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In the U.S., it predates it by 4 years. Beetle importation began in 1949, with a whopping 2 units sold. Subsequent years in the 50's only saw sales numbers in the hundreds. Corvette production began in 1953.
Back in the early 80's my dh and I had a Beetle. Beetles were more of a "hippie" car during the 60's/70's/early 80's. We had several friends with Beetles, I never knew anyone to wave at others. But my wealthy teenage cousin had a Corvette, and when she and I were out riding in it, we got lots of waves.
[b]JViello: That looks like so much fun! I've never been to a car show before but I'm interested too! I saw that the next show will be in August in Manchester You can definetly count me in!!!!! didn't know about the "waving" thing..It sure is a "jeep wrangler owner thing"
It is a lot of fun as Maine Street is shut down, the cars are all parked, vendors are out, the stores are open and there are pile of people walking around enjoying the day.
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Originally Posted by fbam
So far we have done a lot of hiking and going to parks. We have been to Northwest park in Windsor a bunch of times (suggested by Jviello) and we love it.
Okay, here's a couple more for you.
Take the kids to Yankee Candle Factory in MA - about an 45min -1 hour North in Deerfield. No admission fee, but I'm not responsible for spontaneous candle purchases.
Yankee Candle Village - South Deerfield, MA (http://www.yankeecandle.com/yc/images/retail/flagship/ycvDeerfieldEventsVideo.html - broken link)
You'll have more fun at a candle factory then you ever thought!
Up the road there is a Butterfly Garden (indoor) as well if you think that might be fun.
Back in the early 80's my dh and I had a Beetle. Beetles were more of a "hippie" car during the 60's/70's/early 80's. We had several friends with Beetles, I never knew anyone to wave at others. But my wealthy teenage cousin had a Corvette, and when she and I were out riding in it, we got lots of waves.
Ha! Yea, my ex boyfriend had a corvette and anytime we drove around people waved. Even when I helped him move across country to California and it was on the trolley, people waved! He was also a member of the "Corvette Car Club". I guess it is a similar thing as people riding on Harleys.
During that time I believe it was a different kind of wave considering it was Hitler's "people's car."
I'm familiar with Volkswagen's history. I was refering to Volkswagen Beetles in the United States in 1949 vs. the first model year of Corvettes in 1953.
Hmm I have a toyota maybe I shoud start waving to my fellow toyota users Lol yea unless I want to get some wird looks..Toyota owners don't have that 'fraternity thing" going on
Fbam: That sounds like a lot of fun! Have you heard of six flags? www.sixflags.com
It sounds like that might interest you
Jviello: The old surbridge village reminds me of a renaissance festival I went in FL..It was very interesting! Can't wait to find another job so that can have my nights and weekends free again! please keep posting those interesting CT and MA activities.
Also, I know some of you are busy with family, personal, business life but if you happen to be free to hang out..Don't forget there's someone new in town!..C'mon you guys can't blame me for saying this
Cara, maybe it was a bad experience we had but please be careful with Craigslist - lots of freaks, weirdo's, and scams on there. Never give out personal information, always research the place of business before coming in, etc. Not sure how the job market is there but we tried selling our car there with no luck - 9 out of 10 responses we got were from dealers looking to get a cheap deal or some weirdo trying to collect personal information. Same with house rental hunting - 9 out of 10 responses we got were scams trying to get us to email them back a credit application, they were out of the country, and all without seeing the property first. One guy stood us up when he realized that I was coming along with my wife to see the house.
Stick with the Hartford Courant for classifieds, check the major job search engines. IMHO, best one to use is Indeed.com as it aggregates results from many job databases in a Google like result list.
Terromaster, I too have my fair share of scams from Craiglist but I completey ignore them when they ask for my credit report or to fill out an application in a weird website; some postings are legit so that's why I still use it. I do look also in Hartford courant , Caree builder and Monster.Like you said, there are so many people out there trying to steal others' personal informations. I've never really use indeed.com though so I'm definetly going to check it out! Thank you.
I agree with most everything that you said, Yankee Rose. And had I read your post a year and a half ago, I would not have agreed. You and a lot of other posters on this board know I'm a native Floridian who moved here in 2008. And I how hard the OP is having it.
When I first moved here, I loved it. I was renting a studio apartment in Middletown. I moved here in late March. Had I moved here in the winter...I shudder to think.
I decided to embrace CT when I first got here. I volunteered at wine festivals, dragged my boyfriend to NYC and Boston, explored different towns, etc. Summers are fantastic up here and it's been a couple of years since I've felt FL humidity. But then my first winter hit and it wasn't really the weather that I minded. I could deal with the cold. It was the daylight savings time issue (dark at 4pm!), the lack of people out and about in the neighborhood on weekends, not being able to cook out on the grill and eat outside, the stillness in the air and lack of life in the trees and gardens, and not being able to go for an evening walk after work (ice and tennis shoes don't mix). I still get out and about in the winters but it's not as easy to strike up conversations with people when you're all bundled up and rushing to get out of the cold. Also in FL, we have year-round outdoor seating in restaurants and bars. I think having that kind of atmosphere perptuates casual and easy conversations, making it a bit easier to strike up conversations with people. Who cares that it's 90 degrees and sweat is dripping off your frizzy head.
