Florida - From the perspective of an out of town orchadist

Enjoyed many parts of a recent trip to Florida. You can buy and grow nearly anything in Florida you have the money for. I have a few pointers from an out of towners perspective. We stayed in Orlando this time at homewood suites. Have now been to Florida half a dozen times and i would consider the hotel very good. Some fruit stands sell both fruit and plants. The stawberries i bought are shown below (did not pick myself)



The upick orchards are my favorite part of my visits typically and this time was no exception. In february the citrus is good, april & may are good for strawberry & blueberries. The strawberries i had this time (maybe due to weather) were second rate but the blueberries we picked were very good. Highly recommend them.



Florida has many toll roads so be prepared by getting a sunpass etc. to save money and frequent stopping. All parks such as epcot which was great are better if you get a fast pass to avoid the lines. The section i liked most was the boat ride discussing aquaponics, hydropnics, food growing etc in the land section. Tickets were close to $600 for 2 people for 2 days. Parking cost was $25 per day. As much as Florida costs the weather was gorgeuos and the scenery beautiful!







Fresh shrimp and burgers on the pier at cocoa beach were great. The food is plentiful and the prices reasonable. Parking at cocoa is around $2.50 per hour so we felt like that was very good.
Gas prices are cheaper on the coast . We drove around checking out the various palms, bananas etc. .Some gorgeous coconut palms. What appeared to be date palms, and one unknown that looked like acai. When in Florida i enjoyed myself but everything has a cost so be aware and plan in advance.

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I’ll have to set the toll roads straight. Not Florida but Orlando has many toll roads. Tampa only has the Selmon. Miami only the Turnpike. Then the Suncoast and the Vets up the west coast but you don’t have to use them. Orlando Is awful

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Thanks for the correction @dutch-s. Please let us know updates if they change things in the future. Great news is if anyone comes to Kansas they will not experience tolls every few miles like that. Usually they charge a toll per city and ktag takes off at least 20%. Dont blow through toll booths though because the fines are hefty https://www.ksturnpike.com/travel/tolls

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ALDAcon2019 is going to be in Overland Park, Kansas. If I can afford to fly there I will go. Ypu can PM me any warnings or places you suggest we visit. While I am not old, most of the late deafened are seniors, but very active fun seeking ones.

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No worries in Kansas just dont blow through the toll booths its $20 if you do. We spend less crossing the state of Kansas than i did in Florida crossing a town. A friend sent me these pictures today from Madeira Beach florida.
FullSizeR1

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Just a quick reminder to everyone if your traveling remember real id’s are now required for air travel is my understanding. February is citrus season in Florida. You might read this thread as well A good place to buy Florida Honeybells?

I have driven by Dundee groves several times in FL on the way to and from Legoland. I’m still salty about my wife not believing me when I said I wanted to stop. One of my clients gave me my first Honeybell from Dundee and I bought a case of them for my daughter the last couple of years. I didnt spluge on them this time because Minneola’s are popping up in the local international markets for 1$ each.

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Believe that got pushed back… Yeah, looks like it:

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I sent my sister’s family,fruit from Dundee,on two different occasions.They really liked them.

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If you have a passport or other government approved ID you don’t need a real ID, save the money for a passport instead.

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Toll roads are a bad idea, infrastructure should be paid for by the government and open to the public… Im morally opposed to these. There are NO toll roads in my state.

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