Was down in Florida last week

[crokett]

Orlando. Took the little one (19mos) to Sea World and Universal to see Barney. Sea World was a smash it - she absolutely loved the Shamu show and the dolphin show. She got mad when we left. Universal was meh. I was surprised - she loves her Barney but wasn't too sure about the Barney live show.

Anyhoo... some observations..
Interesting drive. It's been several years since I've driven someplace I've never been before.
Floridians seem fairly polite drivers, at least those around Orlando. Either that or my NC plate let me get away with a couple stupid things.
There seem to be two speeds down there - 45 and 80+mph. From the FLA/GA border south to Daytona to I-4 the cruise was on 80mph and I touched it maybe 4 times. I got passed as much as I passed people.
Local news is the same anywhere - the three affiliates there there even had the same slogans as the ones here.
Saw a lotta Hummers. More than I've ever seen anywhere.
Saw a lotta tinted windows on cars. Guess it keeps the sun out.

[just4funsies]

You learn quick here that you're gonna spend a lot of time crawling through traffic, even on the toll expy's and the interstate. So you try to make up for it by hauling ass when the opportunity arises. Otherwise, by the time you get anywhere, it's time to go home. And governmental types like to close lanes down on the roads, so they can build other lanes, so that they can close THEM down, and build more lanes, etc. etc. etc......

The worst part is that they can't build a road around here without putting up toll booths every mile or so. Add those costs to the prices they're getting for gas these days, and it hardly makes sense to go ANYWHERE.

Welcome, tourists... Leave your money here, and go HOME! See you next year...