"And on the 7th day he rested"....well, not exactly in this case. Today we left Sarasota and headed for Tallahassee.....five or six hours away (plus stopping time). It is Interstate all of the way (because there is nothing special to see).
About a third of the way there, we apparently hit "Indian River" country (or citrus heaven, you might say). FINALLY, some honest-to-goodness fresh squeezed orange juice ....even got a free sample. 'Couldn't resist some Valencia oranges. Green on the outside, sweet and delicious inside. Who knew?! Also picked up Tupelo Orange Blossom honey. AND THAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY! Gee whiz!
So, I decided to start jotting down my impressions of the Florida peninsula...the panhandle may be a different story. We have been here about two weeks and traveled most of it....deliberately avoiding known haunts of alligators and snakes. The "love bug" (we expected to battle) is either somewhere else or dead.
IMPRESSIONS.............
Most people live in the areas near the extensive coastline...and, on the Atlantic side they are hell-bent on increasing the water frontage with endless canals. All of this also necessitates many, many bridges. Coastal sites are dominated by high-rise residential type buildings (usually inhabited by the rich) or time shares. The coastal city streets are wide and usually lined with businesses both chic and shabby. 'Saw very few of the Myrtle Beach-type surf shops and not many children. The lower income housing is inland as are the innumerable flea markets. Didn't see any vegetable farming ANYWHERE....so where do all of those "Florida" vegetables come from??? The east coast has even more varieties and numbers of palm trees than the Gulf coast. Landscaping and landscape nurseries are everywhere. Lots more flowers on the East Coast compared to the Gulf Coast (although they have some). The citrus groves seem to be toward the center and north parts of the peninsula. There are stories of the beef cattle and "crackers". We saw some cattle and no crackers. That is a name given to the "cowboys" several decades ago because they moved cattle by "cracking" the whip. We also passed some horse farms.
Today, as we traveled the endless ribbon of concrete, we were keenly aware of the sameness on all sides. Very flat with a fair amount of trees/undergrowth and no indicators of drought like we experience in North Carolina. We saw lots of classy Winnebago-type motor homes headed South. It seems a bit early for snowbirds.... but maybe the transition has started. We do know that it is easy to get lodging, restaurant seating, admissions, etc. during the month of September...and, also that some very interesting places have closed for the month because there are so few tourists.
Our weather experience, so far, has been consistent....hot, humid, sunny days with thunder clouds threatening in the late afternoons.
The fresh seafood is fantastic pretty much everywhere.
Do YOU get the picture?????????
Right now we are at the LaQuinta in Tallahassee and thinking of moving on tomorrow. I would not recommend this place....it is in need of a major update. The location isn't bad. 'Even an excellent Scrapbook store nearby!
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