#THE PENINSULA JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA

[americaisthetrueoldworld]

Timucuan Indians are the Tamerikhans

Timucuan Indians are the Tamerikhans

Timucuan Indians are the copper colored or swarthy Tamerikhans (Tameri-Khans) depicted on the 1657 map of La floridas which has the Nationality of Tamerikaans listed under the plaque of La Floridas on this map.   Additionally, Timucuan are Tamerikhan are etymologically and phonetically the same word due to similar spelling and similar pronunciation. However, let’s break it down even further…

[jinruihokankeikaku]

Reminder - early hurricane forecasts often miss, both high and low, but it's better to be overprepared than underprepared. If you live on the Florida Gulf Coast, from the northwest border down to Tampa Bay, you should be preparing for a Category 3+ hurricane impact sometime this Thursday (2024/09/26). This will likely be a very large storm regardless of its intensity, and areas as far west as coastal Alabama/Mississippi/southeastern Louisiana, and as far northeast as Jacksonville/Savannah/Charleston (on the coast) and Atlanta/central Georgia (inland) could see gusty winds and rainbands. Much of the Florida peninsula could experience tropical storm conditions regardless of the exact location of landfall.

I'm just an amateur etc.; listen to the NHC and your local weather office. But the NHC is a conservative organisation, and if you're concerned, best to take reasonable precautions in advance than to wait for them to issue dire warnings.

[vintageviewmaster]

Brand: View-Master Packet Title: Florida Booklet Title: View-Master Presents Florida Booklet Subtitle: The Peninsula State Date: 1955

Note: When reading the booklet descriptions, please remember that these booklets are old (most are 65+ years old) and the information and history presented in them as factual may be inaccurate, outdated, and in some cases, offensive.

Booklet Introduction Description: Ponce de Leon really missed a bet. He landed near St. Augustine one April in 1513 in search of the legendary Fountain of Youth, then sailed away! During the 1940-1950 decade, 600,000 people from other states moved to Florida convinced that they had found what Ponce de Leon had overlooked. Their fountain of youth consists of basking in the Florida sun acquiring that native tan, sailing and fishing in the warm waters that lap the nation's longest coastline, and sleeping under subtropical stars in a night cooled by the trade winds.

Florida Facts and Figures When Ponce de Leon landed on the Florida coast it was Easter Sunday which in Spanish is Pascua florida, hence "Florida". The State Flower is the Orange Blossom; the State Bird is the Mocking-bird; the Tree is the Cabbage or Sabal Palm; the Song is "The Swanee River" by Stephen Foster; and the Motto is the same as that found on all U. S. coins, "In God We Trust." Almost twice as many vacationers and winter guests visit the state of Florida as live there. The income from the 5 million tourists, $930 million is the state's largest single source of income. A combination of all year sunshine and plentiful rainfall has resulted in Florida's world leadership in oranges. Over half the nation's and a quarter of the world's supply of oranges are grown in the state. Most of the nation's winter vegetables come from Florida truck gardens, and in south Florida tropical fruits are grown - avocado, mango, guava, papaya, litchi fruit, and coconuts. Hotel-keeping must be the state's leading industry, but it also leads the nation in cigar making, sponge harvesting and phosphate mining. The largest cigar factory in the world is in Jacksonville. Every spring, baseball comes to Florida. Twelve of the sixteen major league teams plus 77 minor league teams hold spring training here.

The State and Its People Florida has an area of 58,560 square miles and is 21st in size among the states. It has the longest coastline, 2,077 miles. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the Florida Straits on the south separates it from Cuba; the Gulf of Mexico washes its western shores; and Alabama and Georgia lie north. Only Delaware and Louisiana lie lower than Florida whose average elevation is 100 feet. The highest point in the state is 325 feet at Iron Mountain upon which is built the famous Bok Singing Tower. The southern tip of the state is Everglade country where the land is so low that it appears as small hummocks or patches of grass growing out of swampy water. Everglades National Park is located here. The 1950 population of Florida was 2,711,305, ranking twentieth among the states. It is the fastest growing state east of the Rockies having increased its popular 46.1% from 1940 to 1950. Famous Floridians include: Osceola, the great Seminole Indian war chief who was never defeated but finally tricked into imprisonment; John Gorrie, of Apalachicola, inventor of mechanical refrigeration; Marjorie Kinnar Rawlings, whose Pulitzer prize novel, The Yearling” dealt with the Florida backwoods; and Joseph W. "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, commander of the China-Burma-India Theater of War.

Highlights of History After discovering Florida, Ponce de Leon landed two shiploads of colonists at Charlotte Harbor in 1521, but constant clashes with the Indians resulted in his death and the abandonment of the colony. Tales of fabulous cities of gold (which were not to spring up until the 20th century) lured other Spanish explorers. Hernando de Soto landed in the Tampa area in 1539 to begin a four year march. Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Captain General of the Spanish treasure fleets, came to Florida in 1565 to found St. Augustine and a line of posts from Tampa Bay to Port Royal, South Carolina. After the British captured Havana, Cuba, in 1763, Spain agreed to trade Florida for the Cuban capital. But after the American Revolution, the British were squeezed in by the new United States and Spanish strongholds to the south. They ceded Florida to Spain from whom the United States bought it in 1819 for $5 million. With the creation of the Florida Territory in 1822 came Indian trouble. The Seven-Year Seminole Wars ending in 1842 cost the lives of 1,500 American soldiers but brought eventual peace paving the way for statehood which was granted on March 3, 1845.

[weather-usa]

Florida faces ongoing flooding threats for the next several days as a front remains stalled over the Sunshine State.

Many areas in North and Central Florida have received 3 to 5 inches of rainfall, with some Doppler radar estimates indicating over a foot of rain in certain communities.

Climate and Average Weather Year Round in 75217-Dallas-TX:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/201825745/Weather-Forecast-For-75217-Dallas-TX

Scenes of flooding, which have frequently affected Jacksonville, Tampa, and other communities north of Interstate 4 in Florida, are likely to persist over the next several days due to a stalled frontal boundary that is driving showers and thunderstorms.

The heavy rainfall began early last week across the Florida Peninsula and shows no signs of easing, as tropical moisture continues to flow into the Sunshine State.

Many areas in North and Central Florida have received 3 to 5 inches of rain, with some Doppler radar estimates indicating over a foot of rainfall in certain communities.

The area around Tampa International Airport saw significantly higher rainfall, with over 8 inches recorded in just 48 hours.

The rainfall totals and flooding are comparable to what a hurricane might bring, despite the absence of a storm, as the 2024 hurricane season has been relatively quiet so far.

The National Weather Service office in Jacksonville noted, "We don’t need 'rain with a name' to experience flooding impacts."

More rain is expected on football Sunday and into the coming week.

Storms may affect several NFL games in Florida on Sunday. In South Florida, the heat will be a bigger concern than the rain when the Miami Dolphins take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. Heat index values are expected to reach up to 100 degrees, with a Heat Advisory in effect for Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties through Sunday evening.

In the Tampa Bay region, off-and-on rain showers are forecast as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the Washington Commanders.

With the frontal boundary lingering across the state, precipitation chances will remain high. Forecast models predict an additional 3-7 inches of rain over the next week, with some isolated areas experiencing more.

The flood threat will be greatest in areas where rain bands persistently impact the same regions, generally south of the frontal boundary.

On Sunday, Flood Warnings are in effect for several rivers in North and Central Florida. Minor flooding is anticipated along the St. Johns River in Astor. In Southwest Florida, minor flooding is also expected for the Alafia River at Lithia in Hillsborough County, the Myakka River in Myakka River State Park in Sarasota County, and the Peace River at Arcadia in DeSoto County.

While damage from the flooding has been relatively limited so far, impacts are expected to worsen as the already saturated ground reduces water absorption.

Most flooding incidents have involved drivers attempting to navigate through water that was too deep for their vehicles.

What to do if your car is flooded:

See more:

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-96752

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-96753

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-96754

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-96755

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-96756

If your vehicle is partially submerged in floodwaters, AAA experts advise against starting the engine, as this could cause further damage.

Instead, begin by photographing the damage both inside and outside of the car for your insurance company.

Contact your insurance representative, who will guide you through the next steps. This will likely involve working with a claims adjuster and arranging for the vehicle to be towed to a certified mechanic.

Mike Porcelli, a mechanic and automotive technology consultant, previously informed FOX Weather that many insurance companies may declare a vehicle a total loss even if no visible damage is apparent.

Weather Forecast For 28411 - Wilmington NC:

"Modern vehicles rely heavily on computers. Everything from power windows and lights to the engine and transmission is controlled by these systems," Porcelli explained. "If water floods the car's interior, it can damage these computers, which are often located under seats or in the dashboard."

[the-firebird69]

There's a bunch of people making jokes as aliens and everybody thinks it's really really funny and her son change the joke a little and the aliens went on for like a year about him now they haven't yet it's coming up though they said you can't do that this is what do I do I already did it and they're laughing that's terrible.

