If you don't live in Florida your first impression of is Disney World, sandy beaches, and college students on spring break. However there are two Floridas, just like there are two sides to every coin. First you have South Florida, the general perception of the state. Where it is summer almost 365 days a year, jeans are rarely, if ever, worn, and Christmas in December is just like Christmas in July. This is the Florida that attracts snowbirds every winter, and thousands of tourist who crowd beaches and restaurants.
Then we have the other Florida, Northern Florida, which was relatively unknown to me until four years ago. This Florida is full of southern accents and qualities. This Florida is the real south. I honestly believe that North Florida is part of Southern Georgia in disguise. I felt like I was in a whole new state of being. I actually had to buy jeans to wear, because the temperature went below 70 in the fall (sometimes it got colder). To my surprise some people had not even been to Disney World or had not experienced the Florida the world knows.
I tried to understand why no one had ever enlightened me about these differences. It seemed like these people, who live in the north, had been living a lie. They must have been mistaken; they did not live in the real Florida. Sure the map may say they are in Florida, but it has become quite obvious to me that they are not true Floridians, who brave summer year round.
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