What is there to do in Winter Haven?

i live in PA. i want to move to winter haven, fl. i dont know anyone in fl. i dont have any money. i will have a bachelor's degree in english in may. i dont know what kind of jobs are available there. i dont know how to find out.

try www.monster.com or www.myspace.com/jobs you can research jobs in your field, and many will pay moving expenses if you're hired.

good luck!!

I'm trying to remember the name of a series of books where 4 kids are transported to another (fantasy) world and they have to save the world. It's not Chronicles of Narnia. In this book, the kids learn that they have special powers, one is a witch, I don't remember what the other kids can do. At one point, some of the kids return home, but then have to go back to. There's some tree involved, so I'm think the name is winter tree or winter haven or something similar, but I'm drawing a blank.

could it be the Wrinkle in Time series? author name something like Madeline Engle? not sure apart from that.

So, I'm truck shopping and I found the truck of my dreams! It's a 1986 F250 Diesel. I need a truck with a big engine to haul my horses. Here's the problem.... I'm going away to school in Fall and I know that if you have a Diesel they can't sit, you have to plug them in to keep them warm during the winter. I'm not sure if there's going to be any sort of outlet that will allow me to plug my truck in while at school.

On the other hand, I'm going to be an entering freshman so I'm not quite sure on how much I'll have to drive....

When we spoke to the man selling the truck he told us that the truck has been sitting for two winters and he never had a problem starting it or had the need to plug it in (I live in NJ and the past two winters haven't been ridiculously cold and I'm planning on going to school in Ohio... I don't know how cold it gets there....)

Also, how hard is it to find parts for a 1986 with a 6.9 motor? My dad suggested that if something happened I could always put a new engine inside.... but that's like 4 gran, isn't it?

The truck is beautiful! He redid a lot of things to it, put new shocks, a new transmission.... I love it so much!

I just wanted opinions from what people who owned Diesils! Get the truck of my dreams or perhaps go for a "wiser" more modern choice??

It is good to keep a diesel engine warm in the extreme cold.But now in Ohio you can get by without it. I spent time in Germany with an Army Engineer unit and I don't remember ever using a heater for anything! Good Luck!

Were hoping by the end of this year going into Jan of 2010, to move to Florida, we need a chance, the weather was so much better then here in our state Kansas (I HATE it here).

Anyways, we were down there earleir in Jan, 09. Our son was a child of the Dream Factory & got to stay at the Give Kids teh Wolrd Village. We ALL fell in love with FLorida, the warm weather, the people were so wonderful. We loved the theme parks of course.

But, we only saw parts of Kissimee (where GKTW is), what we saw of Orlando to get to the parks, & loved Coco beach. I never felt so relaxxed as I did there.

So we have been looking around on Craigslist for price ranges in rent, & the places for rent, but when your on craigslist you only see the pics of the palces, NOT the area around it.

We want to move in a good school district, my son is homeschooled now, & I cant do it anymore, my mental state just cant do it anymore.

The schools here in Kansas SUCK! And plese people donttell me to stay in KS, I grew up here, tiem for a change, & once you see 1 wheat field, youve seen them all, & I know KS has alot of history, all of us has heard it already! Need & WANT something new.

Thanks so much, for the advice. o yeah, the places were wondering about are these ones in FL....Orlando, Kissimee, Winter Park, Clermont, St. Cloud, Altmonte Springs, Winter Haven, & Tampa.

I also know there is crime in every city, & everywhere you go, I just want a good, safe, drug free zone to bring a 11 yr old child into.

Well Tammy, it's easy to get a good first impression of the Orlando area and it's understandable that you'd like to get away from Kansas, but excuse the trite expression, you will realize fairly quickly that you're not in Kansas anymore with the crime rates in the Orlando area. It is rated #18 on the list of dangerous cities.. just one up on Compton. It's beaten out Jacksonville. It is a very culturally diverse area.. little whitebread.
Unemployment in Florida is higher than the national average, and much higher than in Kansas. Cost of living is likely a fair amount higher too. The state budget gap is worse than Kansas and they are looking for new cutbacks, measures, taxes, etc. You may have heard about what is happening in California.. well given time in Fl, who knows.
Negatives aside, there's lots of areas away from Orlando that may make a better choice. If you insist on the Orlando area, Clermont might make a good choice, but the commute into Orlando isn't that easy and it's a rather quiet area. Lake Mary is nice, but it will cost more. I'm south of Lake Mary in Altamonte Springs, but it's overcrowded etc and I'm looking to get out.. perhaps to Dallas. Kissimmee/St.Cloud are culturally backwards and struggling to become more so. They are also highly immigrant. Winter Haven is a good ways off and there probably isn't much happening there asides from being inland. Tampa's unemployment is higher than Orlando. Winter Park is overpriced, overrated and congested. While Ocoee and Winter Garden aren't too bad, you would have to pass thru the worst part of town, Pine Hills aka Crime Hills to get to them from Downtown Orlando.
For urban work field reasons, I chose Orlando, but if you don't need something quite so urban, you could choose an area like Coral Springs on the Gulf or Port St.Lucie on the ocean where the house prices have been knocked down considerably more than around here. Port St.Lucie would probably be the better of the two.. Coral Springs is probably verry quiet. Cocoa is a good choice, Port St.Lucie may be more family-oriented..I can't be sure.
Schools were never a high point in Florida, and I can't guide you there, but if I had children, I wouldn't want to send them to school anywhere around Orlando...maybe in Lake Mary.

