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| where I went this "month" |
Though it took me a lot of extra days plus the one month, you can see I managed to make it to most of the state. And though Florida is by no means among the largest states - it ranks 22nd out of the 50 - it's much more spread out than most.
I've been having a hard time putting my finger on how I feel about Florida, so I'll go through my usual categories and see if things become clearer.
Florida's land
I was surprised about many of the features of Florida's geography, some of which I mentioned in the daily posts, but I'll recap here. I absolutely did not expect all the forests, and the state says its forestlands encompass 50% of the total land in the state. Fifty percent! I had no idea.
Also surprising to me was the amount of farmland I saw. I've never thought of Florida as an agricultural state, except for citrus groves of course, but it definitely is. Florida ranks 15th among the 50 states for number of farms and 30th in the amount of land used for them. So not exactly Kansas, but nowhere near the last either. I could see for sure cotton, oranges, cows, sugar cane, pecans, pine plantations (and logging), and plant nurseries. There were also those sponges (remember Tarpon Springs, "The Sponge Capital of the World"). And FL ranks 13th among the states for number of cattle, which I definitely didn't expect. And don't forget the horses (as in Ocala, "The Horse Capital of the World") - I saw a lot of them.
And I was surprised about all the lakes and rivers and numerous other bodies of water here. Florida says it has almost 8,000 lakes and 1,700 streams/rivers/springs and I can't find anybody who wants to tell me what percentage of the state these bodies of water cover (but I'm guessing it's a lot). It seemed like I was always crossing a river or a creek or passing a lake.
With all the people living and visiting here, I was distracted from realizing how much wildlife - especially unusual wildlife - is here. Southern Florida is now very nearly the only place in the US where panthers still live, though they once lived all over the southeast US. The Florida Black Bear is its own subspecies of American black bear, and it lives only in Florida (duh). Bobcats are found in most of the US, but I was still surprised they'd be so common here (they live in every county of the state).
I expected birds - even exotic birds - and I mostly found them. I wasn't lucky enough this trip to see flamingos or spoonbills, but I have been lucky enough to see them some years ago so didn't feel deprived. They're here, though. As are more than 500 other species.
And speaking of exotic wildlife, it seemed almost exotic to see bougainvillea and azaleas and oleanders blooming in January and February. The flowers themselves aren't uncommon, but for this time of year? Amazing.
Something else I hadn't connected with Florida and that was the Mound Builders. There are still several sites in Florida that have been protected, but scientists estimate there are others on private land that haven't been identified yet. I guess it makes sense, because they mostly lived in the southeastern US, which Florida is. But I just hadn't put the 2 together before.
Florida's people
I found a real mixed bag here. I'd say this is a state in flux.
Some folks were really nice and some folks just plain weren't. What I didn't find that I expected was much Southern hospitality. And I'm guessing it's at least partly because of the stunning influx of retirees. Between 2010 and 2021, Florida's population of people 65 and older grew by more than 40%. Forty percent in 11 years! (It's a cinch most of these retirees aren't moving from other Southern states, so Southern traditions are waning.) And the only other age group that didn't decrease in that period were those 50-64 - and they grew by a miniscule .4%. All other age groups actually decreased in size during that period.
What I've been learning from a mix of sources is that the retirees aren't thinking about adjusting to the ways of a new place; many seem to be thinking only of the conditions of their retirement life. So for instance, they vote for more pickleball courts and don't vote for better schools (a fact). At some point, this lack of vision may come back to haunt them, because the folks they want to do their landscaping and wait tables in their favorite restaurants and provide health care (as examples) will have trouble finding a decent life for them and their kids, and may take their portable skills with them to another state. In fact, that seems to be happening already, based on those population numbers.
Driving in Florida
Once again I found a mixed bag. I was a witness to (or near victim of) quite a few instances of reckless driving. In general, people here don't see the need to signal a turn, until they're actually turning, if at all. Drivers here just didn't seem at all safety conscious. The only place I ran into a lot of horn-honking was Miami; the first time I heard someone honking I jumped - and realized it had been a while since I'd run across that. Miami drivers seemed enthusiastic about it.
