So I call up the car insurance and find out where the closest agent is in Florida and call there to see how to get everything transferred from Indiana insurance to Florida insurance so that I can get my drivers license, license plates, etc. The agent takes a look at what I have and waits a day to tell me the news...for the same insurance coverage with the same provider...(dramatic pause)...DOUBLE the price! Shocked!
After I pulled myself from the floor and did the whole hyperventilation thing (this is a dramatization of actual events), I learned from a former Floridan that many people have dirt cheap insurance that is called (I think) "no fault", meaning if you get in an accident both sides just pay for their side of the damage and can basically just drive away. This is one possible reason that the insurance is double the price in Florida. According to this ex-Floridian, it is a really bad idea to get "no fault" insurance, because you get what you pay for. However, due to so many people getting "no fault" insurance, the insurance companies hike up the price for those customers that actually want, and pay, for full insurance.
In Indiana, our version of "no fault" would be the opposite, call "liability only" where we pay for the other person's damage but are responsible for our own vehicle out of pocket.
My second theory developed from our recent apartment hunting trip to the area. After traveling to the West Palm Beach area, I realized that Florida drivers are crazy! More than once in that week we had close calls with people almost backing up into us, tricky three lane merging, and even a boat sitting in the middle of I-95 (a five lane interstate). There are also two left-hand turn lanes so that the inside turn lane can do U-turns and the outside turn lane actually turns left. This was all experienced in the "off season" (read as: "before the snow birds migrate from heaven knows where to Florida and drive even crazier").
I am not even sure if this insurance would cover hurricane damage, which I will have to ask the insurance agent when I am finally through giving him the silent treatment and decide to finally talk to him again to make a decision...I am a girl...this is sometimes how we punish people who tell us disappointing information and make us mad...even if it is not the fault of the messenger.
No matter the reason, I value my car. So I will be one of those poor saps that actually pays for full insurance.
Lesson 1 is Car Insurance...be prepared to pay dearly.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
The proverbial "rabbit hole"...
I am moving from Indiana, where I have lived all of my life except for 1 year in Japan (which we won't discuss right now), to Florida. The land of sunshine, palm trees, palmetto bugs (ie. roaches the size of cats...or so I hear), Cubans, tar balls, and hurricanes...that is pretty well the extent of my knowledge of Florida.
I have traveled to Florida a total of 4 times (1 time I was too young to remember, but the family says I was there and there are pictures so I must have been there). The time I don't remember, we went to Daytona Beach...where it was decided that my first lesson of Florida would be learned...don't drink large amounts of ocean water...results: DISASTER...and a really long night. Fortunately, I do not remember this time in my life but the lesson is understood.
Second trip to Florida was Key West. It was beautiful in Key West. I really liked the pirate stuff everywhere and you get to embrace the pirate mentality for a little bit. Key experiences in Key West include: the Duval Crawl, the original Sloppy Joe (the Sloppy Joe pizza was excellent...highly recommend) which I do not usually enjoy but the atmosphere of the bar was interesting, and watching the sunsets (I want to go at least one time to the Sunset Celebration that occurs daily at Mallory Square Dock...maybe sometime soon).
Third trip was to St. Augustine. Excellent history, and you learn about someone I had never heard of but is famous throughout Florida apparently is Henry Flagler. Great place to visit and walk around. There also a trolley that you can get a 3 day pass for and it will take you to all the highlights of St Augustine, I would highly recommend the trolley and just ride it all the way around one time to get the layout of the area and some great history lessons. St Augustine is, of course, a great ghost town where everywhere is supposedly haunted...although, other than the awesome Ghost Hunters episode about the lighthouse, I doubt most of the claims. A great restaurant is the Conch House (you have to drive to get there, but it is worth the drive), the food is okay, but they have "tree houses" that are tables that are elevated and view out to the harbor. We saw dolphins and flying fish. Great place for a meal and nature watching.
