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Calling All Floridians!

1,739 2,340 November 30, 2009 at 08:10 AM
I'm moving from New York to Florida (I know, real original). I've never really spent any time there before, but the sunshine is calling me!

Doing some Googling, I've found loads of cool (typical) things to do: wildlife reserves, fishing trips, mini golf, Busch Gardens, etc.

But what are the other things I need to learn about? Both in a fun and practical sense!

I'll be in the Clearwater area, to narrow it down a bit. Please give me any information/recommendations you have because I know next to nothing. For example, I have read about the glory that is Publix from other SD threads, but have never been.

What kind of SD alerts should I set up so I'm getting the best deals?

Thanks in advance to all. Will rep if I'm able for all answers. hug
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TeamORillo
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Landers
11-30-2009 at 08:14 AM.
11-30-2009 at 08:14 AM.
It gets hot. You'll adjust, but it'll take some time. I've been in Texas 2.5 years now.. still not used to the heat.
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TeamORillo
11-30-2009 at 08:17 AM.
11-30-2009 at 08:17 AM.
Quote from Landers :
It gets hot. You'll adjust, but it'll take some time. I've been in Texas 2.5 years now.. still not used to the heat.
laugh out loud At the minute, I'm glad that we may get out before we have to deal with snow. A season without snow sounds amazing to me. Hubby maybe not so much, but :shrug: at least there's year-round fishing!

Are you a transplanted New Yorker? Please tell me the "no good bagels outside of Manhattan" thing is a myth.
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Kelmar
11-30-2009 at 08:31 AM.
11-30-2009 at 08:31 AM.
I grew up in the Clearwater area... if you have any specific questions, PM me.

Are you young/old? Like to party or are into nightlife or just like to hang out and relax?
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TeamORillo
11-30-2009 at 08:40 AM.
11-30-2009 at 08:40 AM.
Quote from Kelmar :
I grew up in the Clearwater area... if you have any specific questions, PM me.

Are you young/old? Like to party or are into nightlife or just like to hang out and relax?
Thanks Kelmar! I might take you up on that offer.

We're a young couple, but are a bit homebody-ish. Really enjoy a good pub, not so much for the dance clubs.

We are also very outdoorsy (another reason for the move). Love to hike especially.

Also looking forward to fishing. Any help/advice for the fishing license?
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hensons
11-30-2009 at 08:44 AM.
11-30-2009 at 08:44 AM.
Get ready for air conditioning!
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Mavtech
11-30-2009 at 08:54 AM.
11-30-2009 at 08:54 AM.
I live in Largo which is just south of Clearwater. You'll love this area where safety and entertainment go. But, if you have kids, the school board sucks. Bunch of F'ing idiots run it.

For a fishing license, get your FL driver's license before you get it. It's cheaper when you are a resident. The fishing here is awesome.....especially grouper and kingfish.

As for the heat, it's VERY hot and humid I would say June, July, August, September, and often in to October. But, Florida makes up for itself from late October through May. Right now, the weather is absolutely awesome. A "freezing cold night" here in Florida is high 30s. We rarely dip below 40 degrees. I'm sure this will be just lovely for you.

Let me know if you need directions for anything. I've lived here since 1979.
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Landers
11-30-2009 at 08:57 AM.
11-30-2009 at 08:57 AM.
Quote from khook :
laugh out loud At the minute, I'm glad that we may get out before we have to deal with snow. A season without snow sounds amazing to me. Hubby maybe not so much, but :shrug: at least there's year-round fishing!

Are you a transplanted New Yorker? Please tell me the "no good bagels outside of Manhattan" thing is a myth.
Transplanted Bostonian. Just wait..Good pizza, good bagels, and good subs will be a thing of the past.
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Kelmar
11-30-2009 at 09:01 AM.
11-30-2009 at 09:01 AM.
Quote from khook :
Thanks Kelmar! I might take you up on that offer.

We're a young couple, but are a bit homebody-ish. Really enjoy a good pub, not so much for the dance clubs.

We are also very outdoorsy (another reason for the move). Love to hike especially.

Also looking forward to fishing. Any help/advice for the fishing license?
All the fishing I've done has been places where can buy a license for the day so I'm not much help on that one. Try checking http://myfwc.com/Index.aspx

There are a lot of decent sized parks that are fun to go to. There is always the touristy clearwater beach.... There is always SOMETHING to do.

My wife and I live a few hours south of there right now but plan on moving back to the area as soon as we can.
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TeamORillo
11-30-2009 at 09:02 AM.
11-30-2009 at 09:02 AM.
Quote from Mavtech :
I live in Largo which is just south of Clearwater. You'll love this area where safety and entertainment go. But, if you have kids, the school board sucks. Bunch of F'ing idiots run it.

For a fishing license, get your FL driver's license before you get it. It's cheaper when you are a resident. The fishing here is awesome.....especially grouper and kingfish.

As for the heat, it's VERY hot and humid I would say June, July, August, September, and often in to October. But, Florida makes up for itself from late October through May. Right now, the weather is absolutely awesome. A "freezing cold night" here in Florida is high 30s. We rarely dip below 40 degrees. I'm sure this will be just lovely for you.

