What is this site about and how did it begin?

Sailboat in St. Augustine by Phil Johnson

Florida for Locals is a site all about things to do in Florida with all of the information and pictures posted by people who live here. One of the original ideas was to publish information about things to do and places to go that are off the beaten path - not the typical “Travel Cliches”, like Disney World. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Disney World and I hope they give me a free lifetime pass just for mentioning them.

However, there are myriad neat places and cool things to experience that many tourists and locals alike don’t know about … and these things are right here under your nose! We were originally going to exclude the big, well-known stuff, but then thought the site wouldn’t be complete as we want to be ALL ABOUT FLORIDA. Therefore, big name attractions won’t be excluded, but we will focus more on local people, places and things, lesser known, not nationally advertised entertainment and travel information.

How it all started

The original inspiration for this site was during a trip from Ft. Lauderdale to Spring Hill Florida. We took the Turnpike to Highway 60. Just after getting onto 60 West from the Turnpike, you have the intersection of 441. I realized, I could have driven all the way to that point on 441. Obviously, it would take a lot longer and that’s why you take the Turnpike.

Then, I remembered a quote from Charles Kuralt, “Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.”

Next, I thought about how years ago I was a sales rep traveling through Florida selling to tourist attractions and Florida nature related places. I would often travel off the beaten path and discover some really neat stuff. I liked it and took some photos along the way … these are prints, before digital cameras were prevalent.

Finally, just a few minutes down the road from highways 441 and 60 I came upon Norby’s Steaks & Seafood in Lake Wales. I had stopped here once before and it was the best steak dinner I ever had, and the lowest price I ever paid for that much food of such high quality. I had already planned on stopping there again.

So here I am in Norby’s feeling like I had made one of the greatest discoveries of all time by finding this restaurant. Why had I not known about it before? How could such a great place be kept from me for so long?

All of these thoughts combined gave me the idea for FloridaForLocals.com.

Right there at the table at Norby’s, I took out my Moto Q, went to Go Daddy and registered floridaforlocals.com.

As a side note, I love my Moto Q and it is way cooler than a Blackberry.

Hello Moto!

FloridaForLocals.com publishes information about Florida fairs, nature, events, restaurants, hotels, beaches, state parks and more! It is a site for Florida residents by Florida residents. If you’re a tourist, you can find out where the locals play, eat and drink, but we’d rather you didn’t. We want to keep this a secret for ourselves. FloridaForLocals.com is an online magazine, a community with forums, and a social networking site for Florida Residents.

Florida businesses and residents can get their own profile page and blog for free. The rules are that you have to be living in Florida and posting relevant information about Florida.

Thanks for checking out the site!