Life in the Shadow of the Mouse

Dateline--Orlando-ish, Florida....

I had a serendipitous thought the other day as I was driving down Highway 192 in Kissimmee, Florida.  There are two completely different Floridas.  

I noticed a year ago when I told people we were headed for Florida, there was often a pregnant pause, followed by..."oh, that's nice..." in a lukewarm sort of way.  Sometimes people would say, "Really? Florida?? Are you sure?"  I couldn't understand it.  To me, Florida was building sand castles with my girls on white sandy beaches, shelling on Sanibel Island, sailing and fishing (read: barfing) in the Gulf of Mexico. That's My Florida.

The second "Other" Florida brings me back to my Eureka! moment.  It's the Florida most people see.  It's the world of concrete and retention ponds that grew like Kudzu around the borders of Disney.  It's no wonder people were surprised when I said I love Florida.  

I snapped some pictures of that other Florida to prove my point.  I didn't search far to find examples:

The Gator Inn

Nothing says comfort and elegance like "The Gator Inn."  Why would they think people would find this image restful?

If you drive North on Highway 192, you will find the Magic Kingdom.  Head South, and you can find a million different ways to spend your money...

Shopping...maybe a Harry Potter wanna be?

Orlando used to be an Orange Grove.

Disney Gift Outlet...

Starting at $24, see Florida from the air

So I get it now.  If you have traveled to Florida, but never ventured out of the Orlando area, you've seen the "Other" Florida.  While it may be "the happiest place on earth," it isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, the most beautiful.

Sempre Gumby

it’s hard to write a blog called “No Strings Attached” when you are busy trying to grow roots.  When we left California five months ago, our plan was to mosey across the country and end up in the Tampa area.  Once there, we hoped to find a house and a community to call home.  We almost did it.

When  I first married Larry, he taught me the motto he lives by, thanks to the U.S. Marines and pop culture: “Sempre Gumby.” Translation: Ever Flexible.  That saying has come in handy, because over the past few months, we have hit road blocks at every turn.  

The first block was that it’s darn near impossible to get homeowner’s insurance in Florida.  If you are new to the state, all that’s available is the administratively bloated, self-serving, State-run “Citizen’s Insurance.” They call it “Insurance of Last Resort.” I call it “All that’s Available.”

I called our insurance company, USAA, which prides itself on serving members of the  military. I asked them how they can fail to offer homeowner’s insurance to a combat Veteran.  They have to answer to shareholders, the representative said.  USAA doesn’t mention that in their ads. What’s more laughable is that USAA’s headquarters is in Tampa. 

A series of other real estate snafus, along with the realization that living near Southwest’s headquarters would be more financially beneficial than the small domicile of Orlando, brought us to a tough decision. We decided to leave my parents and all the wonderful people and culture here in Central Florida, and move to Dallas, Texas. Sempre Gumby.

Texas is great.  I am related to half the state and I look forward to seeing my family on a more regular basis.  A little piece of my heart will remain behind in Tampa, but we are looking forward to hitting the road again and finding more adventure down the road.

Oh, there’s just one more thing...because we were planning to close on a house on August 29, we got a puppy.  Riley is a Golden Doodle and is now 13 weeks old.  Time will tell if she will like traveling as much as we do...