Looking to make friends in Florida

[Bladestar5]

We are moving to Florida in May. Newport Richey, Hudson area. I would like to make some friends, so I will not be so isolated and lonely when we move there. My dh is taking over his dad's fence business, and I might be working in his mom's balloon/party shop. I am 23(this week) and I have 2 little ones. Ds is 3 in April, and dd is 3mos right now.
I have some questions about the area. Anybody??

[abimommy]

Hi, I am moving this over to the Florida area so those in that area will be more likely to see the thread..:)

Good Luck, Jessica

[Jillby]

I am on the east coast of fl. just wanted to welcome another vermonter! I miss vt!
MY mother has been to newport richey,says it is nice. have a wonderful move!

[Bladestar5]

Are you from here? Why do you miss it so much? I will miss the change of seasons in the falltime, and my family, but that is all.

[Jillby]

well it took me a couple of years to get used to florida.I have only been here almost 3 years. the heat is a killer sometimes and i do miss fall an awful lot! but i have made some good friends recently and my mom has moved down here.but vermonters just have a different mindset about things.like recycling or composting.most floridians don't seem to care too much about their world.and my husband hates the work ethic down here!!
all in all we are getting used to it. hope your experience turns out wonderful!
jill

[Bladestar5]

I am really having a hard time accepting that we are moving, now that it is getting closer to the time we were planning on going. I don't want to move anymore, but VT is too expensive to live here anymore:crying

[saturnine25]

Bladestar5, I live in the St. Petersburg area, and am originally from MA. It took me a few years to get used to living down here- it really was culture shock at first! I am somewhat familiar w/ Hudson and New Port Richey (I think US 19 is the major roadway running through both towns). Anyway, if you're willing to drive 45 min. or so, I can give you some ideas in regard to whole foods markets, etc. There is a fairly active homeschooling community in Hillsborough and Pinellas from what I understand, although since my daughter is only 18mo., I haven't experienced much of it firsthand. Feel free to email me at saturnine25@yahoo.com and I'd be happy to do my best to answer any questions you may have about the area.

Amy, mom to Tsuneo, 09/12/01

[ParkersMama]

Well, we live in north central Florida (Gainesville area), so not near you but in Florida :D ... would love to see some more Florida moms in the area.

[KeysMama]

Doesn't anyone want to come all the way to the end of the Florida Road anymore?:crying

Hello from the Southern-most Mothering mama.....:wave

[Bladestar5]

I am not fond of Hurricanes, otherwise I wouldn't have a problem:D

[KeysMama]

uhhhh, I have no stats, but I am quite sure Tampa area gets them about as much as we do!:eek

[Bladestar5]

Uh, oh! Hmm...dh's parents haven't had one yet, but I hear that my fil's aunt had her house ruined in Homested sp:confused: in Hurricane Andrew.

[KeysMama]

I was down here during Andrew....yicky.....but hey no worries, just get some duct tape and plastic sheeting!:rotflmao :bgbounce

[Bladestar5]

:LOL Yep, I hear it is the new cure-all!! It sounds like you have the same odd sense of humor as me!!

[WriterMama]

*

[flminivanmama]

oh yeah Tampa & New Port Richey gets hit as much as we do in South Florida if not more! the hurricanes go into the gulf and hit land there....

we live near miami/ft lauderdale :)

[Bladestar5]

Yikes! Well, hopefully we will be lucky as my in-laws. They haven't had a problem in the 14 years they have lived there. Where do you go during a storm? Is there any warning of an impending storm if you don't listen to the weather station? Do alarms sound? That must be very frightening...

[flminivanmama]

when a storm is coming there are usually days and days of warning b/c nowadays they start tracking the storms off the coast of Africa instead of waiting till they are in the middle of the atlantic. It's on all the TV and radio and you will see when you go into the supermarket also if there's a storm coming. I also get tracking info in my email from the newspaper (signed up for it a few years ago)

we nevr got hit either thankfully - just andrew came close a few years ago (1992)

[Bladestar5]

Well, it is certainly good to know of warnings. Are there ever tornadoes in FL?

[flminivanmama]

there are but I've never seen one - I think they are few and far between ... I've seen a few waterspouts though which is like a tornado over the water. those were cool

[mama2annabelle]

Bladestar and WriterMama, I live in New Port Richey.

As far as hurricane frequency, Bladestar, I've lived in the North Pinellas/ West Pasco area practically my entire life. The last major hurricane to hit this area was Elena in 1985 or '86. We've had several close calls over the years since then, but they were all near misses. And if you're going to be living east of US 19, you probably won't even be in an evacuation zone (unless you live in a mobile home since they can just crumble in very high winds). Don't worry too much about it, just get your disaster kit ready in early June just in case and go on with life as normal. No one I know is really concerned about hurricanes, and actually most people don't even do the hurricane supplies thing...but they pay for it when a storm is coming our way and zillions of people rush the grocery stores to buy canned goods, water, and batteries at the same time!