My significant other and I are completely in love with Florida. We have put a lot of time into research and where we would like to end up. Personally, I would like somewhere like Winter Haven and areas like that on the east coast.

Anyways, my hubby has two opportunities for work. He can either apply for transfer or have his friend get him a job working with him. Great, seeing from what I know finding a job is really hard there.

I have a Associate Degree and working on my Bachelor's in human services. I have experience working with the elderly in a home, but most of my experience so far is in bartending and serving. I figured I can go there and get a serving job. I am just wondering, how hard was it for you to find work when moving down there? And how do you like it?

I was born in Florida and still reside there even though I work out of Louisiana. There is no shortage of old people in Florida and no shortage of retirement homes/hospitals so you shouldn't have much trouble finding work in that field. Both my mom and sister do it. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding work in the bar and restaurant field either. We have plenty of those too. But the pay is lower and the turn over is higher. If your husband already has decent paying job opportunities that is a good thing. The factories have and are leaving the state and the Mexicans will kill you in the construction industry. What little construction there is right now. That's why I work out LA. The traffic is getting pretty bad too.

I had asked the question already, but didn't get many responses. Only got one helpful one, but after looking at the website... it didn't pertain to what I am looking for.

My wife and I were going to her church on Wednesday nights for Bible study and over the last 6-7 months it has transformed into something entirely different. There is no more Bible study. We have also recently started to go to a different church and they also do not have a Bible study.

So I have been searching the internet and the closest one I can find isn't even for both of us, its for men and there's another for women. The other problem is they are both over 50 miles away. Having older cars (I just replaced the head on my car and her car has close to 180k miles on it) driving that far twice isn't an option. I already drive 70 miles a day to go to work.

I wish there was something close by that we could go to where we both can go and be in the same study group.

I have been told to start one, but we don't have the resources or the time to prepare for it. I'm also new to being a Christian and would be unable to lead, guide and protect the group.

I am not looking to start my own, so please don't even recommend it. I'm looking for one that is in someone's home and not a college course.

I live in Winter Haven, Fl.
Sunspot, aren't you just a ray of sunshine?

Not a very helpful answer to be honest.
Tucker, I'm not ready to lead a group. I feel that one that is already started and established is our best route to go.
Yahwist, my wife and I aren't growing while reading a study bible either. In a group there are questions that challenge your mind and your knowledge.
Jeff, do not try and persuade me that judgement day is May of this year.

No man will know the day is what it says in the Bible. Not even Jesus knows the day, only the father.
Kazoo, we have done just that already and it's not enough.

We feel that having a group would be more beneficial for us to learn and grow.

Perhaps, you and your wife can visit a few religious book outlets and purchase a few books that have the content or information you desire.

I have noticed many good religious books that are designed in the form of Q & A, they are very appealing since within may be many fully answered questions.

Truthfully, unless a bible study group has a leader of distinction (Catholic priest or educated pastor) they simply fall apart or differences erupt.
Take the time to review the books written by Dr. Scott Hahn, he is an excellent author/writer.
Rev. Billy Graham is also a superb author/writer that has a lot of emotion in his text.

Added: You could always ask some of the more difficult questions here in the R&S forum.
Sadly, be prepared to get a good deal of jokers but some of the people are helpful.

God bless'

I want to move to Florida Soon but im having trouble on picking which area suits me. By area, I mean like Town, City, Neighborhood etc.

* Im coming from NY where there is lots of crime and im looking for an area where there is low crime.
*Looking for an area with pleasent neighbors
*Area where jobs are everywhere
*i dont care weather its in a busy community/road or quite area
*I want an area where I dont have to worry about my car being broken in to every night.

I was researching Orlando, Winter Haven, and Boca Raton. What do you think? Also please include any personal experiences and if possible neighborhoods.

There is a lot more to Orlando than theme parks and the job market is pretty good however, the traffic is horrible. If you choose this city try looking a little North into Seminole County. The housing is less expensive and you will have only a short commute.

Winter Haven is located in rural Polk County. Polk has few public amenities compared to other areas because they are a poorer county dependant mainly on agriculture.