Fourth trip was to my-soon-to-be new home around the West Palm Beach area. We were apartment hunting and trying to get the lay of the land. With the viewpoint of "I'm going to live here," you start seeing thing a little differently...you notice that U-turns are expected and almost encouraged, where as in Indiana it is rarely done. I realized that in Florida, apparently there is not a "good" or "bad" side of town. It really seems random, like the city just kept expanding out from the beach in waves and never really developed a "good" or "bad" side of town and just had it randomly placed. Great finds in the West Palm Beach to Boca Raton area were, Hurricane Alley, a restaurant, in Boynton Beach that has a Key West atmosphere with hurricane information all over the walls and some really good, affordable food. There was a great public beach in Boca Raton that has an inlet to the Intercoastal Waterway where you can sit in the shade and watch the boats come in and fish for tiny fish, apparently to be used as bait out in the ocean...my mom and I kind of had to figure it out on our own, so that might not be fact and just a story we made up to explain the reason why everyone wanted to fish for tiny fish.
That is all I know about Florida from my past experience, but this blog is about my future experiences that I will have with Florida. I am sure there will be days that I love Florida and want to have a map of Florida tattooed somewhere on my person and there will be days that I curse the day Henry Flagler decided to develop the Florida area and wish it would fall into the ocean...So Florida is my latest rabbit hole. I am excited to see where this takes me and you can read all about my strange adventures in Florida in this blog.
I have traveled to Florida a total of 4 times (1 time I was too young to remember, but the family says I was there and there are pictures so I must have been there). The time I don't remember, we went to Daytona Beach...where it was decided that my first lesson of Florida would be learned...don't drink large amounts of ocean water...results: DISASTER...and a really long night. Fortunately, I do not remember this time in my life but the lesson is understood.
Second trip to Florida was Key West. It was beautiful in Key West. I really liked the pirate stuff everywhere and you get to embrace the pirate mentality for a little bit. Key experiences in Key West include: the Duval Crawl, the original Sloppy Joe (the Sloppy Joe pizza was excellent...highly recommend) which I do not usually enjoy but the atmosphere of the bar was interesting, and watching the sunsets (I want to go at least one time to the Sunset Celebration that occurs daily at Mallory Square Dock...maybe sometime soon).
Third trip was to St. Augustine. Excellent history, and you learn about someone I had never heard of but is famous throughout Florida apparently is Henry Flagler. Great place to visit and walk around. There also a trolley that you can get a 3 day pass for and it will take you to all the highlights of St Augustine, I would highly recommend the trolley and just ride it all the way around one time to get the layout of the area and some great history lessons. St Augustine is, of course, a great ghost town where everywhere is supposedly haunted...although, other than the awesome Ghost Hunters episode about the lighthouse, I doubt most of the claims. A great restaurant is the Conch House (you have to drive to get there, but it is worth the drive), the food is okay, but they have "tree houses" that are tables that are elevated and view out to the harbor. We saw dolphins and flying fish. Great place for a meal and nature watching.
Fourth trip was to my-soon-to-be new home around the West Palm Beach area. We were apartment hunting and trying to get the lay of the land. With the viewpoint of "I'm going to live here," you start seeing thing a little differently...you notice that U-turns are expected and almost encouraged, where as in Indiana it is rarely done. I realized that in Florida, apparently there is not a "good" or "bad" side of town. It really seems random, like the city just kept expanding out from the beach in waves and never really developed a "good" or "bad" side of town and just had it randomly placed. Great finds in the West Palm Beach to Boca Raton area were, Hurricane Alley, a restaurant, in Boynton Beach that has a Key West atmosphere with hurricane information all over the walls and some really good, affordable food. There was a great public beach in Boca Raton that has an inlet to the Intercoastal Waterway where you can sit in the shade and watch the boats come in and fish for tiny fish, apparently to be used as bait out in the ocean...my mom and I kind of had to figure it out on our own, so that might not be fact and just a story we made up to explain the reason why everyone wanted to fish for tiny fish.
That is all I know about Florida from my past experience, but this blog is about my future experiences that I will have with Florida. I am sure there will be days that I love Florida and want to have a map of Florida tattooed somewhere on my person and there will be days that I curse the day Henry Flagler decided to develop the Florida area and wish it would fall into the ocean...So Florida is my latest rabbit hole. I am excited to see where this takes me and you can read all about my strange adventures in Florida in this blog.
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