Anyway, Florida's not that bad. I don't think I'd want to live anywhere else...but that's probably b/c I'm a wimp when it comes to cold weather.

[Bladestar5]

I am so sick of the cold weather. I feel like a prisoner in this trailer. I cannot wait to get out of here. I will be hanging out with my mother in law a lot, she and I are pretty close.

[Kleine Hexe]

Hi fellow Floridians!

I live in Zepyrhills which is 45 minutes N of Tampa, 45 minutes W of Orlando, and 45 minutes E of New Port Richey. :) Give or take a few minutes here and there.

I came here from Germany and had a hard time adjusting. Been here 4 years now and I'm used to it. Do miss seasons though.

[ChelleRie]

Hi! I am in Spring Hill, it takes me about 5 minutes to get to Hudson:) As a matter of fact, I only use the Hudson post office, lines are way to long at the Spring Hill one! I think I recognize your name from Amitys!

I have been in FL since 1996, no hurricane yet, couple of close calls though.

I will gladly try to answer any questions you may have on the area.

Michelle

[CincoDeMama]

I think I've posted in this forum before, but it's been a while, so here's another post from me looking for other mamas in Jax :)

Anyone?

[granolagirl97]

Originally posted by saturnine25
Anyway, if you're willing to drive 45 min. or so, I can give you some ideas in regard to whole foods markets, etc. There is a fairly active homeschooling community in Hillsborough and Pinellas from what I understand, although since my daughter is only 18mo., I haven't experienced much of it firsthand.

Amy, mom to Tsuneo, 09/12/01

Amy,

We are moving to the Tampa area (well, SOMEWHERE between Tampa and Sarasota) sometime this summer. We've just had one too many MN winters. After our house sells, we're cashing out and moving on down - staying with MIL until DH finds a job and then we find a house. I am very interested in finding out about whole foods markets in the area (I realize the area I am talking about is large, but any info would give me comfort). I am currently a part of a buying club which means we order directly from the wholesalers of the health food stores in the metro area here. So we have that, we have co-ops (the health food stores, cooperatively owned), and Whole Foods Market to choose from here. When we were visiting MIL in Bradenton last year we ran across one very small health food store which was better than nothing, but had little selection and very high prices. So are there any larger stores around? Do the larger grocery chains carry natural food sections? We have "Rainbow Foods" up here which is very large and they have a natural food section. We also have Super Targets here - Target and a grocery store in one - and they offer "natural" items in each asile alongside the conventional stuff. Are there Super Targets in FL; do they sell those items? *sigh* I am full of questions. This is a huge step for our family; we are moving away from EVERYONE except DH's mom who only moved down there 2 1/2 yrs ago herself. We also homeschool and I have been looking into some of that info online... just trying to get as much info as I can beforehand, but I know we'll never really know until we just get there! Thanks in advance! :)

[saturnine25]

Granolagirl97- There is a whole foods store in St. Petersburg called Richard's, which also has a store in Sarasota. Also in St. Pete are Rollin' Oats and Nature's Finest. The grocery chain Publix carries a decent selection of whole foods, although some Publix stores are better than others (I guess it depends on the demand in the area). PM me if you want more specific info, and I'll be happy to provide it.

Writermama- I pm'd you :)

[saturnine25]

Oops....duplicate post, sorry!

[saturnine25]

[granolagirl97]

Thanks for the info, mamas. I have greater peace of mind knowing I'll have some options for my family. :)

[MommyKim]

I live in Clearwater, but before I was married I lived in New Port Richey for 8 years and we plan to move back closer that way soon. The heat is overbearing most of the time, but I'm sure shovelling snow isn't the greatest either. At least we have great beaches!

[hslingmomof4]

I can so relate to your post. I haven't adjusted yet. Oh the big cockroaches. Well the call them palmeto bugs. I know what roaches look like. It is a flying roach.

I live in the panhandle area. I think this is the worst area in FL, IMO. There isn't a whole lot of variety here.



Originally posted by Jillby
well it took me a couple of years to get used to florida.I have only been here almost 3 years. the heat is a killer sometimes and i do miss fall an awful lot! but i have made some good friends recently and my mom has moved down here.but vermonters just have a different mindset about things.like recycling or composting.most floridians don't seem to care too much about their world.and my husband hates the work ethic down here!!
all in all we are getting used to it. hope your experience turns out wonderful!
jill