Leaving FL has made me realize that I really didn't have it so bad down there. Did I make less money? Yeah, about 25% less. But I was also paying 1/5 of the taxes down there. Will I miss CT when we sell the house and go back in the next year or two? There are definitely certain aspects I'll miss. I love planting tulips and daffodils in the fall and watching plants come alive in April. I love that I don't have to deal with palmetto bugs, snakes, frogs, gators in lakes, and other reptiles. Although for some reason I do miss lizards. I love the wineries and fall leaves. And I love that I can open one of my Food and Wine magazines and attend an event in NYC. I like being able to say to my boyfriend, 'Hey, I'm gonna take the train into the city for the day. See ya tonight.' But on the other hand I miss my family. I miss the beautiful turquoise water in Sarasota and white sand of Clearwater Beach, wearing shorts and flip-flops 8-10 mths of the year, having a cool drink on the deck at Bahama Breeze in Tampa, huge festivals and outdoor concerts year round in downtown St. Pete, and modern, new homes that don't have wet basements (or any basement ).
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Originally Posted by Yankeerose00
I do agree that this is a recipe for disaster. I've known people to do this and sometimes they NEVER adjust. They are always homesick. I've said it before and I believe it with all my heart...Florida people should stay in Florida. They are a brand all their own. They simply cannot adjust anyplace that is not 85 and sunny every day. You have to have lived in Florida to understand the mentality. The people who love it there cannot fathom that it's possible to love anyplace else. They are as bad or worse than Texas with thinking their state is the ONLY state one could be happy in. To them, the "north" is North Carolina. People from Florida have the hardest time adjusting to new places. I don't mean that to sound condescending. It's just the truth. You are going to have to work harder than the average transplant to adjust here because it is so, so different from Florida.
Following one's spouse to a place they hate is sure to breed resentment down the road. He has the great job and new buddies at work and you're home by yourself.
You have two choices here: make every effort to go back to Florida where you'll be happy or seriously, seriously, attempt to build a life here. It's going to take effort on your part. It is possible to be happy here but you have to make it happen. If not, people move away and move back all the time. I mean, those really are your options. I moved here a year ago from the south and I've had no trouble making friends. But I'm friendly and I wanted to be here. If a person is miserable, it kind of repels other people.
Best of luck.
think having that kind of atmosphere perptuates casual and easy conversations, making it a bit easier to strike up conversations with people. Who cares that it's 90 degrees and sweat is dripping off your frizzy head.
lol, this is sooo true. There is no sweat like Florida sweat. You sweat in places you didn't know you had pores.
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Leaving FL has made me realize that I really didn't have it so bad down there. Did I make less money? Yeah, about 25% less. But I was also paying 1/5 of the taxes down there. Will I miss CT when we sell the house and go back in the next year or two? There are definitely certain aspects I'll miss. I love planting tulips and daffodils in the fall and watching plants come alive in April. I love that I don't have to deal with palmetto bugs, snakes, frogs, gators in lakes, and other reptiles. Although for some reason I do miss lizards. I love the wineries and fall leaves. And I love that I can open one of my Food and Wine magazines and attend an event in NYC. I like being able to say to my boyfriend, 'Hey, I'm gonna take the train into the city for the day. See ya tonight.' But on the other hand I miss my family. I miss the beautiful turquoise water in Sarasota and white sand of Clearwater Beach, wearing shorts and flip-flops 8-10 mths of the year, having a cool drink on the deck at Bahama Breeze in Tampa, huge festivals and outdoor concerts year round in downtown St. Pete, and modern, new homes that don't have wet basements
I'm glad that you have been able to find some good in Connecticut. I think every state has something to offer.
You are definitely a Floridian and you sound like you truly belong in Florida. It's good to hear you will be moving back. Why live someplace that you don't love?
I hope my comments to the original poster didn't sound rude. I know of 5 people who moved from Florida and didn't move back....my parents, my brother, my husband and me. Anyone else who did move, especially a Florida native, ended up moving back. There are many people who can leave a state and move to another and land on their feet. Florida people just don't work that way. From what I hear, California and Arizona natives are like that too. It's like they are solar powered. They can't function without the sun and heat, lol.
When we were planning on moving, I can't tell you how many times my husband and I heard, "Oh you'll be back." I knew they were basing that on seeing people move and actually come back. It's funny because the rest of the south is kind of interchangeable. I've had family move from Georgia to Tennessee, from South Carolina to Georgia, from North Carolina to Virginia and they were just fine. No real adjustments.
Florida is so unique that most Florida people aren't even happy in other southern states. My brother in law moved from FL to Alabama and came back one year later. He said Alabama was too cold and weird for him. Another friend of ours moved from Florida to Charlotte, NC and came back a year later. A co-worker of mine had moved to Atlanta a few years before and came back to Tampa. So it's not just the northeast that's the issue. I think it would be just as hard had you, or this original poster moved to another southern state.
Plus it all depends on where a person goes within a state. I'm sure if a person moved from College Hill or Seminole Heights in Tampa to Newtown or Litchfield Connecticut, they would think they were in Heaven.
I recently looked a homes online and I can see why Florida is in what they are calling a "free falling" state regarding home prices. My parents' house was bought in 1993 for 129k, sold for 160k in 2001, by 2004 it sold again for 350k, now it's listed as a short sale for 149k. So real estate in Florida has become realistic again. Unlike here where 300k will buy you a nice fixer upper circa 1970.
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Lol yea unless I want to get some wird looks..Toyota owners don't have that 'fraternity thing" going on
. I've never really use indeed.com though so I'm definetly going to check it out! Thank you.
