On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 00:23:36 -0400, Greg wrote:

[top posted for your convenience]

I was that rarity in Jacksonville, government employee not involved in
any way with the Navy...not that there's anything wrong with that.

OB is still nice and quiet, although Daytona is going condo and up at
an alarming rate. You'll probably have to go west of the Mississippi
if you want to find mountains to escape it all. We had land in Western
NC in the '90s--almost moved there when I retired, now I'm glad we
didn't. Every time we go back there we're blown away by all the
"people from Atlanta" who've moved in.

A guy I woeked with in Jax still lives there. He says the
transformation from the '70s to now was remarkable (mostly good), so
you were there at a lot better time than I was.

Of course my Florida history goes back a lot farther than that--I was
here before the Revolution. Ocala one light? Ha, I remember when 8th
Street in Miami was Tamiami Trail, not Calle Ocho. Sadly, I also
remember "white only" signs on water fountains and "colored" on
bathrooms.

Actually lived there myself, although it was 35 years ago--'68-'73.
Never thought I'd come back to North Florida, but OB is really nice.

When were you there? Squid?

Ha! No - Mayport Road area soon became "off limits" due to the
profusion of lonely Navy Wives. Everyone I worked with or met had
some history with the USN - frankly got kinda tired of it. And the
'term of affliction' definitely wasn't appreciated by enlisted folks.

Lived in Ponte Vedra and Jax Beach and worked off Beach Blvd near 9A
as an electronics tech. Spent 8 months working in Tampa and 2 in
Whorlando as well. Decided I didn't want to live near the beach as
much as I thought I did. Too many developers showed up and turned it
into the same sort of place I left. (Atlanta) Overall, I was in
Florida between '92 and '01. The only parts of Florida that haven't
become "McMansion" or "McTourist" Land are the Everglades, and NW
Florida, and they've got their eye on that as well. I remember when
Ocala was a 1 light town, and Cape Coral was a sand dune. They've
even 'auctioned' off parts of the Ding Darling Wildlife refuge to
retiring senators and other muckity mucks. Now we're thinking about
Mountains, far from the herds, and high enough to protect ourselves
from the roving bands of food and fuel pirates. :-o


--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

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