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How is Florida different?

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Welcome to Paradise. I am currently reading a book about the revolutionary war. I actually grew up on the hill, where Abigail Adams and John Quincy Adams walked to watch the cowardly British shell the city.  It was a pretty interesting place to grow up and I was always a big fan of New England residential architecture and loved the idea of living in a bow house at some point and eventually built myself a salt box just like John Adams and John Quincy Adams lived in.  The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of in New England were the strict rules that families and especially children had to follow. On the street I grew up on most of us went to public school, but going to a religious school was somewhat common and totally acceptable. But I still remember the day my neighbor Thomas told us he was going to Thayer Academy.  My sister let him know that he was a liar and no longer welcome in our house and I think I probably knew that was the best example of how jealousy hurts relationships. Thayer
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Is Orlando Awesome?

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Welcome to Paradise. I grew up in a town on the Atlantic Ocean named for a pirate.  In the summer we would make the arduous journey to Cape Cod to the town where the Pilgrims landed.  I never liked that town and haven't been back, truth be told - if I lived there in 1620 I would have been on the Native Americans' team and tried to send those Pilgrims back to The Netherlands (if you were thinking "back to England" you went to a bad elementary school). So it surprised me when I swam in the Gulf of Mexico in my 30s.  I thought Florida was theme parks around Orlando and Orange groves.  Boy was I wrong, I became a "Gulf Guy" couldn't have be happier.  The water is warmer than the summer ocean temp in my hometown.  Which is why I came here, but now that our son is nine, we love Orlando. But, we ARE NOT a Disney Family. Our son has been there and thought the lines were ridiculous, the rides were boring and there is way more fun stuff to do.  That's what is
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Where's the Best Place to Have Fun in Florida?

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Welcome to paradise. My last blog post was regarding our son's personality and how freedom of thought seems to be heavily promoted throughout Florida.  I have not posted in a few months because our son had a very serious accident and has been working on his recovery.  I am grateful he is doing so much better, and even jokes that he was never too injured he just wanted a helicopter (air ambulance) ride. For a kid that is usually headed somewhere for an action packed adventure, this season in our lives was looking worrisome.  How could we keep our kid active and protect his brain as he works on his TBI recovery?  After some serious contemplation and discussion with the medical team I think we figured it out.....  Helmet in the backyard! My Website  
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Can You Truly Be Yourself in Florida?

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Welcome to Paradise. In the town I grew up in, my hero was a bookseller who almost singlehandedly defeated the best military in the world.  He lived near me, taught himself military strategy and became one of General George Washington's closest friends.  He left school at the age my son is now to support his mom and younger brother and made himself the most interesting book seller in all of Boston. The thing I like about him was how he marched to his own drummer.  He didn't worry what others thought of him but certainly knew the difference between right and wrong.  People have largely forgotten about his heroics but, our family has not. Two weeks ago we traveled to Northern Florida and then Georgia for our son to compete in a wakeboard competition.  While we were there my son decided that some of the water lilies were cool and he should decorate his helmet with them.  Preteen boys typically do not fawn over flora or use it as decoration, but our kid isn't worried about wha
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What Makes You The Happiest in Florida?

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Welcome to paradise. The reasons for moving to Florida are about as varied as the people who move here.  But when talking to new residents, the weather is normally a factor even if it's not the biggest one.  I knew I was going to end up here when I was 10 years old and shoveling snow in mid-April.  That's not the life I wanted. Don't get me wrong, I had lots of great friends where I grew up and I'm a history nerd so being born in Wollaston (modern day Boston) was a point of pride to me.  Even though Wollaston was named after a pirate who was generally considered an undesirable.  But, seriously how many people do you know who grew up in a town named for a pirate?  There really aren't too many of us. At any rate, since moving to Florida, I have been surprised at the amount of time everyone spends outside.  To that end I couldn't be happier that our son loves the outdoors and is involved in a few sports that take place outdoors almost exclusively.  I feel bad for p
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Why Would a Non-Golfer Live on a Golf Course?

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Welcome to Paradise. Before I was a dad, I thought that kids were kids - pretty much all the same.  Then my son Rocky was born.  From the earliest of ages all he wanted to do was be outside and be riding something.  It started with a scooter and balance bike before he was two and he's never looked back.  That's awesome, however as he became more mobil we quickly learned we needed a bigger house, near the beach with a huge backyard. Not as difficult as it sounds. Before Rocky's second birthday we bought a house 11 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico with a 500 Acre backyard.  To be fair, the yard isn't our private 500 acres, we live on a golf course by Siesta Key in Sarasota so our backyard gets HUGE as soon as the golfers go home. So we get to live in a place with a 500 acre backyard that we never have to mow.  I'm thinking no matter what kid of kid you have that's a good deal. In the "backyard" Search Golf Course Homes
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Does Wildlife in Florida Concern You?

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Welcome to Paradise. I hadn't been in Florida long before I was bitten by several Fire Ants and needed medical attention.  My doctor tells me I have an underlying allergic reaction and I shouldn't be embarrassed that I ended up on crutches.  But let's be honest, NO ONE wants to admit they lost a fight with a bunch of ants and had to go to the ER. When our son showed up I did make all sorts of effort to ensure he didn't get set upon by this underground monster.  Needless to say by year three he had been attacked, in front of his mom, who swears to this day there were more than 200 bites.  In her defense, she is probably right.  It was a bad scene. But there were worse incidents. One year ago we were swimming in a lake and a gator popped up next to my son. One of his best friends has survived an alligator attack and I think Rocky wants some gator scars; and that's probably the only thing in my life that keeps me up at night. At any rate he left the water and the gator
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