-it's got me something wrong with these people it has really asking for that ridiculous but we have other things happening other than the two huge events we mentioned. One of them is there's a bunch of people around who are not savory and a gross and we need them out for real

-the timing is right but the day is odd an awful little it's Sunday there's a big battle starting in Tampa Orlando Jacksonville and yeah it's because fairly soon will be unplugged and it's over diamonds and the sooner empire is moving in and they consider themselves to be fast and lethal

-it's a huge day but that's a big change and if they change is coming once the more locker pushed out the big groups are going to push in and they've had enough of this crap and they're fighting these guys and they don't want them here or overhead and they're going to have to close it is how we mentioned the pseudo empire museum it take like 50% over and we're still here and then they take the shifts and the equipment moves and the workers move and they let the area go and the numbers are not this huge meaning that they'll come down and they lose like 10% and they're more like have probably 65% so it's a slow war nutrition but each round they'll be losing ground and people will be evacuating steadily but globally our numbers are around correct there yes it's not very good for them but they have reserves in the islands they say okay and they should come down once they get some small ships we think they won't

-as we mentioned the silver rounds out to 150 miles then there's the big stuff he's going to be here the whole time we suspect during the several rounds and it's torture and he thought it was ending and they were just real slow and we needed that time so we kind of got that but we didn't tell him but we needed the Midwest and we need to get some things well he knew about it it's just not pushing it and Wham-O I mean right away it's ridiculous so we do help out with it as he knows but there are several rims really around Florida and it's typical everywhere so we're describing it here it goes from 5 to 20 and they'll start those after they're done the whole peninsula one to five. And by the way five to one means there's five more lock for one Mac it's about the past and the present they send it back and it's about here in Florida it's getting that way elsewhere too but here more so and it got really messed up and they figured it out though and it's important however there are several other rings it goes 20 to 50 and then 52100 and then 100 to 150 and they can do it that way they say because the ships are bigger and they don't take this long to get out and you want to be in there definitely for the diamonds to get in there and out is there a bigger those ones on the outside I have the tunnel with is about 10 to 15 miles and they have diamonds in them that are about 300 to 500 ft and they're not too hard to get out you have to remove a superstructure but they could use that on land they say it too they're going to cut it out and pull it out but they can use it. No they might start another row of rings and all over and they've been gathering equipment to do these rings and more and they say it's kind of lame in the process is wrong it's not even developed and they're listening to an engineer yes but he is very young and doesn't have experience with it yeah it works this is water and fuel would probably not the egg night so they said that's great so they're doing it sometimes they have to ventilate but really they are studying it and they're going to engineer from now on and they're going to try and do another row and hire more and more Cruise and get ahead of this one if they do that it's going to push these warlock out of many areas and they'll be stuck doing it themselves and the fight each other and that's the empire wants and they should have split it up that they didn't have fighting here however a son points out that if they don't fight for a while and go after the stone chips the max are going to end up fighting them and that could be what's going to happen and they're going to be known areas we go after Stone ships they're in their areas which is another way it can happen and good he says loses firebird back to go to cruising nights where the T-shirt with Ken who's inmates t-shirts take a break from this madness so we are going to have a good time here but really it probably will go that way and we see why they're bringing down hardware huge amounts and they want the clay also as a side talk but really we have seen a huge amount of being procured nearby and that's indicator will bring you here it's not for Georgia as for here and there's a lot of it up there and a couple other places to drink to here by ship it is a boatload of stuff a lot of it

More shortly he's going to head out and do some shopping

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera

[thelistingteammiami]

What Are the Hottest Real Estate Trends in Florida?

Florida has been synonymous with scoring real estate. Natural disasters and climate change have done little to make the Sunshine State a less desirable destination for practically everybody. Its enchanting appeal to students, retirees, entrepreneurs, workers, tourists and snowbirds has made its local real estate markets vibrant and profitable.

Will Floridian locations and properties remain attractive in the coming months? Learn about the most noteworthy trends to set your expectations for the peninsula’s residential real estate sector.

1. Fewer Homes Are Changing Hands

The Land of Flowers saw 26,363 homes sold in December 2023, representing a 5.4% dip year-over-year. Regarding single-family houses, the downtick was only 3.9%. However, the demand for townhouses and condominium units fell by 8.8% and 10.7%, respectively.

The December figures may be bearish, but homebuyers were more bullish on Florida compared to the rest of the United States. Existing home sales dropped by 19% nationally in 2023 — the lowest in 30 years.

The Florida residential real estate sector is showing signs of cooling off since home sales peaked at 52,147 in March 2021. It was a relatively steady decline. Monthly home sales in 2023 didn’t cross the 40,000 mark.

2. Buyers Are Paying Top Dollar

The Cirtrus Capital’s all-transactions house price index jumped 4.95% in Q3 2023 year-over-year. This data combines appraisal figures and sales prices, reflecting professional appraisers' opinions and homebuyers' sentiments.

Although fewer homes are getting sold in Florida, it’s reassuring that buyers are ponying up more money to make the state their home. This figure suggests sellers still control the markets and bidding wars remain fierce.

Historical data says this trend won’t run out of steam in the future. Only one quarter saw this metric drop since Q3 2012. Gaining a foothold in the Gulf State’s real estate market sooner rather than later is ideal. Barring housing bubbles, property appreciation is practically a foregone conclusion.

3. Property Values Are Skyrocketing

Florida has overtaken New York as the second-most valuable residential real estate market. According to a September 2023 Zillow report, the Tropicana State’s total housing market value exceeded $3.8 trillion — up 4.3% since June 2022. Regarding the average home value, the figure is $383,063 — 8.2% higher year-over-year. 

Florida metropolitan areas are on a roll. The Miami–Fort Lauderdale real estate market is worth $1.2 trillion — the sixth-largest among metros nationwide. Four of the six housing markets with the highest gains in value since the pandemic are in the state. They’re Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville and Orlando, growing by 72.3%-88.9%.

The Empire State is only $156.5 billion behind Florida. However, New York is trending downward. The Gateway to the West is losing people, while the Orange State has more in-movers than out-movers. Actually, Florida is the destination of those emigrating from the Knickerbocker State.

4. More Energy-Efficiency Projects Are Underway

Residential and commercial property owners in the Everglade State actively tackle green improvements, thanks to Florida PACE — Property Assessed Clean Energy. On average, the state’s energy conservation and hurricane protection funding agency helps finance 2,132 projects yearly, spending north of half a billion dollars from 2015 to the first half of 2023.

The PACE program comes with a reasonable payment plan to make typically unaffordable repairs, upgrades and replacements more manageable. Hundreds of projects qualify for it, giving Floridians considerable latitude in making their properties more climate-resilient, code-compliant, sustainable, comfortable and valuable. Many prioritize window upgrades because about 30% of heat loss within the house occurs through leaky and thermally underperforming fenestration units. Getting a new exterior door, roof or generator is high on others’ agendas.

Florida PACE also makes decarbonizing air conditioning by installing a heat pump budget-friendly. This electrification project costs about $18,000 in the South Atlantic. A funding source with no money down and no credit checks is desirable.

5. New Foreign Players Are Bidding

South Florida has been a magnet for international residential real estate buyers. In 2023, foreign nationals bought 6,200 homes worth $5.1 billion. It’s down 25% year-over-year, but the downturn spoke more of the overall housing market than of the interest from non-domestic players. International buyers retained 18% of the region’s total deal volume.

The vast majority of South Florida residence hunters are from Latin America. The Columbians are well represented, accounting for 15%. The Argentines and Brazilians comprise 14% and 7% of investors, respectively. The rest are from Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Ecuador.

Canada is an outlier. Based on anecdotal evidence from real estate brokers, many buyers with deep pockets from the Great White North are shopping around South Florida while flying under the radar. These loaded Canadians are taking seven-figure properties off the market — a rare sight before the pandemic.

The Canadian invasion of South Florida may just be getting started. Developers are taking notice and recalibrating their marketing strategies to generate more business from loaded buyers north of the border.

6. Rent Prices Are Stabilizing

Rents in some Florida metros are falling. In December 2023, Jacksonville and Cape Coral landlords charged 0.29% and 0.17% less year-over-year, respectively. These cuts were negligible but might be psychologically beneficial to aspiring tenants.

Still, rents across the Flower State are at a premium. In the same month, Miami recorded the most inflated one, which was 6.23% more expensive than it should be. It translated to a 0.11% reduction month-over-month, though.

On the bright side, five Florida metros in the Waller, Weeks and Johnson Rental Index were below the national rent premium average of 2.58%. Four were less than 2% away from matching their estimated reasonable rent prices. Jacksonville rents were even discounted by 0.10%. In other words, you could earn $68,548.09 and live in Jax without 30% of your annual income on rent.

Unfortunately, rent prices in said metros may spike once more tenants simultaneously search for homes. Florida gives landlords the privilege to set rents without restrictions based on demand.

Trends Come and Go

Some Florida trends must be music to the ears of investors and home sellers, while others may sound terrible news to buyers and renters. That’s just the nature of the beast. For better or worse, real estate markets are cyclical and conditions will eventually be more favorable for the other parties.

