price (we negotiated a bit because our septic tank needed an overhaul). The buyers were ok with the closing date of July 28th...
June 26th, 2000
We flew to Florida for a long weekend. This time, Jana gives us her assistant, Trey, to show us houses. All day Saturday she showed us homes in Sarasota. We couldn't hide our disappointment as we told her we really didn't see anything that struck us as our perfect home. We thought we'd have to settle for a home we liked, but didn't feel any kinship to....no Feng Shui? The next morning, Trey said, "What about Bradenton? There are some homes there that I think you will like, and it's a little cheaper..." We agreed, and were shown several homes that could only be called disasters...it's funny, when you look at other people's houses, you're always thinking to yourself, how can people live like that! Until Trey said, "OK I think this is the house you are going to buy." We arrived in the driveway of this pretty home on a corner lot. So far so good. The inside was immaculate. OK imagining is good... It had a little room off the living room that would be perfect for an office. It had a swimming pool (one of our must-haves!)...but what sold us the house? Trey took us out by the swimming pool to an additional door, and Scott just exuded excitement as he saw an additional garage, equipped with running water, perfect for his train layout....he wanted to somehow have a "Train Room" and here it was! We couldn't believe it! He wouldn't have to use one of the bedrooms in the house!!! Oh, and it had a fenced yard, perfect for our black lab!!! So we agreed on a price by the end of the day ( a little more than we sold our house for, but it was almost twice as big!) Scott and I were privately amused at the back yards in Florida. So tiny! But the neighborhood was perfect, and it wasn't too far away from where we would be working (We got jobs at Sarasota Memorial Hospital)..PERFECT!
July 1st, 2000
We joyously celebrated Todd's wedding in Waterbury, Connecticut. What a beautiful day it was, blue sky, warm temperatures...everything went without a hitch! How often does THAT happen for a wedding!
July 26th, 2000
Moving day! The Atlas guys brought this HUGE truck down our little cul-de-sac street, backing it all the way until it rested along our split-rail fence...the guy who was in charge was what you'd picture a moving guy to be: Huge, too, with legs the size of tree trunks! The entire contents of our household were squished into a very small part of the truck (I was told that we were the third household!)...it's just amazing how they pile things on top of each other to accomplish it in the fastest, most efficient way. Everything that left the house had a yellow sticker on it. (We were finding them for years afterwards!) It took the better part of the day, and around 4:30 they were finished. Our precious possessions were on their way to Florida! We would soon be, too! Our friends graciously agreed to put us up until we could start our adventure!
July 28th, 2000
We closed on our home in Connecticut. We stayed at our friends' home that night with our dog, two cats, and our U-Haul trailer behind Scott's pickup.
July 29th, 2000
6 AM Saturday morning: We embark on our driving adventure to Florida, armed with walkie-talkies so that we could speak to one another (talking on the cell phones was too inconvenient)...waving goodbye to our sleepy friends as we drove away from their home... I had the dog in the back seat, and he had the two cats...MEOW!!!! (that's all they did all the way down!) We stopped in Richmond, Virginia, the first night and Savannah, Georgia the second night...it was great fun doing that!
July 31, 2000
We made it to Florida! We had to stay in a hotel (I must talk to AAA about THIS three-star rating! Couldn't it have been in a better neighborhood??) We found a nice kennel for our dog and cats which was less than a mile from the new house. After many emails and faxes in Connecticut, we were finally ready for our closing!
August 2nd, 2000
Our closing in Sarasota. It was memorable because the woman of the couple who owned the house had a service dog who just ran around willy-nilly while we signed our life away, and promised to pay some exhorbitant price after 30 years!!! She gave me a lot of tips typewritten on a couple of pages, about who the neighbors were, who you would get for pest control (I hadn't thought of THAT!), where you could order pizza, who built the pool, who painted the house, all the manuals for the appliances, and even the fact that there was a sex offender in the neighborhood! Plus a lot of other little tips... For goodness sakes that was more than necessary!!! But it was nice of her to do that for us...we appreciated every tip that came our way! Unfortunately the movers hadn't quite arrived from Connecticut with our stuff, so we shuffled back to the hotel to await our possessions. As it turned out, we had to stay there a bit longer than we wanted, because our stuff didn't come until August 8th!!
