Summer time at the Shore….in Florida.

I am on vacation in Florida this week, so my posts will be shorter than usual. We flew out on Spirit Airlines, out of Atlantic City ---a very sane airport experience in New Jersey, by the way. Way better than Newark Liberty or Philadelphia, I think. Too early in the morning this time, but a good flight.

Florida and New Jersey share a great deal in common. Too much development. Traffic all the time on every road. Rising property taxes. [but their ‘high’ property tax ‘problem’ is amusing compared to ours].

They both have toll roads: The New Jersey Turnpike, and “Florida’s Turnpike”. Don’t call it the Florida Turnpike. And fast ways to pay the tolls: New Jersey has EZPass; Florida has Sun Pass.

There is an interesting political balance: the northern part of the state slants Republican, while Southern Florida and the urban areas of Dade and Broward Counties slants somewhat Democratic. That’s because Dade and Broward are where most folks from the northeast retire ---and many of those folks from New Jersey and New York have already been ‘pre-Democratic Party-ized’.

Some differences:

Florida had the president's brother as their governor for eight years. We did not.

New Jersey has a state income tax; and Florida does not.
They make tons of money on vacationing families by surcharges on hotels, car rentals, air port fees.

New Jersey has Cape May. Florida has Key West. Key West is 90 miles from Cuba. We're not.

New Jersey has 21 Counties; Florida 67 Counties.

New Jersey has The Shore. Florida has beaches. And more beaches. On both sides of the state.

New Jersey has part of Gateway National Park; Florida has Everglades National Park.

New Jersey has deer on the roads. Florida has alligators.
Either way, if you hit an alligator in Florida, stay in your car.

One thing Florida has that I miss in New Jersey: Drive-in Movie theaters. We should get us some. They're fun.