[truecrimepromiseversion2]

Disappearance of Ida Anderson

Images of Ida Anderson circa 1958 (The Doe Network)

Ida Anderson

Physical Description

Full Name: Ida Dean Anderson

Date of Birth: March 22,1937

Race/Ethnicity: White/Caucasian

Sex: Female

Height: 5′2″ (62 inches) (157.48 cm)

Weight: 110 lbs (49.89 kg)

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Blue

Nicknames/Aliases: nee Richardson

Distinguishing Characteristics

Hair length unknown other than it is at least shoulder-length

Family

Husband: Kenneth Gerald Anderson

Son: Dan Borgers

Oldest Daughter: Beverly Borgers

Youngest Daughter: Deborah Linderman

Misc. Info

Her maiden name is Richardson

Had resided with her family in the mid 1950s in Florida

She became pregnant in 1955 at age 18 and married Kenneth who is the father of her child and a part-time magician

She and Kenneth eventually settled in Detroit, Michigan area and had two additional children by 1958

Her marriage to Kenneth was troubled as she often wrote about their financial difficulties to her relatives in Florida and she left Kenneth on February 1958.

Shortly after leaving Kenneth she was hospitalized for rheumatic fever and ulcers

Kenneth placed their children in a boarding home while Ida was ill but Michigan took custody and Ida and Kenneth spend the next months trying to regain their parental rights and regaining custody

Ida was to received custody of her children mid-September 1958 but no one can say if she was aware of the fact.

Arrangements were made to fly Ida and the children to Jacksonville, Florida after she was awarded custody but the airplane tickers were never used.

After her disappearance her children were adopted by other families and renamed with the two oldest being adopted by the same family in Fraser, Michigan while the  youngest was adopted by family in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Case Information

Age at Disappearance: 21 (86 if still alive as April 21, 2023)

Missing Since: September 18, 1958 (Missing for 64 years as of April 21, 2023)

Location Last Seen: Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA

Location Last Seen on Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/42%C2%B016'51.0%22N+83%C2%B044'34.9%22W/@42.2808256,-83.7430378,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d42.2808256!4d-83.7430378

Classification: Missing

Dentals: Not Available

Fingerprints:Not Available

DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Effects

No official description provided

Circumstances of Disappearance

She vanished on September 18th and never been heard from again.

Unidentified Person Exclusions (NamUs)

https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/2485/investigations (28)

Misc. Info

In 1995, Ida’s children reunited and with assistance of other relatives began the hunt for their mother. They were concerned that Ida may have been institutionalized or is homeless and does not know her identity.

A search of hospital records has shown that there is nobody under her name had been admitted in any healthcare facilities in Michigan and surrounding states in 1958 and there is currently no Jane Doe that had been identified as her.

Contact Information/Contact Agencies/Investigating Agencies

Michigan State Police

Agency Case Number: 09-3520

Agency Phone Number: 773-994-8881

Agency Email Address: MSP-MissingPersons@michigan.gov

Ann Arbor Police Department

Agency Case Number: 09-24134 (CFS 09-3520)

Agency Phone Number: 734-794-6920

Agency Email Address: police@a2gov.org

NamUs

Agency Case Number: #MP2485

Agency Contact Personal: Regional Program Specialist Lori Bruski

Agency Phone Number: 817-718-7904

Agency Email Address: lbruski@rti.org

Sources/Further Information/Places of Interest

https://charleyproject.org/case/ida-dean-richardson-anderson

https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/2485/details

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/753dfmi.html

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/mi-ida-richardson-anderson-21-detroit-18-sept-1958.45615/

[breezeriderebike]

8 Best Places to Ride Eletric bike and EBikes on the Beach in Florida

Riding an electric bike in sunny Florida is an unforgettable experience that shows you the best of what the state has to offer. To encourage people to ride e-bikes on the beach, many places are friendly to e-bike riders. One of them is slow speed limits, dedicated bike lanes, crosswalks, and many other amenities. All of these are designed to make it easier and more enjoyable for people to ride ebikes on the beach.

To get you started, here are a few of the best places you can ride an electric bike.

Key West

Being breathtaking four square miles, there are no better means to get around as biking is the only way to get around. You can find all types of electric bikes at Breeze Rider Ebike. You should try the Smathers Beach and Overseas Heritage trails so you can get off the main road.

Daytona Beach

Jacksonville Beach

See What Makes Mediterranean Culture So Romantic?

Anna Maria Island

The beach life here is a bit slow and the streets are really picturesque with little shacks lining the streets, like something you'd see on a postcard. To see the island at its best, you'd better get around on an electric bike, because the fresh air will blow your hair. You'll be happy to know that there are e-bike stations outside most of the squares and many of them have shopping baskets so you can do your shopping while you ride. Along the main street of Anna Maria Island, there is an entire lane dedicated to electric bikes, as they are not allowed on the beach, which is protected from nesting sea turtles.

Sanibel Island

Being on top of two wheels is one of the best ways you can capture the best views around Sanibel Island. One of the places you must ride is at the J.R "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. This is established on protected land and has a total of 6,400 acres of mangrove forests home to over 220 species of birds. To ride here, there are two loops, one is 8 miles and the other is 4 miles, which can be used by cyclists and motorists alike. If you want to catch birds and other wildlife, try visiting in the morning at low tide. To get an electric bike, go to Breeze Rider Ebike. they offer high-quality and comfortable electric bikes.

St. Joseph Peninsula

See "Get more from your next ski trip".

You're most likely to ride on the beach at low tide when you have access to firmer sand near the waterline. You're welcome to bike through St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, where you'll enjoy one of Florida's most treasured beaches with its high dunes and white sandy beaches. It is recommended that you ride on the four miles of paved roads within the park.

South Beach, Miami

The place to ride in South Beach is Loomis Park, and as you ride along Ocean Drive, you'll see some of the best views of the buildings and the beach. The main thing you are looking for is an art deco bike tour that will put you in touch with the best places on this beach. You can get your electric bike from Breeze Rider Ebike. The art and decor tour will give you the most thrilling ride of about 3 hours.

Cedar Cay

The town of Cedar Cay is a small cycling destination. In this town, bikes provide the best means of getting from one place to another. It is a small island with about 2 square miles around it, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town has many old buildings, including the Island Hotel and restaurant. You can see these old buildings just by biking through.

Conclusion

If you are from Florida or planning your next vacation in Florida, riding an electric bike at the beach mentioned above should be one of the things you do. If you're a woman, choose from this amazing list of women's ebikes for sale and enjoy these beaches to the fullest. If you are a man or are looking for a ebike for your male partner, you might want to check out these cool men's ebikes for sale. At the end of the day, the comfort you get from your e-bike while riding will make a big difference.

[newstfionline]

Saturday, August 21, 2021

Landlords look for an exit amid federal eviction moratorium (AP) When Ryan David bought three rental properties back in 2017, he expected the $1,000-a-month he was pocketing after expenses would be regular sources of income well into his retirement years. But then the pandemic hit and federal and state authorities imposed moratoriums on evictions. The unpaid rent began to mount. Then, just when he thought the worst was over, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a new moratorium, lasting until Oct. 3. David, the father of a 2 1/2-year-old who is expecting another child, fears the $2,000 he’s owed in back rent will quickly climb to thousands more. The latest moratorium “was the final gut punch,” said the 39-year-old, adding that he now plans to sell the apartments. Most evictions for unpaid rent have been halted since the early days of the pandemic and there are now more than 15 million people living in households that owe as much as $20 billion in back rent, according to the Aspen Institute. A majority of single-family rental home owners have been impacted, according to a survey from the National Rental Home Council, and 50% say they have tenants who have missed rent during the pandemic. Landlords, big and small, are most angry about the moratoriums, which they consider illegal. Many believe some tenants could have paid rent, if not for the moratorium. And the $47 billion in federal rental assistance that was supposed to make landlords whole has been slow to materialize. By July, only $3 billion of the first tranche of $25 billion had been distributed.

Student loans (WSJ) The Biden administration announced it will wipe out $5.8 billion in student loans held by 323,000 people who are permanently disabled. This means the Education Department will discharge loans for borrowers with total and permanent disabilities per Social Security Administration records. Currently there is $1.6 trillion held in student loan debt, much of which could be eliminated through executive action.

New England preps for 1st hurricane in 30 years with Henri (AP) New Englanders bracing for their first direct hit by a hurricane in 30 years began hauling boats out of the water and taking other precautions Friday as Tropical Storm Henri barreled toward the Northeast coast. Henri was expected to intensify into a hurricane by Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Impacts could be felt in New England states by Sunday, including on Cape Cod, which is teeming with tens of thousands of summer tourists. “This storm is extremely worrisome,” said Michael Finkelstein, police chief and emergency management director in East Lyme, Connecticut. “We haven’t been down this road in quite a while and there’s no doubt that we and the rest of New England would have some real difficulties with a direct hit from a hurricane.”

Booming Colo. town asks, ‘Where will water come from?’ (AP) “Go West, young man,″ Horace Greeley famously urged. The problem for the northern Colorado town that bears the 19th-century newspaper editor’s name: Too many people have heeded his advice. By the tens of thousands newcomers have been streaming into Greeley—so much so that the city and surrounding Weld County grew by more than 30% from 2010 to 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making it one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. And it’s not just Greeley. Figures released this month show that population growth continues unabated in the South and West, even as temperatures rise and droughts become more common. That in turn has set off a scramble of growing intensity in places like Greeley to find water for the current population, let alone those expected to arrive in coming years. “Everybody looks at the population growth and says, ‘Where is the water going to come from?’” [one local professor] said.