But on the other hand, I never once had trouble merging onto a highway because people routinely let me in, which is definitely not something I've found in every state.
As I complained of almost nonstop all month, the price of gasoline seemed high to me, compared to every other state I'd been in recently. Actually, the prices I reported when I was in Iowa and Nebraska and Kansas, for instance, were back last fall before the price of gas started coming down. And remember? The price came down and then down and then down - it was noticeable. When I got here, it was as if the prices were stuck last fall, and Floridians haven't been able to benefit as those in other states have.
In most states where gas prices are higher than their neighbors', it's because they're using that money to improve their roads - and it shows in the road quality. If that's Florida's excuse, I don't think it works very well. Their roads were generally okay, but many were hard to drive on and I found myself apologizing to my critters for the very bumpy ride. To me, that didn't comport with the higher gas prices. In general, though, I thought Florida had pretty good signage on their roads, and when I got lost it was rarely their fault.
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| Florida's license plate |
And Florida also offers more than 100 specialty plates, which surely must be the record among the states. If I were in law enforcement here in Florida, I'd hate that law - having been a criminal defense attorney for a while, I know how much many police depend on making traffic stops based on license plates (having expired and so forth). Whereas here, it's really hard to tell where a license plate is from when you're driving down the street. I guess that shows all the individuality of Floridians?
What I wanted to see that I missed
I think I detailed most of that in the individual posts, though there were still more places I haven't mentioned:
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| Singing Tower |
There's a Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg and a Louis Comfort Tiffany collection in the Morse Museum in Orlando. I've visited the Tiffany museum before but would love to go back. And I'd really like to see the Dali works.
I missed all of Florida's east coast from St. Lucie down to South Beach. This area includes places like Palm Beach, Coral Springs and Fort Lauderdale - places I've heard of but never seen.
Generally in the Tallahassee area are Lake Jackson Mounds (largest mounds in FL, built around 1000 AD), Wakulla Springs (one of the world's deepest and largest freshwater springs), and Fort Gadsden Historic Site (with a fascinating history including a fort occupied largely by fugitive slaves).
And of course, there are the Florida Keys, that I'd've liked to visit but found the idea of traveling through them with my RV intimidating, and needing more time than I had.
It was easy to see, though, that Florida has enough interesting places to visit and sites to see that a visitor could stay a long time in the state without getting bored.
My conclusion
I think the reason I'm still having trouble pinning down my opinion of this state is that the influence of this extraordinary number of new residents that are mostly retirees is completely changing Florida.
There aren't many states that are as subject to weather damage as Florida which, after all, sticks out into an ocean and a gulf and a sea like a sore thumb - almost like it's begging to be hit by weather events. Florida leads the other states in hurricanes, tornadoes per area, and lightning strikes. It has one of the highest precipitation averages in the country. Yes, it gets a lot of sunshine and yes, the temperatures are generally very mild. But it's not a safe place to live weather-wise.
Despite these easy-to-find facts, retirees continue to invest all their savings in homes here. Homes that stand a good chance of flooding (nowhere in Florida is far from water and almost all of Florida sits at or near sea level). Or damage from hail or tropical storms or any of those other disastrous weather events I listed.
I saw enormous numbers of at least nice-looking if not downright fancy houses during my visit and know that they represent a whole lot more of an investment than I can make. And yet, many thousands of people keep making that investment every year.
So what I saw was a degree of short-sightedness that was absolutely staggering. I'm not saying anywhere's safe, because people lose their houses every day in forest fires and flooding and bad weather all over the country. But Florida's level of risk is pretty special. I can't even imagine what these folks are paying in home insurance.
To me, this is a strange, risky and expensive level of disconnect.
There were some cities/towns I really liked here. St. Augustine, of course, and Fernandina Beach rank near the top of the list. But I also liked Miami and if I were younger or wealthier, I'd want to make an extended visit there to explore all that town and area have to offer. Some of the beach towns too - like Panama City and Apalachicola - seemed like they might be comfortable places to live in times of no hurricanes.