Both Orlando and Winter Haven are landlocked cities which means they have little or no cooling ocean breezes to offer relief from the brutal six month summers. I have lived and worked in both of these cities. They are both great places to explore when you have the time.

Roca Raton is beautiful. It is one of the wealthiest cities in the state. It is a very busy place with lots of traffic congestion. Many people will find the housing costs a bit much however.

Destin is beautiful too as another poster so eloquently points out. I have been there for vacation several times. But it is mostly resorts, condos, hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. Unless you are financially independent of your living location, you may need to either own or work in one of these type establishments or commute out of the area to Pensacola for employment. And many of the businesses in Pensacola cater to the Armed Forces in one way or another. Also, the Florida Panhandle has been seeing more than its share of hurricanes lately.

I have lived all over the state since 1974 from Tallahassee to Jacksonville to Orlando to Miami to Key West. My work required that I relocate often.

I like Sarasota the best and I have made my home here. If I am to live in Florida then this is the place for me. Both of my sisters and their families have relocated to this semi-tropical paradise from New Jersey and brought homes here too.

Sarasota is a medium sized city on the Gulf of Mexico with about 370,000 people in season and about 315,000 off season.

Home prices range from under one hundred thousand to more than six million dollars. Many very famous people discretely keep Sarasota as their home. If you like to play golf, see the many communities which have championship courses such as Prestancia or the Longboat Key Club. The last time I counted, there were forty five golf courses in the area. Also there are many mobile home parks where you can find homes for less than fifty thousand dollars.

If you are looking to rent first, you will find houses and apartments ranging from five hundred per month and up.

Our crime statistics are below state and national averages.

We have an excellent school system including both public and private institutions, a school for the exceptionally gifted, a military school, two universities, a business college, a vocational school, three community college campuses and of course, The Ringling School of Art and Design.

If you're looking for work and you work in the health care related field, there are plenty of opportunities, you can just about pick and choose where you want to work. You will usually find nationally competitive pay scales and benefits. There are too many health care facilities to list. I feel obliged to point out that Florida is not immune to the economic downturn the entire country is facing. There are many people out of work across the state and gas and food are going up.

We have the Suncoast Off-Shore Grand Prix during the week of the Fourth of July. There will be a parade and numerous festivals. You can find boat rental locations and some of the best fishing around.

Just up the Interstate about twenty minutes in Ellenton, you can even ice skate in a professional arena.

The Mote Marine research center offers tours of their facility and you can tour Sarasota Bay with the Sarasota Bay Explorers.

Casperson Beach is a great place to look for prehistoric sharks teeth. They wash up on shore twenty four hours a day by the tens of thousands.

Siesta Key Beach is reputed to have the whitest and finest sugar sand in the world. They rake the entire beach using tractors on a regular basis to keep it as clean as possible. Usually you won't even find a cigarette butt.

Other beaches include Lido Beach, Venice Beach, Beer Can Island, Nokomis Beach, Casey Key Beach, Coquina Beach, Turtle Beach and more. Every one of these beaches has its own distinction and is unlike the others.

Outdoor activities include; scuba, snorkeling, water-skiing, para-sailing, wind-surfing, sunset cruses on the Marina Jack, sunbathing, jet-skiing, cycling, kayaking, birding, horseback riding and hiking.

The 66-acre John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is a great place to explore both inside and out. You can find important works by Titian, Veronese, Rubens, Hals, and Velazquez. Ringling also acquired important decorative arts and a collection of Cypriot, Greek and Roman antiquities from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

Jungle Gardens is a great place to walk around. It is one of the original roadside attractions from before the advent of interstate highways. Much of it is as it was in those bygone days yet is well kept.

There is a rich and diversified cultural community which includes many theaters for world class performing arts.

I used to live in Siesta Key Village. It was always a nice place to walk through to watch the sun set. Many times on the way back we would stop for an ice cream cone at Big Olaf's.

The Olde Salty Dog, Gilligan's Island or the Midnight Pass Pub are fun places to relax outside with an informal meal and an adult beverage. If nightlife is your thing you will find a variety of places in the area ranging from the latest dance clubs to small and intimate establishments perfect for quiet conversation.

I recently saw a sign on one of the convenience stores that read, "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem, This is Florida".

If you like to shop, check out the many shopping malls or reserve a private fashion show on St. Armand's Circle.

There are hundreds of restaurants for every taste and budget.

There is a lot more too. You will not be at a loss for things to do.

We have all of the amenities of a large city but you can still get a feel for that good old laid back Southern hospitality. When it comes to choosing between the East and West coasts of Florida, remember "the West is the best and the East is the least". So before you make this important decision, be sure to check out the Southwest Florida area just South of Tampa Bay otherwise known as the Suncoast.