Southern Charm & Fuzzy Feelings

Technically, Florida is in the South. Yes, I know, basic geography.

However, the culture within Florida isn't "Southern" like places in Georgia or North Carolina.

There is just this genteel attitude that permeates every aspect of life in these true Southern states.

Here is a quick recap of some "Southern" trips and then... onto the main event!

North Carolina with David

 Two years ago, I visited Hickory & Charlotte, North Carolina for a visit to David's hometown over break.

New Years Eve started out fun & full of life! We hit a few bars, danced, made merry and finally ended up at a bar a little outside of the city. As everything started to wind down, we took a taxi van for our large group and contentedly headed home.

As we started heading back into the city, our cab driver blatantly ran the meter up misunderstood where we needed to go & headed in the complete opposite direction!

At this point, we informed him that we were not going to pay when he was going the wrong way. With that, he promptly dropped us on the curb and drove away without a second glance. He was just about the only person without some Southern gentility in this state.

At 2:30am, we started walking home.

At 4:00am, in high heels and "downtown wear", through bad parts of town, and sometimes beer-goggled directions, we made it back home!




Through it all, everyone remained in relatively good spirits.
(I will admit to some frustration on my part...Blame it on the Florida roots!)
The rest of the trip wasn't as dramatic, and we continued to visit the cute restaurants and beautiful sites within North Carolina.

Also, I saw snow for the 2nd time in my life that trip- totally amazing!


Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with Kristin

Last summer, Kristin and I accompanied her parents & their friends to a timeshare in South Carolina.

This island was a haven of country clubs, horse stables, and generally healthy & friendly people all there for a good time.

I can't think of a time where there were unfriendly servers, people that weren't smiling, or strangers that when you passed them didn't say hi.

All around, it was a welcoming place. We visited the beaches, local bars by the pier, and well known restaurants.


That brings me to SoFlo!

To be honest, my general opinion of South Florida has always looked something like this in my head:

Source

When in reality, it looks something like this:

And this:

This crazy move to my former nemesis of Florida was brought about by my boyfriend, David.

David (pictured above) graduated from UCF (represent!) in May, and he was one of the few lucky engineers that was able to get a job right out of college. He started a week after graduation and has been impressing them with his skills since then. Last week, we found out that he was getting transferred down to the Walton office in Port St Lucie.

While I had entertained a job opportunity in teaching down there (A principle I met at a job fair, but that's another post), we weren't sure that the move was really going to happen.

It all became a reality this past week as our house has been a whirlwind of packing, cleaning, and general havoc as we've tried to find a way to move all our stuff, set up utilities, and wrap up the end of our lives here in Orlando.

All of this rearranging has had be feeling warm & fuzzy towards my favorite hang outs & unique places in Orlando.

Next post: Favorites in Orlando!