I've been living in Florida for a year now. I've come to know a few things
1. Go to the beach in the winter, there are no tourists.
2. Get your outside work done early, it will surely rain in the afternoon.
3. All of the little rundown looking restaurants are the best.
4. Crackers are the only true Floridians to know!
What are Crackers you ask? The first time I heard the term, my real estate agent used it. She told us about this house we pass out on Durant Rd (I think it's Durant) and how it used to be a cracker house. Now, I have heard cracker used in many different ways than to mean a Floridian, but she's a local, born and raised in this area, so she gave us a brief history lesson.
Long, long ago, when Florida was not overpopulated, and relied more heavily on agriculture and livestock than tourism, people would move their animals around rather than keeping them confined to a pasture. They travelled on horseback and in buggies and would crack their whips to herd the animals along. They became known as crackers when they travelled through towns.
Since then, I've had the pleasure to meet very few crackers. What I can say about each and every one of them, is that they just as friendly as anyone else in the South. They will open their home to you with a kind of hospitality as if you were family, and if you mention the word cracker, you'd better know the meaning.
I have since also made friends with a local cracker who lives not far from the house where I learned the meaning of the word. A great individual, who has a passion for fishing, cooking, all things plant, and is so super friendly and so much like a family member.