Everything’s Getting Bigger In Texas (AP, CNBC, Forbes) Texas has long been a popular destination for newcomers, thanks to cheaper land and housing, more job opportunities, lower taxes, and fewer regulations. There’s also the great weather, food, schools, and medical facilities, the abundant resources and year-round recreation and outdoor activities, artistic and cultural events, fairs, festivals, music venues, and the diverse and friendly people—you know, just to name a few. Texas has always been a business-friendly environment, which has certainly not been lost on tech and financial companies headquartered in strictly-regulated and high-priced states like California and New York. There are 237 corporate relocation and expansion projects in the works in Texas just since the pandemic hit. Tech giant Oracle moved its headquarters to Austin in late 2020; Tesla is building its new Gigafactory there, and Apple will have its second-largest campus there as well. Both Google and Facebook have satellite offices in Austin, and the file hosting services company Dropbox will be leaving San Francisco for Austin. Recently, the global real estate services firm CBRE and multinational financial services behemoth Charles Schwab moved their headquarters from California to the Dallas area. Hewlett Packard’s cofounders were two of the original grandfathers of Silicon Valley, who started their company in a Palo Alto garage in 1939. Now, the corporation is moving its headquarters from San Jose to Houston. And the number of mega-wealthy individuals who’ve moved to Texas are too numerous to mention. It’s not just big cities like Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio that are seeing an influx of people—bedroom communities are growing by leaps and bounds as well—places like New Braunfels, located in the Texas Hill Country, Conroe, 40 miles north of Houston, and McKinney, just 30 minutes up U.S. 75 from Dallas.

‘Bracing for the worst’ in Florida’s COVID-19 hot zone (AP) As quickly as one COVID patient is discharged, another waits for a bed in northeast Florida, the hot zone of the state’s latest surge. But the patients at Baptist Health’s five hospitals across Jacksonville are younger and getting sick from the virus faster than people did last summer. Baptist has over 500 COVID patients, more than twice the number they had at the peak of Florida’s July 2020 surge, and the onslaught isn’t letting up. Hospital officials are anxiously monitoring 10 forecast models, converting empty spaces, adding over 100 beds and “bracing for the worst,” said Dr. Timothy Groover, the hospitals’ interim chief medical officer.

Grace heads for a second hurricane hit on Mexican coast (AP) Hurricane Grace—temporarily knocked back to tropical storm force—headed Friday for a second landfall in Mexico, this time taking aim at the mainland’s Gulf coast after crashing through the country’s main tourist strip. The storm lost punch as it zipped across the Yucatan Peninsula, but it emerged late Thursday over the relatively warm Gulf of Mexico and was gaining energy. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Grace’s winds were back up to 70 mph (110 kph) early Friday and were expected to soon regain hurricane force. It was centered about 265 miles (425 kilometers) east of Tuxpan and was heading west at 16 mph (26 kph). The forecast track would take it toward a coastal region of small fishing towns and beach resorts between Tuxpan and Veracruz, likely Friday night or early Saturday, then over a mountain range toward the heart of the country and the greater Mexico City region. Forecasters said it could drop 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of rain, with more in a few isolated areas—bringing the threat of flash floods, mudslide and urban flooding.

“Self-determination 1, Human Rights 0” (Foreign Policy) Most Latin American governments offered little official support to the U.S. War in Afghanistan when it began in 2001. At the time, Venezuela put forward a blistering critique of meeting “terror with more terror,” and then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro said U.S. opponents’ irregular warfare abilities could draw out the conflict for 20 years. Over the weekend, as the Afghan government collapsed and chaos engulfed Kabul’s airport, today’s leaders of Cuba and Venezuela echoed their critiques while foreign ministers of other Latin American countries diplomatically issued statements of concern about Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs. Chile and Mexico made plans to accept Afghan refugees, and several countries signed on to a joint international statement protecting Afghan women’s rights. To many in Latin America’s diplomatic and foreign-policy communities, the dark events in Afghanistan confirmed the importance of the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. The extended U.S. presence in Afghanistan was “the same mistake as always: trying to build democratic states through the use of force,” Colombian political scientist Sandra Guzmán wrote in El Tiempo. Many Latin Americans stressed that methods other than military interventions should be used to work toward human rights, even as they acknowledged how challenging it can be to make progress. “Self-determination 1, human rights 0 #Afghanistan,” tweeted Uruguayan political scientist Andrés Malamud after Kabul fell.

Afghanistan war unpopular amid chaotic pullout (AP) A significant majority of Americans doubt that the war in Afghanistan was worthwhile, even as the United States is more divided over President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and national security, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly two-thirds said they did not think America’s longest war was worth fighting, the poll shows. Meanwhile, 47% approve of Biden’s management of international affairs, while 52% approve of Biden on national security. The poll was conducted Aug. 12-16 as the two-decade war in Afghanistan ended with the Taliban returning to power and capturing the capital of Kabul. Biden has faced bipartisan condemnation in Washington for sparking a humanitarian crisis by being ill-prepared for the speed of the Taliban’s advance.

The U.S. Blew Billions in Afghanistan (Bloomberg) The rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s government to the Taliban fueled fears of a humanitarian disaster, sparked a political crisis for President Joe Biden and caused scenes of desperation at Kabul’s airport. It’s also raised questions about what happened to more than $1 trillion the U.S. spent trying to bring peace and stability to a country wracked by decades of war. While most of that money went to the U.S. military, billions of dollars got wasted along the way, in some cases aggravating efforts to build ties with the Afghan people Americans meant to be helping. A special watchdog set up by Congress spent the past 13 years documenting the successes and failures of America’s efforts in Afghanistan. While wars are always wasteful, the misspent American funds stand out because the U.S. had 20 years to shift course.

Western groups desperate to save Afghan workers left behind (AP) The Italian charity Pangea helped tens of thousands of Afghan women become self-supporting in the last 20 years. Now, dozens of its staff in Afghanistan are in hiding with their families amid reports that Taliban are going door-to-door in search of citizens who worked with Westerners. Pangea founder Luca Lo Presti has asked that 30 Afghan charity workers and their families be included on Italian flights that have carried 500 people to safety this week, but the requests were flatly refused. On Thursday, the military coordinator told him: “Not today.” Dozens of flights already have brought hundreds of Western nationals and Afghan workers to safety in Europe since the Taliban captured the capital of Kabul. Those lucky enough to be rescued from feared reprisals have mostly been Afghans who worked directly with foreign missions, along with their families. European countries also have pledged to evacuate people at special risk from the Taliban—feminists, political activists and journalists—but it is unclear exactly where the line is being drawn and how many Afghan nationals Western nations will be able to evacuate.

[go-redgirl]

OLDEST AMERICAN CITIES -

Our History

Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European and African-American origin in the United States. Forty-two years before the English colonized Jamestown and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the Spanish established at St. Augustine this nation's first enduring settlement.

Architecture

The architectural legacy of the city's past is much younger, testimony to the impermanent quality of the earliest structures and to St. Augustine's troubled history. Only the venerable Castillo de San Marcos, completed in the late seventeenth century, survived destruction of the city by invading British forces in 1702. Vestiges of the First Spanish Colonial Period (1565 to 1764) remain today in St. Augustine in the form of the town plan originally laid out by Governor Gonzalo Méndez de Canzo in the late sixteenth century and in the narrow streets and balconied houses that are identified with the architecture introduced by settlers from Spain. Throughout the modern city and within its Historic Colonial District, there remain thirty-six buildings of colonial origin and another forty that are reconstructed models of colonial buildings. St. Augustine can boast that it contains the only urban nucleus in the United States whose street pattern and architectural ambiance reflect Spanish origins.

Discovery of Florida

Historians credit Juan Ponce de Leon, the first governor of the Island of Puerto Rico, with the discovery of Florida in 1513. While on an exploratory trip in search of the fabled Bimini he sighted the eastern coast of Florida on Easter Sunday, which fell on March 27 that year. Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for the Spanish Crown and named it Florida after the Easter season, known in Spanish as Pascua Florida. This newly claimed territory extended north and west to encompass most of the known lands of the North American continent that had not been claimed by the Spanish in New Spain (Mexico and the Southwest).

Settlement

In the following half century, the government of Spain launched no less than six expeditions attempting to settle Florida; all failed. In 1564 French Huguenots (Protestants) succeeded in establishing a fort and colony near the mouth of the St. Johns River at what is today Jacksonville. This settlement posed a threat to the Spanish fleets that sailed the Gulf Stream beside the east coast of Florida, carrying treasure from Central and South America to Spain. As Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was assembling a fleet for an expedition to Florida, the French intrusion upon lands claimed by Spain was discovered. King Philip II instructed Menéndez, Spain's most capable admiral, to remove the French menace to Spain's interests.

