Things I miss about FL

There were obvious things I would miss about Florida when I left. My family, my friends. But never having lived outside of the state before, I didn't realize how much I would miss the little, seemingly insignificant things...

• Cuban Sandwiches (made with REAL Cuban bread, baked with a palmetto leaf)
• small critters (lizards, frogs, bugs...) although VA has a lot of small birds, it seems to lack...
• large, crazy lookin' animals (come on. Gators, roseate spoonbills, manatees, sandhill cranes. CRAZY lookin' animals.)
• strong storms that blow through and leave that delicious smell hanging in the so-thick-you-can't-breathe air
• Sitting outside on the back porch of Tim and Terry's... Or Cafe Gardens...or any of our other regular restaurants in the 'ville.
• Satchel's (could be covered by point above. but so good and missed so much, it deserves it's own bullet.)
• Publix
• Beaches within a 1.5 hour drive
• sandy soil
• Gators in the water
• Gators on your plate
• Dillard's shoe department
• The crazy wackos that make FL their home (seriously, I always suspected we tipped the scales with the crazy, but now I know I was right. I think it's the combination of being Southern, the heat, and the swamps. All of which I love.)
• Old orange groves
• eating watermelon, while floating in the lake
• Old Florida souvenir stands
• Spanish moss smothering oaks (THAT'S what is wrong with these trees... they are naked)
• Boiled peanuts (I want some. right now.)
• Floating on the river/springs (preferably with boiled peanuts)
• The culture that has sprung up that is uniquely Florida. It's Southern, but done from the swamps.

Ok I'm going to stop now. I'm getting homesick. I just wanted to take some time to write some of these down so I can properly appreciate them when I go to Florida for a visit next week.