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page 2 places january 1978 oranges and rattlers beat winter blahs in the sunshine state by jane mcdonald there is nothing like leaving toronto inter national airport on a dark february morning at 30 degrees below zero celsius and arriving a few hours later at a tropical 30 degrees above tampa airport one of the most beautiful air ports i have ever seen gave me this winter break a few years ago and i recommend it for anyone faced with the worst part of a canadian winter those last couple of months when ontario begins to look like the set from the movie dr zhivago i was working for a newspaper at the time and had been assigned to do a story on a local real estate agency trying to convince canadians to buy land in the sunshine state i had checked the firm out with the ontario ministry of consumer and commercial relations and they had given it a clean bill of health so it was just a matter of seeing the property the firm had to offer as it turned out it was all on the upahdup and that meant a rather routine story and the chance to enjoy warm sunshine while my co workers and neighbors back in canada scraped windshields and shivered as their feet hit the bedroom floor each morning it was february of 1974 when i landed in florida so the fuel shortage was in full swing making it difficult to get around even a rented car meant a quarterfilled gas tank and at rural lake placid in the centre of florida where i was staying the population was scattered with no transit system orlando and disneyworld were located about 100 miles to the north and the coasts were about 150 miles to either side of me the fuel shortage even prevented me from driving the relatively few short miles to sarasota for a chance however slight of bumping into my favorite author john d mac- donald who spells his last name a little funny but nevertheless is a terrific writer however all these shortcomings were forgotten as soon as i stepped off the plane and felt the sunshine bake into my ontario pallor and my frostbrittled bones can you imagine how muchbetter a trip such as mine would be today when the fuel restrictions have been lifted anyway the ac commodation for the group of canadians i was with was excellent a recentlybuilt holiday inn complete with palm- encircled pool a sight every one of the canadians seemed fascinated by across from the hotel was an orange grove where i thought i would pick a few fresh citrus the night before i was to leave for home unfortunately i didnt realize that picking oranges in florida from privatelyowned orchards is against the law and i also wasnt aware until the next day that a rather large contingent of state troopers was billoted at the holiday inn so unaware of the fact that i could be arrested at any minute i ran across the fourlane highway not an easy task in itself and started picking oranges and grapefruit in the dead of night and as it turned out i very easily could have become the dead part of the night not because the state troopers could have shot me nor from getting hit by a car as i crossed the highway again back to the holiday inn but because i wasnt the only interloper in the citrus grove it seems that the sandy areas where i had filled my shopping bag with genuine florida produce was where rattlesnakes sleep at night i didnt learn this until the next day when a chambermaid who saw my bag of goodies almost fell over when i told her where i had filled it anyway i did get home safely that following day after almost missing the plane timetables are another of societys set of rules that i find difficult to follow and gave my loved ones their hard- earned fruit even though it was a working vacation and cars were lined up for blocks in a desperate search for gasoline it is good to remember that particular trip on these grey dreary midwinter days when you think youll never see anything green again except the dollars you pay out on fuel bills and the people of florida were ex ceptionally friendly showing a great deal of interest if very little knowledge for canada for example the canadian night held at the hotel dining room in our honor featured roast beef and yorkshire pudding vi florida may not be as much of an in place to go anymore what with travel throughout the west indies mexico and cuba opening up in recent years but it does afford you a relatively- 1 inexpensive and con venient way to beat the slush of winter and florida is almost as close as a call to your travel agent 3 3 r lawson travel sunfluest affordable adventures acapulco from 399 american airlines hyatt hotel dec 77 may 78 saturday departures nassau from 5329 air canada ambassador beach hotel golf club dec 77 april 78 friday departures pall lawson travel fhehotajmatere now 697 bay st royal bank ptaza thorncllffe brampton commerce court commerce court atgerrard merchants mai marketplace 6 hanson rdn ste4101 west concourse 5970636 8650009 4224880 453q250 8680161 8681994 usocouo mtiuvtlvoccs bclwr burkes wokowoc trl surmtt twl florida 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