But I saw quite a few Confederate flags and an official state holiday called Confederate Memorial Day. I know for a fact (because I have the old family photo to prove it) that at least one of my forebears fought for the Confederacy. But that doesn't mean I can't think for myself, and it doesn't mean the best way to honor this relative is to revere a ghastly cause just because he fought for it. But that seems to be what a lot of Floridians think. A bill working its way through the Florida legislature right now would prohibit removing any of the 75 monuments to the Confederacy still standing in the state. And if a local government wanted to add a plaque nearby providing context for the monument - e.g. to explain the Confederates' support for slavery - even that would have to be approved in writing by the FL secretary of state.
Many states (and countries) have a hard time coming to grips with mistakes in judgment, with historical atrocities, even with simple injustices (like the Scottsboro Boys case in Alabama) made by previous generations. Florida's situation isn't unique. But what I'm seeing - including in the state legislature - is a retrograde clinging to the notion of white supremacy. That may be left over from the days of slavery, but also Florida is rapidly becoming a more racially diverse state: in 1970, white people made up 84% of the population, while in 2020 they clocked in at 58%. That's a huge change in a fairly short time. Many whites may be fearing they'll lose power when they become a minority-majority state, and that might be triggering some of these actions.
I also saw another trend in the legislature that disturbed me. Until recently, Florida was a purple state. Remember the 2000 election (Bush v. Gore) and hanging chads and a razor-thin election result? But now both the governor and both houses of the legislature are controlled by the same political party, and the leg is showing unquestioning agreement with any proposal the governor makes. Some might say this is to be expected with one-party rule. But I grew up in Texas where it's the norm, and I know that doesn't explain what I saw. Here, I saw almost no debate on issues and proposals, except anything raised by the few Democrats in the legislature. That's not the way Texas operated and it's not what I've seen in other states with heavy majorities for one party or another.
Instead, I think Florida is showing the same impulse the US saw during the first 2 years of Pres. Trump's term: Congress doing almost anything he wanted because he was so incredibly popular with what they saw as the Republican voting base. It's the same in Florida where Gov. DeSantis won a second term by an almost 19% margin. I think the legislature is willing to rubber-stamp his proposals because they believe that's how they stay in power.
DeSantis is quite clearly planning to run for president, and many people think these very far right proposals of his are aimed at winning over Trump supporters. It happens, and I saw plenty of that when Sen. Ted Cruz was first planning a run for president, and when Gov. Greg Abbott was ditto (until DeSantis and Trump between them sucked all the oxygen out of the room). That's not what concerns me.
What I am concerned about is the effects on real people that these new laws are having and will have. Investment banks and pension funds and other financial institutions are now being told instead of making financial decisions based on what will make the most money they aren't allowed to invest money in projects that minimize the effects of climate change, for instance, regardless of the financial sense of the investment. A proposed bill would prohibit girls who start menstruating younger than 6th grade from talking about it at school. Teachers and school district personnel are so worried about losing their jobs if they guess wrong about legislative intent that they've made hundreds of books unavailable to students until one of the few authorized people in the state checks them out. The new laws are so poorly or so generally written that schools don't know what they're allowed to teach about racial history in the US.
Honestly, the longer I stayed in Florida the more depressed I got. If this is the kind of place Floridians want to live, then that's their choice - but my depression concerns the upcoming presidential election. Because the Florida legislature rubber-stamps all DeSantis's ideas (some of which are being overturned by courts), I'm afraid no one's hearing a robust debate about their advisability. And even when there's pushback - well, on that menstruation bill, that was actually about teaching sex education (abstinence only except in monogamous marriages). When another legislator (a Democrat) raised this point about unintended consequences, the bill's author agreed but so far hasn't changed the wording to avoid the problem. This lack of debate at the ground level worries me about the upcoming presidential campaign.
Anyway, politics aside, I still found Florida to be a mixed bag. It's an amazing place - historically, culturally, and especially naturally. But as I wrote in one of my daily posts, while I was here I felt disconnected with the rest of the country. Here the weather's different, the politics are different, the schools are suddenly different, and I can see how some residents might think secession is a reasonable option. Florida just feels separate. And that's not a feeling I'd want to live with.
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