How could moving get more difficult? Somehow Florida figured out a way. I contacted my insurance company and figured out that insurance in high because of the no fault state thing (which I will explain in a moment) and because 1 in 4 drivers in Florida are uninsured.
No fault as my friend commented on an earlier post is a state by state law. Indiana was a state that based accident claims on the percentage of fault each person had. This can lead to more lawsuits. Florida decided, along with other states, that to avoid lawsuits they would make personal injury (pain and suffering, inconvenience, etc) no fault, meaning the auto insurance company will pay for medical expenses (that is the injured person's own insurance company.) The actual damage to the vehicle is still always based on fault.
While speaking to the insurance agent, he says that he will give me a temp card that will allow me to get my car registered...I thought he meant the plates... No he meant to get my car title changed to Florida. You have to take you title from the other state (In my case, Indiana), you registration from the other state, proof of FL insurance,and $127.60, to the tax collector's office. With further investigation, you also must have the vehicle VIN verified by a notary public or police officer! The tax collector (no really, there is a building that says tax collector, and the tax collector's name on the building itself...for some reason thing struck me as strange. We do not have this in Indiana.) will change the titles from the other state to FL and issues licence plates. Registering your vehicle must be done within 10 days of when you become a resident...ie, you sign your lease. 10 days!
Then at the DMV, you take your passport or birth certificate, your SS card, and 2 forms of Proof of residency and get your drivers license. This is of couse not in the same location, or even close to the same location as the tax collector. The insurance agent recommended making an appointment because generally you don't take something that you need and you have to wait forever in line as well. So I guess you make an appointment so that your first trip is a quick rejection of your paperwork and then you make another appointment? I did try to make an appointment and the first available was October 11! You are supposed to have the new license within 30 days...hmmm, interesting.
In Indiana, all of this can be done by 1 visit to the DMV, title, plates, and license.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Extra Credit- The Drive
1130 miles of driving alone...really? Yes, after a few near misses, we finally arrived safely to FL. Georgia people are crazy drivers and really it is just the Atlanta drivers and a 30 mile radius around the city. If I had to live there, I think after just going around the city I would have turned back and said, "just kidding."
We took a mini break to St Augustine since we were waiting for the furniture to arrive. Note to self: Don't go during Labor Day Weekend. Crazy busy and we could not find a place that was close to town. So it was difficult to get to all of the places we usually like to go. We (my family) came up with our top 3 places to go.
My List:
1) Trolley Ride: I recommend the Green and Yellow trolley (not sure the name, but once I have internet in the apartment I will get it). I think they stop at the most places and very frequent (every 15 min there is a new trolley). The passes last 3 days (so the price seems a little high, but when split in 3 days, they are not that bad). They tell the history of the city and stop at most of the top locations. I recommend, your fist time in the city, ride the trolley around one time fully to get all of the history and get a feel of all of the locations in the city. There is also a red and black trolley group that is produced by Ripley's Believe It or Not. I have not gone on this tour, but the parents have and they like the Green and Yellow better...for the money, I will have to believe them.
2) Ferry ride: I have only gone on one of the Ferry tours, but there are a few available that will take you around the Matanzas and close to the Atlantic. There is a Pirate Ship that is fun, but you have to sing and dance, so if you like that kind of thing, try it out. There is also a larger ferry that has been operating for 4 generations (the one I took). It is great for scenery and is low on talking (giving history). I would have preferred a little more history in my tour, but I got enough history from the Trolley ride that I could fill in the gaps. There is also a sailboat tour (none of my family has taken) and Eco tours that has kiak and regular boat rides to find the dolphins and wildlife that is in the area (also a tour none of us has taken yet).
3) St George Street: Pretty good shopping and some really good ice cream.
Parents: (they have been to the city more that 2 times, something like 5 times)
-they would add the following to my list
1) Old Jail: A good place to see the old history of the place and get a feel of the 1880's time frame (I have never been to the Old Jail)
2) Flagler College (the tour): happens at 10am and 2PM every day, student run tours. Great way to get the history of the college back when it was built by Henry Flagler as the massive, state -of-the-art Hotel Ponce de Leon in the 1880's. See the Tiffany glass in the dining hall. You will get a lot of the history of the Flagler era on the Trolley tours but to see the inside detail, take the tour. (I have never taken the tour)
3) Alligator Farm: It is on Anastasia Island, across the Bridge of Lions. If you take the Trolley tours, there is a shuttle that can take you out once an hour to the Farm and the Lighthouse, or you can drive. You can hold the baby alligators and learn all about the creepy crawlies. (I have never been to the Farm)
4) Ghost and Graveyards Tour: There are a number of ghost tours around St Augustine and the Lighthouse. Some are walking, some are riding. I took the one created by the Ripley Believe It or Not group, and it was okay, but it was very theatrical. They do give you an EMF detector to use on the tour and a disposable camera that you can use and keep to see if there were ghosties around that you couldn't see but your camera would capture. The Ghost and Gravestones is produced but the Trolley group that I mentioned as my number 1 attraction. I hear that it is even more theatrical but it does go to the Lighthouse but does not go in. They also offer a 4 hour, 10PM-2AM, jail house investigation on the Fridays or Saturdays only (none of us have done this but are very excited it we get a chance to participate sometime in the future).
