F is for Florida

Thanks for my blog buddy for the suggestions!

Since I was 6 months old, I have lived in Florida. My parents moved down to South Florida and purchased their first home after living in Maryland for 8 years after they got married. It isn’t that we didn’t have ties to Florida; after all, my dad was born in Miami. I always found that funny because his parents are from Dothan, Alabama. But my grandpa worked for the phone company and it took him all the way down to Miami.

I enjoyed growing up near the water and in the sun. It was all I’d ever known. Sure, we took vacations out of the state, to New York and Alabama. We always drove so I saw a lot of different things but I was a Florida girl: flips flops, shorts and tanks, always playing outside. I associate so many things with my childhood that are inherent to Florida, especially the southern region: wide Atlantic beaches, a varied culture, Gloria Estefan. Ha!

When I was 14, we moved to the Orlando area and I realized that it looked like an entire other Florida. There were rivers and tall tress and scrubland. It had a vastly different vibe than down south; in fact, I knew more surfers there, funny enough! The climate was a lot more fair than down south and we saw a lot of wildlife such as bears, deer, and racoons. I enjoyed my time in that area.

In 1997, I moved to the most North you can get without being in actual Georgia, city-wise, Tallahassee. It’s a “typical” college town, though missing some of the things they might have, due to the government being here. This city too showed me how varied the state is. Here, we have a beach an hour away but it’s the gulf, where I had never lived. We have scrublands and Spanish moss a-plenty.

One thing I’ve realized over my many years is just how special I think Florida is. I don’t exactly know why. It isn’t because Disney is here; I got “over” that place a few years ago. I have great memories but you won’t catch me going back until I have grandkids. It isn’t because of the weather because I don’t mind the heat or the hurricanes or even the pollen (though it kills me); it’s just fine most of the year. Maybe it has to do with its vast history. Or that we have a “thing” about us that outsider view as simply “That’s Florida for ya!” Maybe I like that. Maybe I like that other states think Florida all looks like Disney or Miami. It’s so much more than that. Go see the Everglades or Blue Springs or places like Pensacola, which is like a Panama City Beach but tiny and weird. Jacksonville encompasses everything you could want in a big city, but still feels inherently Florida. This state has everything in one place if you’re willing to put in the driving and look off the beaten path. So in the end, I will always be grateful for having lived here, even when we eventually move north.