Naming St. Augustine

On September 8, 1565, with much pomp and circumstance and 600 voyagers cheering, Menéndez set foot on the shores of Florida. In honor of the saint whose feast day fell on the day he first sighted land, Menéndez named the colonial settlement St. Augustine. Menéndez quickly and diligently carried out his king's instructions. With brilliant military maneuvering and good fortune, he removed the French garrison and proceeded to consolidate Spain's authority on the northeast coast of Florida. St. Augustine was to serve two purposes: as a military outpost, or Presidio, for the defense of Florida, and a base for Catholic missionary settlements throughout the southeastern part of North America.

Military Colony

Maintaining St. Augustine as a permanent military colony, however, was a mighty task. Without the courage, perseverance, and tenacity of the early settlers, it is doubtful that the community would have survived. English pirates and corsairs pillaged and burned the town on several occasions in the next century. Clashes between the Spaniards and the British became more frequent when the English colonies were established in the Carolinas, and later, in Georgia. As a consequence, the Spanish moved to strengthen their defenses, beginning in 1672 construction of a permanent stone fortress. The Castillo de San Marcos was brought to completion late in the century, just in time to meet an attack by British forces from the Carolinas in 1702. Unable to take the fort after a two-month siege, the British troops burned the town and retreated.

Underground Railroad

British attacks continued, however. Plantation and slave owners in the English colonies resented the sanctuary that Spanish Florida afforded escaped slaves who successfully made their way to St. Augustine, which became a focal point for the first Underground Railroad. There, escaped slaves were given their freedom by the Spanish Governor if they declared allegiance to the King of Spain and embraced the Catholic religion. In 1738 the first legally sanctioned free community of former slaves, Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, was established as part of the presidio’s northern defenses. In 1740, an even stronger attack on St. Augustine was mounted by the Governor of the British colony of Georgia, General James Oglethorpe. He also failed to take the fort.

Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris in 1763, ending the French and Indian War, gave Florida and St. Augustine to the British, accomplishing by the stroke of a pen what pitched battles had failed to do. St. Augustine came under British rule for the first time and served as a Loyalist (pro-British) colony during the American Revolutionary War. A second Treaty of Paris (1783), which gave America's colonies north of Florida their independence, returned Florida to Spain, a reward for Spanish assistance to the Americans in their war against England. Upon their return, the Spanish in 1784 found that St. Augustine had changed. Settlers from a failed colony in New Smyrna (south of St. Augustine) had moved to St. Augustine in 1777. This group, known collectively as Minorcans, included settlers from the western Mediterranean island of Minorca. Their presence in St. Augustine forever changed the ethnic composition of the town.

Second Spanish Period

During what is called by historians the Second Spanish Period (1784 to 1821), Spain suffered the Napoleonic invasions at home and struggled to retain its colonies in the western hemisphere. Florida no longer held its past importance to Spain. The expanding United States, however, regarded the Florida peninsula as vital to its interests. It was a matter of time before the Americans devised a way to acquire Florida. The Adams-Onîs Treaty, negotiated in 1819 and concluded in 1821, peaceably turned over the Spanish colonies of East and West Florida and, with them, St. Augustine, to the United States.

Florida Becomes a State

For the next twenty-four years, East Florida and with it St. Augustine remained a territorial possession of the United States. Not until 1845 was Florida accepted into the union as a state. The Territorial Period (1821-1845) was marked by an intense war with native Indians, the so-called Second Seminole War (1835-1842). The United States Army took over the Castillo de San Marcos and renamed it Fort Marion.

Civil War

In 1861, the Civil War began. Florida joined the Confederacy, but Union troops loyal to the United States Government quickly occupied St. Augustine and remained in control of the city throughout the four-year long war. St. Augustine was thus one of the few places in the United States where Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1862, actually freed any slaves. After the war, land was leased to freed slaves on what was then the west bank of Maria Sanchez Creek. Initially called Africa, the settlement later became Lincolnville and is today listed in the National Register of Historic Places, along with three other historic districts in the city.

Vacation Town

Twenty years after the end of the Civil War, St. Augustine entered its most glittering era. Following a visit to the crumbling old Spanish town, Henry Flagler, a former partner of John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company, decided to create in St. Augustine a winter resort for wealthy Americans. He owned a railroad company that in 1886 linked St. Augustine by rail with the populous cities of the east coast. In 1887, his company began construction of two large and ornate hotels and a year later added a third that had been planned and begun by another developer. Flagler's architects changed the appearance of St. Augustine, fashioning building styles that in time came to characterize the look of cities throughout Florida. For a time, St. Augustine was the winter tourist mecca of the United States.

Newport of the South

In the early twentieth century, however, the very rich found other parts of Florida to which they could escape. With them fled Flagler's dream of turning St. Augustine into the "Newport of the South." St. Augustine nevertheless remained a tourist town. As Americans took to the highways in search of a vacation land, St. Augustine became a destination for automobile-borne visitors. The tourism industry came to dominate the local economy.

Restoration

The city celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1965 and undertook in cooperation with the State of Florida a program to restore parts of the colonial city. The continuation of an effort actually begun in 1935, what became known as the "Restoration" resulted in preserving the thirty-six remaining buildings from the colonial era and the reconstruction of some forty additional colonial buildings that had previously disappeared, transforming the appearance of the historic central part of St. Augustine. It was in great part a tribute to such efforts that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia made this small city a part of their 2001 visit to the United States.

Civil Rights Era

In 1964, St. Augustine played a role in America’s civil rights struggle when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a local campaign to dramatize national efforts designed to secure Congressional approval of what became the landmark Civil Rights Act of that year. The city now contains a series of historical markers noting sites associated with the civil rights movement here.

Flagler's Hotels

The first of Henry Flagler's three great hotels, the Ponce de Leon, was adapted for use as an institution of higher learning in 1971. As Flagler College, it expanded to embrace a student body of some 1,700 by the end of the century, offering a traditional four-year arts and science degree program. The second of his hotels, the Alcazar, has since 1948 contained the Lightner Museum, (and in 1973 the City of St. Augustine municipal offices). The third Flagler hotel, originally called the Casa Monica, stood vacant for thirty-five years before St. Johns County converted it for use a county courthouse in 1965. In 1999, under private ownership, the building was restored to its original function, and is now the only one of Flagler's three great hotels still serving that purpose.

St. Augustine Attracts Visitors

Some 2 million visitors annually make their way to St. Augustine, lured by the sense of discovering a unique historic part of America. While the venerable Castillo de San Marcos remains the traditional magnet for visitors, there are many other appealing historical sites and vistas. The City of St. Augustine maintains architectural control over the colonial city, insuring that the inevitable change which occurs in a living urban area respects the past.

Historical Timelines

View the Periods of History in St. Augustine

Before 1492: Pre-Columbian or Pre-Historic Period

1513 to 1565: Discovery Period

1565 to 1763: First Spanish Colonial Period

1763 to 1784: British Colonial Period

1784 to 1821: Second Spanish Colonial Period

1821 to 1845: U.S. Territorial Period

1845 to 1861: Early Statehood Period

1861 to 1865: U.S. Civil War

1865 to 1885: Post-Civil War Period

1885 to 1913: Flagler Era

1913 to 1919: World War I Era

1920 to 1926: Boom Time

1926 to 1941: Depression Era (Florida)

1941 to 1945: World War Two\\\

NOTE:  We bet our current President couldn’t answer that question nor could the so-called Vice President Ms. Harris

[vacationsoup]

New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/ponce-lighthouse-adventure/

Ponce Lighthouse Adventure near New Smyrna Beach Florida

Ready for a Ponce Lighthouse adventure near New Smyrna Beach? Step back in time and climb 175 feet of fun in the Florida sun at the Ponce Inlet Light Station and Museum! Constructed in 1887, the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse has guided mariners along the Florida coast for more than 130 years.

17 Stories High

Standing 175 feet tall ,the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is the tallest in Florida and one of the tallest in the US ( (the Cape Hatteras Light in North Carolina is taller at 207 feet). That is the equivalent of 17 stories high. Workers stacked 1.25 million bricks and an 8 feet thick wall at its base.

213 Steps

Not for the fainthearted or bad knees, climbing the lighthouse is no joke! The stairwell spirals up 213 steps (which are steep) with 9 landings to rest and read interesting historic information and see lighthouse artifacts. But the view at the top are worth it - breathtaking.

Enjoy the video of Ponce Lighthouse with its beautiful coastal backdrop below. This view is facing south with the Atlantic Ocean on the left, the Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach directly behind it, and the intracoastal waterway (Indian River) on the right.

http://poncelighthouse.zsite.info/z/-vf.0.0.0.18.DB169BF567E34DBF1853365EABC8BEBDEA1229F9E0C2D791D3E7E089CF4265DF

Lighthouse's Many Uses

Divers swim on the shipwreck Spiegel Grove Tuesday, July 12, 2005, of Key Largo, Fla., in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Since it was fully sunk on June 10, 2002, the decommissioned Navy Landing Ship Dock has rested on its starboard side. But Monday, July 11, 2005, divers discovered the ship had rolled upright, apparently courtesy of waves spawned by Hurricane Dennis off the southeast coast of Cuba, according to a National Weather Service official. The ship is the largest in the world ever scuttled to become an artificial reef. NO SALES (Photo by Fraser Nivens/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)

Prevent shipwrecks. Florida is home to many famous shipwrecks. Hundreds of Spanish sailors and would-be colonists and millions of dollars of gold, silver, and jewels being transported from South America back to Spain have sunk in the waters off of Florida.