Those are the big places to go in St Augustine in our opinion. I went to some new places that I will touch on briefly:
Fountain of Youth: Not updated since the 1980's, it seems, and there is very little that kids would find as interesting. Needs updating
Government House (St Augustine Museum): Gives a lot more information than the St Augustine museum that is by the Old Jail will about the colonization period of St Augustine and the different conquests
St Augustine Museum (by Old Jail): Free...but not updated (but I guess how do you update history). Gives more information on the pioneer period of St Augustine and Florida in general.
Casa Zeraga (I will check the spelling when I have internet in my apartment): This is the first structure of poured concrete in St Augustine by Franklin Smith (who taught Henry Flagler how to do it to make his massive hotel). Good audio tour to let you know what you are looking at. Air Conditioned! Someone had a thing for Moroccan "stuff". (Go once...)
That is all for now from St. Augustine. Now to get all settled in in the apartment. The movers came yesterday and left way too many boxes at our apartment...I am sure they were unloading other people's "stuff" but they insist it is all our "stuff!" Movers! Someone must have gotten in our "stuff" and added "stuff", I do not remember this much "stuff!" So far, though, I recognize all of the "stuff"...so maybe I did pack all of this "stuff."
PS. Movers are WAY worth it!
We took a mini break to St Augustine since we were waiting for the furniture to arrive. Note to self: Don't go during Labor Day Weekend. Crazy busy and we could not find a place that was close to town. So it was difficult to get to all of the places we usually like to go. We (my family) came up with our top 3 places to go.
My List:
1) Trolley Ride: I recommend the Green and Yellow trolley (not sure the name, but once I have internet in the apartment I will get it). I think they stop at the most places and very frequent (every 15 min there is a new trolley). The passes last 3 days (so the price seems a little high, but when split in 3 days, they are not that bad). They tell the history of the city and stop at most of the top locations. I recommend, your fist time in the city, ride the trolley around one time fully to get all of the history and get a feel of all of the locations in the city. There is also a red and black trolley group that is produced by Ripley's Believe It or Not. I have not gone on this tour, but the parents have and they like the Green and Yellow better...for the money, I will have to believe them.
2) Ferry ride: I have only gone on one of the Ferry tours, but there are a few available that will take you around the Matanzas and close to the Atlantic. There is a Pirate Ship that is fun, but you have to sing and dance, so if you like that kind of thing, try it out. There is also a larger ferry that has been operating for 4 generations (the one I took). It is great for scenery and is low on talking (giving history). I would have preferred a little more history in my tour, but I got enough history from the Trolley ride that I could fill in the gaps. There is also a sailboat tour (none of my family has taken) and Eco tours that has kiak and regular boat rides to find the dolphins and wildlife that is in the area (also a tour none of us has taken yet).
3) St George Street: Pretty good shopping and some really good ice cream.
Parents: (they have been to the city more that 2 times, something like 5 times)
-they would add the following to my list
1) Old Jail: A good place to see the old history of the place and get a feel of the 1880's time frame (I have never been to the Old Jail)
2) Flagler College (the tour): happens at 10am and 2PM every day, student run tours. Great way to get the history of the college back when it was built by Henry Flagler as the massive, state -of-the-art Hotel Ponce de Leon in the 1880's. See the Tiffany glass in the dining hall. You will get a lot of the history of the Flagler era on the Trolley tours but to see the inside detail, take the tour. (I have never taken the tour)
3) Alligator Farm: It is on Anastasia Island, across the Bridge of Lions. If you take the Trolley tours, there is a shuttle that can take you out once an hour to the Farm and the Lighthouse, or you can drive. You can hold the baby alligators and learn all about the creepy crawlies. (I have never been to the Farm)
4) Ghost and Graveyards Tour: There are a number of ghost tours around St Augustine and the Lighthouse. Some are walking, some are riding. I took the one created by the Ripley Believe It or Not group, and it was okay, but it was very theatrical. They do give you an EMF detector to use on the tour and a disposable camera that you can use and keep to see if there were ghosties around that you couldn't see but your camera would capture. The Ghost and Gravestones is produced but the Trolley group that I mentioned as my number 1 attraction. I hear that it is even more theatrical but it does go to the Lighthouse but does not go in. They also offer a 4 hour, 10PM-2AM, jail house investigation on the Fridays or Saturdays only (none of us have done this but are very excited it we get a chance to participate sometime in the future).
Those are the big places to go in St Augustine in our opinion. I went to some new places that I will touch on briefly:
Fountain of Youth: Not updated since the 1980's, it seems, and there is very little that kids would find as interesting. Needs updating
Government House (St Augustine Museum): Gives a lot more information than the St Augustine museum that is by the Old Jail will about the colonization period of St Augustine and the different conquests
St Augustine Museum (by Old Jail): Free...but not updated (but I guess how do you update history). Gives more information on the pioneer period of St Augustine and Florida in general.
Casa Zeraga (I will check the spelling when I have internet in my apartment): This is the first structure of poured concrete in St Augustine by Franklin Smith (who taught Henry Flagler how to do it to make his massive hotel). Good audio tour to let you know what you are looking at. Air Conditioned! Someone had a thing for Moroccan "stuff". (Go once...)
That is all for now from St. Augustine. Now to get all settled in in the apartment. The movers came yesterday and left way too many boxes at our apartment...I am sure they were unloading other people's "stuff" but they insist it is all our "stuff!" Movers! Someone must have gotten in our "stuff" and added "stuff", I do not remember this much "stuff!" So far, though, I recognize all of the "stuff"...so maybe I did pack all of this "stuff."
PS. Movers are WAY worth it!
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