Growing up in Florida there was a lot to love. Florida isn’t called the sunshine state for no reason. Here are some of the reasons that I loved growing up there.
1. Never having to buy winter coats.
Growing up in Florida was always great. We never needed winter coats or snow boots. The thickest jacket we needed was a hoodie (maybe two on those bone chilling 40 degree days).
2. Always wearing flip flops and shorts.
If you looked in my closet growing up I had every variation of flip flops that there were. I had cute rhinestone sandals, cheap beach flip flops, and about five other pairs. I also owned about 10 pairs of shorts.
3. Just enough cool days to wear scarves and boots.
The whole year we had maybe 15 days that were colder than 60 degrees. On those days every girl would pull out her cute fall boots and scarves. People from up north would be in shorts and a tank top laying out in that type of weather but for us it was our only time to dust off our sweater collection.
4. Going to the beach all year.
Ok. Well maybe not all year. From about October to March the water is pretty cold. Other than those few short months, we could go to the beach whenever we pleased. I grew up 45 minutes from the beach and went every chance I could get.
5. Disney World.
(And other amusement parks) I remember going to Disney all the time growing up. We don’t go that often anymore because it is crazy expensive now. I loved going to SeaWorld, Wet ‘n Wild and Busch Gardens. We had annual passes for a while to SeaWorld and Aquatica, it was great because if it was nice on Saturdays, we would go every week.
6. No snow.
Let me be honest. I personally do not think that snow is that bad. I always wished that it would snow in Florida so we could have a snow day (that never happened…). We did have storm days though (for hurricanes). We would stay at home and watch TV all day because the hurricanes that hit our area were really nothing but glorified thunderstorms with a bit more wind.
7. Spending time outside.
I loved laying in the sun whenever I pleased. I am not much of an outside person but moving to Ohio for college has made me appreciate the never ending opportunity to do things outside. Some days this past winter all I wanted to do was lay in the sun but I couldn’t do that because of the snow and the fact that it was cold.
8. Swimming pools.
Swimming pools were the bomb. In Florida, almost everyone has one and if you don’t, someone you know does. The public pools were the place to hang out with friends from the time they opened in mid April to close in mid October. Almost everyone who lives in Florida owns more bathing suits and sunscreen than they do jeans.
9. Summer all year.
We could do anything outside that we wanted. In Florida we had four seasons: hot, hotter, hottest, and maybe fall if we got lucky. You know how some people do spring cleaning and plant gardens? Yeah well that was a year round adventure for those of us who grew up in Florida.
10. Tourists.
Tourists are hilarious. There were times when I would go to Downtown Disney in Orlando just to people watch. I would watch them buy crazy overpriced food and souvenirs to take home. You could always count on a good laugh from the tourists at the beach who said they were going to “tan” and ended up like lobsters (The sun in Florida is different than the sun that you are used to). Don’t get me wrong, tourists are annoying sometimes. They don’t know how to drive and have no idea where they are going half of the time but they were quite interesting to watch.
Sometimes I didn’t like growing up in Florida. The never ending heat wasn’t always the greatest thing in the world. Other than that I will always be thankful for the memories that I made in our year round summer. Oh, and palm trees. Let me just say, I miss seeing palm trees everywhere.
