How Florida Travel And History
Became My Passions

These days I spend a lot of time traveling around Florida to do research for this site. Florida is so large it can and does take a lifetime to see it all.

There are a lot of things in Florida I haven't seen yet even though I've lived here most of my life.

I will always remember my first impression of Florida.

I had joined the Navy in Chicago, and was flown the next day to Pensacola to begin my basic training.

Chicago was so freezing cold with slushy sleet that March day that it made my bones ache!

The plane circled over the white sand beaches and deep blue waters of the Florida Panhandle and landed at Pensacola.

I can still feel the balmy caress of the tropical breeze on my face as we departed the plane and walked across the tarmac to the terminal.

The rustling of the palm fronds in the gentle breeze was a sound I had never heard before.

The contrast with the freezing urban tundra I had just left was overwhelming.

An old Florida saying goes "he has sand in his shoes". It means that he is a visitor who has decided to stay in Florida forever.

I've been lucky enough to live in Florida ever since, and only go north when the weather up there suits me.

As a matter of fact, I just took a trip to my hometown with my sons and grandkids. Read about it at August 2009 Prius trip.

After getting out of the Navy, I graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Civil Engineering. Most of my career in Florida has been spent in engineering related to construction and land development.

I have lived in Pensacola, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tampa, Orlando, Melbourne, Merritt Island, Indialantic, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Jupiter, Key Biscayne and Naples.

No matter where I've lived in Florida, I always found my way to Gainesville to cheer on the Gator football team.

If you are a Gator or Seminole fan, their football schedules are here (Gators) and here (Seminoles)..

During my career, I traveled all over the state on dozens of projects. This allowed me to learn about all of Florida's regions.

I worked on projects from the Florida Keys to Pensacola, and dozens of places in between.

I got to be an expert on Florida..

I also became very interested in Florida history. I am a member of The Florida Historical Society, and have belonged to most of the local historical groups in places I've lived.

The most interesting Florida history was what I learned from my Florida Cracker friends. When I first moved to the State, we Yankees were the rare breed.

Most Floridians back then were native born, believe it or not. Many of them were fourth and fifth generation natives. They were the Florida Crackers.

Even today, when I take a trip I usually take the back roads if time permits. When I was starting out, almost all of Florida's roads were back roads. The interstate highways were still under construction.

The first major project I worked on was Walt Disney World in Orlando. My first stab at writing was a small book that told the story about how Walt's spirit of quality guided the design and construction of Walt Disney World even after his death in 1966.

The book is titled What Would Walt Do?. Then came Epcot Center, and I also had a quality control consulting role on that project. My last theme park project was Universal Studios in Orlando.

During these years, I saw major changes in Florida. Not all of those changes were good.

The Florida I knew and loved was vanishing before my eyes.

My kids got tired of me exclaiming as we drove around the state: Damn, they put in a traffic light here, Why I remember when there was a farm where that shopping mall is ..........etc, etc.

In addition to business travel, I did a lot of camping with my kids when they were young.

A Florida State Park is a great place to visit even if you are not a camper. It is old Florida the way it used to be.

Although my business, jobs and projects were interesting and challenging, they typically kept me cooped up in an office or on a job site. My travel was limited to weekends and vacations.

It seemed I worked hard just to stay in place.

It took most of my time just to make a living, and there wasn't much time to do some of the things I really enjoyed.

There was never time to follow my first love, which is wandering around the State of Florida in my car and boat. I love to see places and things that are new to me.

I looked forward to the day when I could hang up the old slide rule (you kids will have to look that one up) and start traveling for fun.

I longed for freedom and the adventure of seeing new places.

In August 2008 I got that freedom in an unexpected way.

A large regional mall project I was managing during the design and permitting phase got canceled due to the sinking economy.

For the first time in my career, I was unemployed and there didn't seem to be any engineering or construction jobs out there with my name on them.

I was getting frustrated looking for something to do. Being unemployed is bad for self esteem and the pocketbook.

My dad used to say "do what you love and it won't seem like work".

My dad was right, so fast forward to now.

I love Florida history, love to write, love to travel around the state on the roads less traveled and love to share my experiences with others.

So I decided to do what I love: wander around Florida and share my knowledge and experience with others. And I decided to do it with a website.

The problem was, I didn't know how to build a website.

Now I do, and will share my secret with you.

Becoming unemployed turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. It has allowed me the time to collect my thoughts and learn how to build a successful internet business.

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