Let me know if you need directions for anything. I've lived here since 1979.
Thank you so much - that is all MOST helpful. I don't have a license yet (in New York you just don't need one), but I'm in the process of getting that fixed. But we will probably want to fish before that happens (license will take a couple of months), so should I bite the bullet and get the fishing license? Or if we limit to marina/beach fishing, then we don't need one, right?

No kids, but thanks for the info. Appreciated.

Very much looking forward to the weather. Since its more manageable now, I figure that will ease us into the real heat of next year. And the water (gulf side) is swimmable year round, right?

Any yearly events that are must-attends? I see we just missed a Tampa Jazz festival.

Also FOOD drool Grouper sandwiches I know are an obvious - any others we should try ASAP?
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Zoe Moon
11-30-2009 at 09:05 AM.
11-30-2009 at 09:05 AM.
Quote from Landers :
It gets hot. You'll adjust, but it'll take some time. I've been in Texas 2.5 years now.. still not used to the heat.
I moved from Texas to Florida and only survived three months in Florida. The humidity is a killer.

That and the giant flying cockroaches were too much for me. :shudder:

But I did go back often to visit my dad as he lived there.

Quote from khook :
Thanks Kelmar! I might take you up on that offer.

We're a young couple, but are a bit homebody-ish. Really enjoy a good pub, not so much for the dance clubs.

We are also very outdoorsy (another reason for the move). Love to hike especially.

Also looking forward to fishing. Any help/advice for the fishing license?
Florida is very flat, so not much hiking to be had. Be sure to watch out for alligators, while out walking as they turn up in the darnedest places. We used to have one (in a suburb of Jacksonville) that liked to cross a main road every day and he was huge and took his time, biggest alligator I've ever seen. Traffic would have to stop and wait for him to cross.

Surf fishing is good and tons of beaches to fish on, a few beaches restrict or ban it because they are crowded. For all other fishing, it's best to have a boat.

It's been a long time since I was last in Clearwater but just did a google search and it looks like they have some pubs now.

http://www.google.com/search?q=pub+clearwater+fl&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-14,GGGL:en
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Kelmar
11-30-2009 at 09:06 AM.
11-30-2009 at 09:06 AM.
Go to Salt Rock down on indian rocks beach... GREAT food! John's Pass is kind of a touristy thing you've got to do at least once. Fort Desoto at the bottom of the county is always fun.

Gaspirilla (sp?) is always a pretty big thing (never been).

Yes, it's swimmable year round but to us native floridians it can get pretty cold.
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TeamORillo
11-30-2009 at 09:06 AM.
11-30-2009 at 09:06 AM.
Quote from Kelmar :
All the fishing I've done has been places where can buy a license for the day so I'm not much help on that one. Try checking http://myfwc.com/Index.aspx

There are a lot of decent sized parks that are fun to go to. There is always the touristy clearwater beach.... There is always SOMETHING to do.

My wife and I live a few hours south of there right now but plan on moving back to the area as soon as we can.
Thanks - that is really helpful!

I forgot that in the meantime of getting the full fishing license, we could do the charter boat thing. I know that could get expensive though, too. I guess we'll have to see how often we get the urge to go! Smilie

As for the beach, we are very much looking forward to that. Have a feeling it will be a *tad* different from Coney Island laugh out loud
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TeamORillo
11-30-2009 at 09:11 AM.
11-30-2009 at 09:11 AM.
Quote from Kelmar :
Go to Salt Rock down on indian rocks beach... GREAT food! John's Pass is kind of a touristy thing you've got to do at least once. Fort Desoto at the bottom of the county is always fun.

Gaspirilla (sp?) is always a pretty big thing (never been).

Yes, it's swimmable year round but to us native floridians it can get pretty cold.
John's Pass [johnspass.com] looks bananas - definitely will have to check out at some point. But - and I don't mean to be thick - where is it? I can't find a map on their website.

IsGaspirilla this pirate festival [gasparillapiratefest.com]? If so, AWESOME.

The other recommendations look great as well. Thank you!
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Landers
11-30-2009 at 09:15 AM.
11-30-2009 at 09:15 AM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
I moved from Texas to Florida and only survived three months in Florida. The humidity is a killer.

That and the giant flying cockroaches were too much for me. :shudder:

But I did go back often to visit my dad as he lived there.

Florida is very flat, so not much hiking to be had. Be sure to watch out for alligators, while out walking as they turn up in the darnedest places. We used to have one (in a suburb of Jacksonville) that liked to cross a main road every day and he was huge and took his time, biggest alligator I've ever seen. Traffic would have to stop and wait for him to cross.

Surf fishing is good and tons of beaches to fish on, a few beaches restrict or ban it because they are crowded. For all other fishing, it's best to have a boat.

It's been a long time since I was last in Clearwater but just did a google search and it looks like they have some pubs now.

http://www.google.com/search?q=pub+clearwater+fl&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-14,GGGL:en
There was a flying cockroach that landed on me in the hockey locker room a few weeks ago... Glad I was the only one there cuz I flipped the hell out... I hate those damn things.
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