Navigate. The Coast Guard assumed operation of the Lighthouse around 1939 and installed a radio navigational beacon. Ships use the Ponce signal plus signals from Jacksonville and Cape Canaveral to fix their positions relative to the Florida coast and to prepare to navigate around the dangerous Hetzel Shoal near Canaveral.

Wartime Defense. During World War II, the lighthouse tower was used as a spotting station for enemy aircraft and off-shore vessels. The Light Station was a Coast Guard training center and barracks during the War. There is a permanent exhibit of artifacts and information concerning the Coast Guard and the Light Station in World War II. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, changed life for everyone in America, including Ponce Inlet. On December 12, the light station was closed to the public, and unauthorized persons were not allowed on the beach. (Eventually, civilian guards would be stationed to check every car that crossed the bridges onto the peninsula.) The two keepers at the lighthouse were ordered to stand eight hour watches to spot possible enemy activity, and on December 29th, the Coast Guard decided to require round-the-clock watches.

Stephen Crane and the Ponce Lighthouse

In 1897, American author Stephen Crane, working as an undercover correspondent for the New York Post, joins a gun-running expedition to Cuba aboard the steam tug Commodore.  Their goal is to reach Cuba with supplies to aid the rebellion against Spanish rule of the island. The morning after her departure from Jacksonville, the ship sinks about 12 miles off Daytona.  Survivors credit the beacon from the lighthouse at Mosquito Inlet for giving them the direction in which to row their small boats.  Eight men die in the sinking, but Stephen Crane survives and writes his famous short story, "The Open Boat."

17 Mile Lighthouse Beacon via Fresnel Lens

The Ayres Davies Lens Exhibit Building at the Ponce Lighthouse Museum contains the restored original 1st order rotating Fresnel lens along with exhibits on the history of lighthouse illumination, and a truly stunning collection of lenses and lanterns.

The original lamp burned kerosene; in 1909 it was replaced with an incandescent oil vapor lamp. In 1933, the lighthouse beacon was electrified in 1933 with a 500-watt lamp and the original, 1st order rotating  Fresnel lens was replaced with a 3rd order rotating Fresnel lens. The fresnel lens blinks its beams 17 nautical miles away!

History of Lighthouse Lenses

One of the seven wonders of the Ancient World, the great lighthouse of Alexandria, built around 280 B.C., towered some 450 feet above Egypt's greatest harbor. At that height, it was the second tallest structure in the world, after another of the seven — the Great Pyramid of Giza. The light within, also state of the art, was an open flame.

From that time until the 18th century, the lights that warned ships that they were approaching land improved hardly at all. Some burned coal. Others stuck with wood. Oil lamps backed by mirrors eventually offered a bit more candlepower. Still, every coastline in the world remained littered with the ribs of broken ships whose captains didn't see the lighthouse until it was too late. Then, in 1822, a frail scientist with a passion for optics made a revolutionary breakthrough. His name was Augustin Jean Fresnel. Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/science-makes-a-better-lighthouse-lens-

As a child, Fresnel was a slow learner who showed little interest in language studies or in tests of memory. By the age of 8, he could barely read. Yet his boyhood friends, for whom he studiously determined how to increase the power of popguns and bows, called him "the genius." When applied to optics, his genius proved to be real and considerable. Where others had improved existing lighthouse technology, Fresnel leapt forward by studying the behavior of light itself. His studies both advanced the understanding of the nature of light and produced the most important breakthrough in lighthouse lights in 2,000 years.

Fresnel worked out a number of formulas to calculate the way light changes direction, or refracts, while passing through glass prisms. Working with some of the most advanced glassmakers of the day, he produced a combination of prism shapes that together made up a lens. The Fresnel lighthouse lens used a large lamp at the focal plane as its light source. It also contained a central panel of magnifying glasses surrounded above and below by concentric rings of prisms and mirrors, all angled to gather light, intensify it and project it outward.

The various reflector systems installed in lighthouses during the 40 years preceding the introduction of the 1822 Fresnel lens certainly had been improvements over the open fires or candles in lantern rooms. Still, they could trap only a small percentage of the light. All prior systems paled by comparison with the Fresnel lens. Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/science-makes-a-better-lighthouse-lens-170677431/

The Museum has something for everyone

The Ponce DeLeon Inlet Lighthouse Museum campus includes the lighthouse, a Museum and Gift shop, a Cuban raft exhibit, a Video Theatre, a giant old galleon anchor, the First Assistant and Second Assistant Keeper's Dwellings, the Lens Exhibit Building, and the 1000 lb US Lighthouse Service Fog Bell.

Children and adults will all enjoy the museum and lighthouse. Interesting unique history, optical science, beautiful coastal setting, The Gift Shop is full of unique books, art, and of course gifts - you could easily enjoy browsing there for an hour. Visitors should plan for at least a half a day. The local area also has a few waterfront marinas and seafood hangouts, fishing charters, water sports as well as a nature preserve, Lighthouse Point Park with beach, and a Marine Science Center.

Your Ponce Lighthouse adventure near New Smyrna Beach is about 30 minutes from our condo. We travel north up Route 1 to the first intracoastal bridge in Daytona Beach which is Dunlawton Blvd. Then turn right on South Atlantic Avenue to the end of end of the island!

4931 S. Peninsula Drive Ponce Inlet, FL 32127 (386) 761-1821

Hours of Operation

Sept. 3, 2019 – May 24, 2020 Open Daily, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Last Admission at 5:00 PM)

[pandolfo-malatesta]

Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York by Renée Wendinger is not quite as niche as it sounds.  It gives a decent background history of both subjects, with plenty of primary source material and an obvious focus on Charles Loring Brace, though the expected discussion of newsies who became orphan train riders never coalesces.

My additional issues with the book are that: --the writing is occasionally stilted, with some awkward word choice and grammatical errors, and in need of editing --it is not always clear what information is quoted directly from a primary source and what Wendinger synthesized --there are no new pictures you haven’t seen before if you’ve done any research into newsboys; all of Lewis Hine’s greatest hits are included

Its strength is in the profiles of orphan train riders in the first half of the book.  More of those would have been welcome.

Further assorted tidbits and reactions:

To me the most affecting and pathetic aspect of the orphan train riders’ experience was how many of them had their given names changed when they reached their new homes.  Yes, many of them were very young and probably not attached enough to their names to be bothered by the change, but not all of them were.  The changes seem to signal a loss of their heritage (especially because more “ethnic” names seem to have been changed more frequently than English-sounding ones; for example, a Scholastica renamed Mary and a Gaetano DeLeo renamed Joseph (though he later went back to Guy DeLeo, under which name he became a big band leader of some renown)) and a separation from their past.

John M. Arsers was born in northern Italy in 1865.  After his mother died and his father remarried he was sent to Paris, where he earned money playing the triangle.  In 1870 he and a group of other children were shipped to America; there he had a short stint at the Brace Farm before being sent to Iowa, allegedly later that same year.  While I think some of the chronology may have been condensed, it’s an amazing story.

Some families who accepted one rider later went on to adopt more.  In one case a rider, Harry Lee, traveled West in 1883; his daughter went on to marry a man named Basil Kolosky (whose birth father had a Japanese surname and whose birth mother was white) who rode in 1899.  A woman named Mary Lamm had been a rider in 1883 and in 1910 adopted another rider, her daughter Anne, née Anna Haberbosh.

In 1899 the superintendent of the Duane Street lodging house was a man named Rudolph R. Heig, himself a former newsie.

The first dedicated dormitory for newsboys was on the top floor of the Sun building.

Per the Children’s Aid Society Annual Report from circa 1860, the lodging houses were open to not just newsboys and bootblacks but also “Match sellers, apple vendors, button peddlers, and all who engage in petty pursuits.”

There ought to be more stories that mention the newsies casually mending their own clothing in the evenings.

The question of what one calls a group of newsies was answered in an August 11, 1904, edition of the New York Times when a reporter described a “colony of newsboys.”

In 1870 Theodore Roosevelt was on the board of the Children’s Aid Society.

At least one orphan train rider left New York City and ended up in Escanaba, Michigan.  To me this was a mindblowing idea, because although I have never been to Escanaba itself, I have been close, and even in the 21st century it was one of the darkest places I’ve been.  The differences between the Big Apple and the Upper Peninsula must have been even more jarring in 1897; it’s only a little over a thousand miles from New York to Escanaba (in this case via Chicago and then up through Wisconsin), but it must have seemed like an entirely different world.

While Midwest states were the most popular destinations for riders, a few also ended up in Jacksonville, Florida.