August 8th, 2000
Our stuff is finally here! Scott got a call from the moving guy on his cell phone, that they were on I-75, the major north-south interstate on the west coast...we arrived at the new house and pretty soon, we heard an engine that couldn't have belonged to anything but a HUGE truck, and sure enough there it came, looming around the corner, and parked in front of our driveway. (It was so long it almost encroached upon the neighbor's driveway!) Once all our possessions were distributed expertly by these guys, and they were paid for their trouble (holy mackerel, what a job they have!) we were in our new home at last! The first thing we noticed? Our living room, or great room as they called it here, had 10 foot ceilings, so our TV and the furniture it sat on were dwarfed by the size of the room! We had some money left over from the sale, so we thought we'd better fix that. Other stuff could wait.
Oh what we thought was incredible, was the neighbors! They all turned out en masse for this event, because it was a huge deal to see a truck that size, and they wanted to welcome us, and immediately invited us to go out to dinner the following day...AND, they mowed our lawn for us!
Because Florida has a sizeable population of...er....seniors, shall we say? They wanted to go out to eat at 4:00!!! Scott and I didn't dare look at each other as we accepted their invitation.
We settled into our new home full of anticipation...we were living in a totally different environment than the one we had just left. We didn't know a soul. Life was less hectic here...and it was hot! I was in heaven. Scott? Not so much....
March, 2000
Scott and I vacationed in Sarasota. We wanted to pick a place on what we thought was the quieter coast of Florida, and we of course heard about the spectactular beaches there as well. We settled in at the "Rolling Waves Cottages" on Longboat Key. We were struck by the beauty of the water, and especially its color! We were used to Long Island Sound, a veritable cesspool of the detritus of countless thousands of us who descended upon the beaches in Connecticut during the very short summer season....so the light teal-blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico were more than inviting! We even engaged a real estate agent, Jana, and her assistant, Trey, to show us some of the homes for sale...
It soon became apparent that this was our destiny: A street named Honore Avenue (my middle name is Honoree)...the exit off the highway for the hospital was the same number as the exit off the highway for the hospital we worked at in Connecticut! (we're both nurses) Scott and I had long discussions about moving. He was more reluctant ("it's so hot, and it's a giant strip mall")...I didn't exactly disagree with that, but eventually he agreed that we needed to get away from the reality of the harsh winters in New England: we were both getting older, and some day we might get seriously hurt slipping on ice or being involved in an accident...But coming to this conclusion took long and anxious discussions between us...we were leaving the home we had known for 17 years, and the one where we raised our kids.....it wasn't a slam dunk for me, believe it or not....
April 1, 2000
After making the momentous decision that would change our lives (they needed a little changing: we were in a rut!) we invited a real estate agent to look at our house. After a little discussion back and forth, we decided to list it at 150,000 dollars, which for then we felt was fair for our tiny rural Connecticut home (with about an acre of land). But we held off listing it because our son, Todd, was getting married July 1 that year. So we waited until May.
May 15, 2000
We listed our house for 150,000 dollars.
May 21, 2000
We sold our house for more or less the asking price (we negotiated a bit because our septic tank needed an overhaul). The buyers were ok with the closing date of July 28th...
June 26th, 2000
We flew to Florida for a long weekend. This time, Jana gives us her assistant, Trey, to show us houses. All day Saturday she showed us homes in Sarasota. We couldn't hide our disappointment as we told her we really didn't see anything that struck us as our perfect home. We thought we'd have to settle for a home we liked, but didn't feel any kinship to....no Feng Shui? The next morning, Trey said, "What about Bradenton? There are some homes there that I think you will like, and it's a little cheaper..." We agreed, and were shown several homes that could only be called disasters...it's funny, when you look at other people's houses, you're always thinking to yourself, how can people live like that! Until Trey said, "OK I think this is the house you are going to buy." We arrived in the driveway of this pretty home on a corner lot. So far so good. The inside was immaculate. OK imagining is good... It had a little room off the living room that would be perfect for an office. It had a swimming pool (one of our must-haves!)...but what sold us the house? Trey took us out by the swimming pool to an additional door, and Scott just exuded excitement as he saw an additional garage, equipped with running water, perfect for his train layout....he wanted to somehow have a "Train Room" and here it was! We couldn't believe it! He wouldn't have to use one of the bedrooms in the house!!! Oh, and it had a fenced yard, perfect for our black lab!!! So we agreed on a price by the end of the day ( a little more than we sold our house for, but it was almost twice as big!) Scott and I were privately amused at the back yards in Florida. So tiny! But the neighborhood was perfect, and it wasn't too far away from where we would be working (We got jobs at Sarasota Memorial Hospital)..PERFECT!
