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Grr
OK, so the internet is still playing up. A lot. Gmail isn't working at all, and LJ is extremely spotty.
So I shall cross my fingers and toes and hope that this posts. And try to reply to people - but if I don't, then this is why.
Oh and IF it does, is there anyone out there who might be able to tell me what Florida is like? As a tourist, I mean. (For fic purposes. No need for indepth descriptions, but what are the things that stand out? Weather/food/places of interest/local customs/etc.)
So I shall cross my fingers and toes and hope that this posts. And try to reply to people - but if I don't, then this is why.
Oh and IF it does, is there anyone out there who might be able to tell me what Florida is like? As a tourist, I mean. (For fic purposes. No need for indepth descriptions, but what are the things that stand out? Weather/food/places of interest/local customs/etc.)
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It's really humid and muggy in a lot of the touristy areas
lots of bugs. The whole back yard of a lot of houses is is encased in what's basically a giant bug-proof screened box. It's the only place I've ever seen anything remotely like that!
Apparently vultures are common. You had to protect the garbage from them sort of like you have to protect it from bears in my part of the world
lots of toll roads. We don't have those in my part of the world; in florida we had to keep stopping and paying tolls.
It's really flat. I expect marshy/ swampy, but hadn't thought through the flattness!
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The "Parrot Jungle" is a very silly place with trained parrot acts. I went as a very small child and then again, very nostalgically, with my father as an adult. Goofy.
I don't recall the name now but there is a replica Venician villa somewhere near Miami. Beautiful grounds, gift shop. Someone had too much money.
Beaches, of course, but depending on the season. In summer, Florida is VERY hot and humid. People stay in air conditioning during the heat of the day. Noonday sun and all that. Or are you writing mad Englishmen? *s*
The Florida Keys, which I've never been to (one usually gets there by a small plane), are reputed to be both beautiful and appealingly Bohemian.
Swamp tours to see alligators.
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And lots of chain-type restaurants.
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The panhandle, where I used to live, is different from central and south Florida. Basically, its palm trees were imported from other areas of the state. They're not natural, and were planted at the airport specifically because it's what tourists expected.
Flat. Highest point in the state is a hill. And there are hills, but they aren't steep. Panhandle's a hillier than other areas. Thunderstorms happen near daily in late spring, summer, and early fall, generally in midafternoon. The ones at night tend to be more severe. They do nothing to affect the humidity. No place is more than an hour away from the coast.
Summer is three quarters of the year. Wearing shorts in November is perfectly do-able in the pandhandle, and in places further south (central and south FL), it's even possible in the middle of winter. In central and south FL, freezes do happen. Cold weather does happen. But highs generally stay above freezing.
Hot. Humid. We have air conditioning for a reason. Tons of mosquitos. Sea gulls everywhere, and they love tourist places because of all the dropped food. They're bold, too.
Best time of the year to visit the tourist areas: second and third weeks in September. Kids are in school, and it's the peak of the hurricane season.
Oh-- those tunnels in DotM? Literally not possible. There would be sinkholes everywhere because of them. (Sinkholes have been caused by telephone poles.)
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They're called (shockingly enough) screened-in porches. Not all places have them (we didn't), but if you (general) want to spend any time sitting and relaxing at the end of the day without putting bug repellant on, they're necessary.
Not all places in FL have toll roads, but they're common around Orlando. (I don't know about other places.)
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Interesting. I've seen screened-in porches in other places (we don't really need them in the Pacific Northwest) that are just porches with screens. These were the whole back yard! I guess it's the same principal though.
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Temperatures get cool at night and there are sometimes fierce rain storms.
Other points of interest, if you can drag yourself away from the above:
- quiet inlets protected from the ocean with little strips of land. These are often entirely unmarked - you have to get someone to tell you where they are. You descend to them down endless stairways. The manatees like to swim there. White beaches, calm aqua water - a little kid's paradise.
- turtle sanctuaries - they save injured and stranded sea turtles; nurse them back to health and set them free again. The public can visit.
- walking trails through the native Florida scrub - strange and wild
- Cape Canaveral, where the US space program was centered. Rather amazing to visit both for the rocket stuff and the incredible natural beauty. It's on its own separate piece of land sticking out into the Atlantic. Bald eagles make huge nests there.
Good luck with your fic!
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*HUGS*
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I went in late May, and even then it was HOT. Florida is, if not tropical, very close to it. I was in Orlando. Palm trees--much taller than I'd expected. Strange lizards and beautiful birds everywhere. We would sit out on the patio in the resort where we stayed and watch the lizards the same way we watch squirrels up here in New England. The ibis in particular are just lovely.
We had to slather with sunblock to go outside and we'd sit underneath umbrellas. The heat is fierce. The sunlight is VERY intense at that time of year, especially if you've lived most of your life in northern latitudes. But at the same time, it's just marvelous. Lying under those umbrellas, I felt every muscle in my body relax.
Every meal that was served to us was garnished with oranges and/or grapefruit. At the breakfast buffet, there were enormous bowls of citrus fruits set out--absolutely delicious. I gorged and gorged and gorged. It's the one thing, besides the heat, that I remember most clearly.
When I was there, I never left the resort (we were in Orlando). I was there, believe it or not, for a Xena convention. : ) It's very, very flat, with large patches of water everywhere. Most of Florida, IIRC, is pretty much at sea level, and the water table is very high.
I'd love to go back there at some point, preferably in the winter, and just lay out on a beach, enjoying the feeling of just being warm. For the next week around here, temps aren't supposed to get much past the freezing mark. Florida sounds really good right now. : )
Good luck with your fic!
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ETA: Aaaaand I just realised that they're going to Texas instead. Darn. Might send them off on a road trip or something to incorporate all the Florida stuff. Or maybe I'll use it later. Hmmmm.
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As a Midwesterner, seeing fields of citrus trees was a novelty. I've seen orchards, but these seemed like they were planted closer together than the apple or cherry trees I've seen around here.
Seafood....again as someone from a landlocked area, relatively cheap abundant seafood was awesome. When the steaks cost more than the fish on a menu it is a novelty.
I'm going to pipe in and say the sun is crazy intense, especially if you are a pale person. I had lathered up with sunscreen, but managed to miss a spot on my foot. After just a couple hours I had a rather severe burn there. Even though I am sure it is more intense in the Caribbean, I still remember the sun more there, because there wasn't as much shade.
One final note, it isn't just that there are bugs, it's that they are HUGE, at least compared to what I was used to.
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Probably not this time. (You'll see why as you make your way through 'Dating'.)
Oh and I will have to re-watch parts of Waters of Mars as well. Wish me luck!
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Hopefully not the parts where Rusty impeached the good name of funny robots everywhere. Good luck?
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Heee. Well, it's not that sort of story (and the chapter will be long enough as it is... /o\)
Hopefully not the parts where Rusty impeached the good name of funny robots everywhere.
OK, this is uncanny.
ETA: David Tennant's eyes are HUGE. And he's terribly expressive. Mind you, there's no doubt about the fact that he's a man on the brink of a nervous breakdown.