Finally, everyone’s favorite: the names of real live newsies!  All of the following are attested in the New York Times from 1904 to 1906. Gawk Cassidy States Nixon Snipe Buschwit Leaves McNulty Angel Zeller Slats Carter Duster Cook Wigsy Lefty Burns One-eyed Jack Bonsey Dobbins Sparrow Kelly Snubsy Harry “Dowie” Spencer

[goalhofer]

U.S. Daily Precipitation Records Tied/Broken 3/24/22

Jacksonville Beach, Florida: 3.06" (previous record 2.28" 2013)

Jacksonville, Florida: 2.42" (previous record 1.4" 1957)

Gainesville, Florida: 1.94" (previous record 1.6" 1969)

Unincorporated Hillsborough County, Florida: 1.42" (previous record 1.28" 1955)

Union Township, Illinois: 1.2" (previous record 0.86" 2018)

Dwight Township, Illinois: 0.38" (previous record 0.37" 2021)

Peru, Indiana: 0.94" (previous record 0.77" 1946)

Unincorporated Queen Anne's County, Maryland: 0.59" (previous record 0.54" 2020)

Bad Axe, Michigan: 1.18" (previous record 0.68" 1951)

Chelsea, Michigan: 0.57" (previous record 0.5" 2017)

DeTour Township, Michigan: 0.9" (previous record 0.68" 1905)

East Tawas, Michigan: 1.55" (previous record 0.62" 1985)

Osconda Charter Township, Michigan: 0.93" (previous record 0.68" 1985)

Unincorporated Huron County, Michigan: 0.99" (previous record 0.67" 1975)

Unincorporated Alcona County, Michigan: 1.87" (previous record 0.36" 1975)

Kalkaska Township, Michigan: 0.88" (previous record 0.56" 1951)

Lapeer, Michigan: 0.8" (previous record 0.61" 2016)

Cumming Township, Michigan: 0.87" (previous record 0.53" 2016)

Mt. Pleasant, Michigan: 0.7" (also 0.7" 2016)

Leelanau Township, Michigan: 0.38" (previous record 0.35" 2016)

Peninsula Township, Michigan: 0.8" (previous record 0.27" 2016)

Unincorporated Flathead County, Montana: 0.58" (previous record 0.56" 1998)

Long Branch, New Jersey: 1.33" (previous record 1.27" 1912)

Ocean Township, New Jersey: 1.33" (previous record 1.27" 1912)

Hamilton Township, New Jersey: 1.3" (previous record 1.2" 1989)

Malone, New York: 0.86" (previous record 0.38" 1991)

Islip, New York: 1.63" (previous record 1.39" 1993)

Southampton, New York: 1.53" (previous record 0.61" 1952)

Unincorporated Watauga County, North Carolina: 2.97" (previous record 1.33" 1993)

Brevard, North Carolina: 4.1" (previous record 3.2" 1917)

Mt. Mitchell summit, North Carolina: 1.57" (previous record 1" 1980)

Unincorporated Hyde County, North Carolina: 0.38" (previous record 0.32" 2013)

New Bern, North Carolina: 1.54" (previous record 1.36" 1989)

Unincorporated Onslow County, North Carolina: 1.36" (previous record 1.24" 1983)

Chardon, Ohio: 0.8" (previous record 0.56" 1991)

Newport, Ohio: 0.65" (previous record 0.64" 2011)

St. Marys, Ohio: 1.07" (previous record 1.04" 2007)

Bedford, Virginia: 1.87" (previous record 1.27" 1953)

Unincorporated Bedford County, Virginia: 2.1" (previous record 0.89" 1979)

Unincorporated Accomack County, Virginia: 4.21" (previous record 1.69" 1989)

Rocky Mount, Virginia: 2.56" (previous record 2.34" 1903)

Unincorporated Sussex County, Virginia: 2.44" (previous record 1.3" 1989)

Washington Island, Wisconsin: 0.77" (previous record 0.75" 1975)

Grouse Creek Divide summit, Alaska: 1.2" (previous record 0.9" 1998)

Hartford, Connecticut: 0.89" (previous record 0.77" 1953)

New Haven, Connecticut: 0.9" (previous record 0.8" 1953)

Nantucket, Massachusetts: 0.99" (previous record 0.7" 1952)

Lebanon, New Hampshire: 0.41" (previous record 0.4" 1989)

[weather-usa]

Tropical Storm Debby is anticipated to quickly intensify into a Category 1 hurricane and may bring record-breaking rainfall to the Southeast.

Tropical Storm Debby is projected to quickly strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, potentially bringing historic rainfall to parts of the Southeast due to near-record warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Authorities in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina are advising residents to prepare for heavy rain and possible flooding as the storm progresses through the Gulf. Debby is expected to experience rapid intensification, where a storm’s peak winds increase by 35 mph within 24 hours.

Cities like Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, could receive a month's worth of rain in just one day, and possibly an entire summer’s worth of rain throughout the duration of the storm.

Debby is anticipated to become a hurricane later Sunday night after being upgraded to a tropical storm just a day earlier, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As of the 8 p.m. ET update on Sunday, Debby, with sustained winds of 70 mph, is approaching the Big Bend area and is located about 100 miles west of Tampa, Florida. The hurricane center has issued warnings about the potential for heavy rain and storm surge, which could lead to flooding in the coming days.

The hurricane center previously noted that Debby is expected to undergo “significant strengthening before landfall.” Rapid intensification is likely if Debby develops a well-defined inner core, as suggested by recent radar imagery. This would allow Debby to capitalize on some of the warmest waters in the Gulf of Mexico as it moves through the region on Sunday evening and into Monday morning.

Weather Forecast For 55124-Saint-Paul-MN:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/201054471/Weather-Forecast-For-55124-Saint-Paul-MN

The official forecast predicts Debby’s winds could increase to around 85 mph, classifying it as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale by the time it makes landfall late Monday morning.

Hurricane conditions are expected to begin by Monday morning, with the storm’s outer bands reaching the shore on Sunday. Debby is forecast to hit the Big Bend coast around midday Monday and then move slowly across northern Florida and southern Georgia throughout the day and into Tuesday.

The primary threat from Debby will be flooding, caused by storm surges of up to 10 feet and heavy rainfall. Freshwater flooding, resulting from rainfall, has become the deadliest aspect of tropical systems in the past decade, a threat exacerbated by global warming from fossil fuel pollution.

The intensifying storm tracking up the western coast of Florida has prompted county and state officials to issue a series of voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders. The hurricane center has posted hurricane watches and warnings for several areas of the state, including near Tampa and the Big Bend region.

Climate and Average Weather Year Round in 15215 - Pittsburgh PA:

Tropical storm and storm surge watches and warnings are also in effect for parts of Florida, coastal Georgia, and sections of South Carolina. The hurricane center upgraded a tropical storm watch to a warning for the area from west of Indian Pass to Mexico Beach, Florida, in its 5 p.m. ET update. A tropical storm warning has also been issued for the eastern coasts of Florida and Georgia, from Ponte Vedra Beach to the Savannah River.

Additionally, a tornado watch is in place for much of the Florida Peninsula and parts of southern Georgia until Monday morning, affecting over 13 million people, including the cities of Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster have all declared states of emergency in anticipation of the storm’s arrival. On Sunday, DeSantis announced the activation of the Florida National Guard to assist with humanitarian needs and search and rescue operations.

DeSantis urged residents to complete their preparations and brace for power outages, especially in areas like Tallahassee. “There will be a lot of fallen trees, debris, and power interruptions,” he said. “So, prepare for that.”

By Sunday evening, more than 60,000 customers in Florida and over 14,000 in Georgia were already without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

DeSantis also advised Floridians to avoid floodwaters ahead of the storm’s potential for significant flooding, particularly in North Central Florida. “Please do not drive through flooded streets. The leading cause of fatalities from floods is people attempting to drive through the water,” he cautioned.

By 2 p.m. ET Sunday, the docks at Indian Mound Park in Sarasota County, south of Tampa, were underwater, according to the county government’s post on X. Further south near Fort Myers, Gulf waters began spilling over onto coastal roads, causing some closures after Debby’s outer bands brought rain to the shoreline, as reported by Charlotte County emergency management officials.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Florida, authorizing federal resources to support disaster relief efforts, the White House announced.

Storm Expected to Intensify Over the Gulf

As Debby slows down and remains over warm waters, it is increasingly likely to intensify. Research indicates that tropical systems are slowing down over time, leading to higher rainfall totals in affected areas. Warmer oceans are also fueling storms by increasing their moisture content. A 2022 study in Nature Communications found that climate change has increased hourly rainfall rates in tropical storms by 5 to 10% and in hurricanes by 8 to 11%.

The National Hurricane Center noted that conditions in the Gulf of Mexico are favorable for strengthening, with warm sea surface temperatures and light shear. While intensification may be gradual during the first 12–24 hours, it is expected to accelerate once the storm develops a well-organized inner core.

By early Monday, Debby is projected to reach the Apalachee Bay area of Florida as it moves northward over the Gulf, according to the Weather Prediction Center. This region, which includes parts of Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin counties, should brace for heavy rain on Sunday, increasing the risk of flash flooding.

In preparation, county officials have advised residents along Florida’s Gulf Coast to evacuate. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for parts of Franklin, Citrus, and Levy counties, while voluntary evacuation orders have been issued for Hernando, Taylor, and Pasco counties.

Storm Expected to Intensify Over the Gulf

“I’m concerned about the aftermath and the extent of the damage, and how we’re going to address it,” Sue Colson, mayor of Cedar Key in Levy County, told CNN on Sunday. The city, located on Way Key island in the Gulf of Mexico about four miles offshore, is facing high anticipated rainfall and the threat of storm surge.