July 1st, 2000
We joyously celebrated Todd's wedding in Waterbury, Connecticut. What a beautiful day it was, blue sky, warm temperatures...everything went without a hitch! How often does THAT happen for a wedding!
July 26th, 2000
Moving day! The Atlas guys brought this HUGE truck down our little cul-de-sac street, backing it all the way until it rested along our split-rail fence...the guy who was in charge was what you'd picture a moving guy to be: Huge, too, with legs the size of tree trunks! The entire contents of our household were squished into a very small part of the truck (I was told that we were the third household!)...it's just amazing how they pile things on top of each other to accomplish it in the fastest, most efficient way. Everything that left the house had a yellow sticker on it. (We were finding them for years afterwards!) It took the better part of the day, and around 4:30 they were finished. Our precious possessions were on their way to Florida! We would soon be, too! Our friends graciously agreed to put us up until we could start our adventure!
July 28th, 2000
We closed on our home in Connecticut. We stayed at our friends' home that night with our dog, two cats, and our U-Haul trailer behind Scott's pickup.
July 29th, 2000
6 AM Saturday morning: We embark on our driving adventure to Florida, armed with walkie-talkies so that we could speak to one another (talking on the cell phones was too inconvenient)...waving goodbye to our sleepy friends as we drove away from their home... I had the dog in the back seat, and he had the two cats...MEOW!!!! (that's all they did all the way down!) We stopped in Richmond, Virginia, the first night and Savannah, Georgia the second night...it was great fun doing that!
July 31, 2000
We made it to Florida! We had to stay in a hotel (I must talk to AAA about THIS three-star rating! Couldn't it have been in a better neighborhood??) We found a nice kennel for our dog and cats which was less than a mile from the new house. After many emails and faxes in Connecticut, we were finally ready for our closing!
August 2nd, 2000
Our closing in Sarasota. It was memorable because the woman of the couple who owned the house had a service dog who just ran around willy-nilly while we signed our life away, and promised to pay some exhorbitant price after 30 years!!! She gave me a lot of tips typewritten on a couple of pages, about who the neighbors were, who you would get for pest control (I hadn't thought of THAT!), where you could order pizza, who built the pool, who painted the house, all the manuals for the appliances, and even the fact that there was a sex offender in the neighborhood! Plus a lot of other little tips... For goodness sakes that was more than necessary!!! But it was nice of her to do that for us...we appreciated every tip that came our way! Unfortunately the movers hadn't quite arrived from Connecticut with our stuff, so we shuffled back to the hotel to await our possessions. As it turned out, we had to stay there a bit longer than we wanted, because our stuff didn't come until August 8th!!
August 8th, 2000
Our stuff is finally here! Scott got a call from the moving guy on his cell phone, that they were on I-75, the major north-south interstate on the west coast...we arrived at the new house and pretty soon, we heard an engine that couldn't have belonged to anything but a HUGE truck, and sure enough there it came, looming around the corner, and parked in front of our driveway. (It was so long it almost encroached upon the neighbor's driveway!) Once all our possessions were distributed expertly by these guys, and they were paid for their trouble (holy mackerel, what a job they have!) we were in our new home at last! The first thing we noticed? Our living room, or great room as they called it here, had 10 foot ceilings, so our TV and the furniture it sat on were dwarfed by the size of the room! We had some money left over from the sale, so we thought we'd better fix that. Other stuff could wait.
Oh what we thought was incredible, was the neighbors! They all turned out en masse for this event, because it was a huge deal to see a truck that size, and they wanted to welcome us, and immediately invited us to go out to dinner the following day...AND, they mowed our lawn for us!
Because Florida has a sizeable population of...er....seniors, shall we say? They wanted to go out to eat at 4:00!!! Scott and I didn't dare look at each other as we accepted their invitation.
We settled into our new home full of anticipation...we were living in a totally different environment than the one we had just left. We didn't know a soul. Life was less hectic here...and it was hot! I was in heaven. Scott? Not so much....
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