So, now that I am back home in the cold and dark remains of a New England winter, what are my summary thoughts of this exploratory trip to St. Petersburg, Florida?
The Good News: It sure is nice in the St. Petersburg, Florida area. Friendly people, beautiful weather, plenty to do and see. It is easy to navigate the grid-patterned street layout - avenues run east/west - streets run north/south.
The Bad News: There are miles and miles of just too many - too many people, too many roads, too many cars, too many structures, too many sirens at all hours, too many personal injury attorney ads. By contrast, in New England I live on a dead-end road in the woods by a pond with only the sounds of nature surrounding me. I like that - a lot.
As I walk some of the downtown streets, I hear the street sounds and loud music from multiple cars, pick-up trucks, bikes, scooters, pedestrians - everyone listening to his/her own music and not at a private volume level - it is a cacaphony of sound. Add to that all the cellphone conversations engaged in by multiple pedestrians (often loudly on speaker) as they walk - the din is just too much sometimes.
In my hotel room, I daily can hear the symphony of jack-hammers and car traffic and emergency vehicle sirens.
I guess that's part of the trade off - if one wants consistently warm weather in the middle of a New England winter, to be somewhere in the United States, to have known healthcare, resources, infrastructure, and language - this may be a price one has to pay.
Moving here would take some getting used to. Like palm trees waving in the breeze. No different from any other move. Change is change.
It sure is nice here.............hmmmm.
It sure is nice here, too..........hmmm.
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