“That’s always worrying when you’re on a low-lying island in the middle of the Gulf,” she noted.

On Saturday, the Florida Highway Patrol went door-to-door advising residents to consider evacuating, according to Colson. Residents were still finalizing their preparations on Sunday morning.

“I believe everyone needs to make prudent decisions for their own safety and avoid putting others at risk,” she said. “If you put yourself in danger, you also endanger others who might have to come to your rescue.”

Heavy Rain Could Persist for Days

As the slow-moving Debby progresses along the Georgia-Carolina coastline into the new week, it may bring prolonged heavy rain, with totals potentially exceeding 2 feet. Depending on how long Debby remains in the area, rainfall amounts could even surpass 30 inches. Some forecast models suggest the storm could persist through at least Thursday. The National Hurricane Center has warned that this rainfall will likely lead to significant flash and urban flooding, with substantial river flooding expected.

See more:

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19885

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19886

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19887

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19889

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19890

Such extreme rainfall could challenge state records for tropical cyclone precipitation. In Georgia, the record stands at 27.85 inches from Hurricane Alberto in 1994, while South Carolina’s record is 23.63 inches from Hurricane Florence in 2018.

A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, leading to heavier rainfall, and warmer oceans can intensify hurricanes, increasing storm surge due to rising sea levels.

With the forecasted increase in storm intensity, storm surge is also expected to rise. Flooding from storm surge could reach 6 to 10 feet along Florida’s Big Bend, while coastal Georgia and South Carolina might experience surges of 2 to 4 feet. Tampa Bay is expected to see 2 to 4 feet of storm surge, while Marco Island and other parts of southwest Florida could face surges of 1 to 3 feet.

Human-induced climate change, which warms both the air and oceans, contributes to wetter tropical systems. The North Florida region, which was severely impacted by Category 3 Hurricane Idalia last August, is now facing a new threat from Debby.

[the-firebird69]

We had an evacuation last night and tons of them left yeah this guy is a stupid person treats her son like a child he's staying there saying good morning January delivered you get ready to get arrested the guys like going into Mac and Max I give the guy running the place and you give me s*** I don't want you here at all that's ridiculous so he's getting ripped apart right now that guy needs to be taken to nothing wrote something to Joel there's something in the box but this chicken s***.

It's about 200 South county sheriff and they're all in fighting right now and they think it's great they think it's the best atmosphere for anything and they think they're going around collecting stuff like they used to and people know about the motif and they know about the modus and they're going after them.

-this is about 300 people who arrested so far and it's 100 of the sheriff out of the remaining 300 and of course they're fired so down to 200 sheriff

-and last night there was an exodus from Florida it was these bums and it was over 500 billion it was about 700 billion and there's two trillion of these bombs here so what remains is 1.3 trillion which is not that many fairly soon they will be gone because they're getting up and leaving now they're leaving areas where they find a shield and so far they found the shield in a few places and one of them is Tampa the others Miami Jacksonville course there's an area in the panhandle it is of course the capital and surrounding Three counties and there is that college town Gainesville in Orlando of course the one in Miami goes from South Miami and far south actually and it goes up north of West Palm probably about 30 miles it's more or less the entire East Coast the rest of it is basically uninhabited it's a pretty large state for a peninsula but a lot of it is not inhabited because they considered marshland or radioactive and it's a pain in the neck but that's what's going on more shortly

Thor Freya

Terrific it's about time

Hera Zues

Olympus

[thelistingteammiami]

Why Florida Homes Are Still a Great Investment Choice

Florida owes many of its natural wonders to geography. However, it’s smack in the middle of the path of hurricanes. Although storms are part of the state’s rich tapestry, some real estate investors question whether Floridian properties are worth it. If you share the same sentiment, you must know Florida houses are still a terrific investment.

Thinking of them as a lost cause is unjustified because extreme weather is just a tempest in a teapot. Here are nine reasons the state’s real estate future is sunny — even during cloudy days.

1. Strong Retiree Magnet

The Sunshine State’s reputation as a retirement haven is as old as time. Florida has over 4.6 million residents aged 65 and above, accounting for 21% of its population. Besides warm weather, friendly tax policies consistently attract seniors to the state.

In the Retirement State, you get to keep all of your income. You can pocket 100% of your Social Security benefits, 401(k) distributions, dividends, and capital gains from investments and wages should you return to work. Moreover, Floridians enjoy many sales tax holidays. A lot of children’s goods are tax exempt, so grandparents can spoil their grandkids and save money.

If you win the lottery in the country’s Citrus Capital, you’ll be even luckier — the state government wants no slice of the pie. Regarding property taxes, Florida charges less than 1% of an owner-occupied property’s assessed value — the 25th lowest effective real estate tax rate in the United States. As long as the state remains a tax haven for pensioners, its real estate markets will benefit from the influx of retirees who want housing to spend their sunset years there.

2. Booming Tourism

Florida is one of the most visited states in the U.S. In 2022, it welcomed 137.6 million tourists — the highest in its history.

The peninsula has abundant attractions to lure visitors across the country and the world. It’s home to Walt Disney World Resort, Magic Kingdom Park, Universal Studios, SeaWorld and LEGOLAND, earning it the title of the Theme Park Capital of the World. Likewise, it has nine teams across the four major professional sports leagues. It’s blessed with white-sand beaches that rival world-class Caribbean attractions, too.

Flourishing tourism is one of the drivers of Florida’s robust real estate markets. If you own a property in or near a tourist hotspot, your asset can grow your wealth in multiple ways.

3. Favorite Snowbird Destination

Snowbirds — usually from Canada — escape the cold and seasonally migrate to regions with milder winters. Unlike ordinary tourists, these visitors can stay in the States 182 days a year. Their extended stays allow them to contribute big time to local economies.

Many snowbirds own residences in Florida, making the Sunshine State their second home. When they’re away, they rent out their vacation houses and earn passive income. Those who prefer to lease and spend their winter in different destinations bring cash to landlords’ pockets.

4. Surging Job Growth

Corporations are having a more favorable view of Florida. It’s one of the biggest beneficiaries of the exodus of California companies, making Miami the new home base of tech startups fleeing Silicon Valley. In July 2023, the state recorded more jobs than New York, representing 3.2% growth year over year.

Rapid corporate migration to Florida will create a positive chain reaction. When businesses relocate, they bring their employees or generate new jobs. Either way, the deluge of prospective renters and buyers will drive up property prices in top corporate headquarters relocation spots like Jacksonville.

If you own a property in a strategic location, consider being a landlord. Your responsibilities will depend on your rental, but maintenance duties will come with the territory.

If you want to cash out on your home equity, you can move and reinvest in a neighborhood in an emerging market with more room for growth. Cape Coral, Tallahassee, St. Petersburg, Pensacola and Port Charlotte are some of the Gulf State’s hottest cities.

The National Association of Home Builders says properties with energy-saving features lure many buyers. That’s why houses that reflect sunlight, generate their electricity to be grid-independent and light the indoors without producing too much heat are an easy sell in Florida.

Make your home as energy efficient as possible to get attractive offers from aspiring settlers who want to build their careers. If your property is also storm resistant, it may sell itself and bring you a handsome return.

5. Massive Student Population

The Land of Flowers has dozens of colleges and universities, serving as a temporary home to hundreds of thousands of students. Many live off campus and provide positive cash flow to rental property owners.

Although students tend to move elsewhere after graduation, more will likely stay because of the increasing number of Fortune 500 corporations in Florida. By 2022, 23 of the largest companies in the U.S. had HQs in the Everglade State.

6. Burgeoning Citizenry

Florida’s population ballooned by 1.9% in 2022, overtaking Idaho as the nation’s fastest-growing state. The fact that it’s already one of the biggest demographically makes this milestone more impressive. Furthermore, it ranked first in domestic net migration in the same year.

Since the end of World War II, the Peninsula State’s population has increased more than ninefold. Florida has consistently had a positive annual growth rate for the past seven decades, so more people have moved into it than left since 1950.

7. Recession-Proof Home Values

The house prices in Florida rose when the U.S. fell into a recession from February to April 2020. They sustained their upward trend amid the pandemic’s height — proof of people’s strong desire to be in the state. If you have a mortgage in the Orange State and want to avoid negative equity during economic storms, government data shows you should stay.

8. Non-Existent Rent Control

Florida is a paradise for rental property owners. It has no rent control, so you can adjust rent based on market demand. Although the state has a housing crisis like the rest of the country, its lawmakers believe the answer is more supply and not a cap on rental premiums.

9. Diverse Property Options

Only some places can match the variety of properties you can buy in Florida. If you’re interested in residential real estate investing, you can choose from the following:

Single-family homes

Duplexes

Triplexes

Townhouses

Apartments

Condos

Timeshares

Vacation rentals

Villas

With various options at your disposal, you can select a property that suits your budget and lifestyle.

Real Estate Is Sunny in Florida

Risk is an irremovable aspect of residential real estate investing, but minimizing it as much as possible is your key to success. Judging by how things are going in the Tropicana State and its rosy outlook, it’s clear that using a Florida home as your retirement plan is a safe bet.