Vacation!

This evening we got back from a 3 night vacation in the Tampa/St Petersburg area in Florida. We arrived there Thursday evening, and went out to catch the sunset at Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach, where they have a sunset festival daily with talented street performers/agressive beggars , merchants set up at tables selling useless crap, and lots of people. I was glad we went on a Thursday evening and not on a weekend. But it was beautiful and an interesting experience. Really other than some of the more agressive performers begging for money it was an enjoyable experience and I'm glad we went. It was at this location, and the following dinner at a pizza place in Clearwater Beach, that I first realized how different the beaches of this area are from where my parents live in Ft Walton Bch, on the panhandle of Florida. The water looks the same - beautiful at both locations, and both have white sand, but the ambiance and people are totally different. Ft Walton Bch: polite, laid back, slow paced, most locals are basically southerners without the accent and transplants looking for a relaxed way of life, and most of the tourists are from the south. Tampa area: gruff, in a hurry, busy, most of the tourists are from New England, many of the residents are transplants looking to impose the culture of New Jersey on Florida. I have heard people in Georgia complain about "yankees" occasionally and it always made me chuckle, but now I get it. The snow birds were all nice, but most of the people without white hair were weird.