We Celebrate (Mostly) Summer in Florida!

Here at TJM, we love our Florida hometown. The Sunshine State offers us a ton of recreational opportunities, especially in summer’s long daylight hours. We take full advantage. But there are a few tricks and tips for managing the heat and humidity. Here’s how we deal with it all.

Shannon Moore

Oh boy, what don't we do during the summer? Our family is big on traveling and doing as much with the kids as possible. We enjoy the theme parks, but it's SUPER hot and packed during the weekend. 

Fishing is top of the list of to-dos. The five-year-old can't get enough of it. Hiking up in North Carolina and Tennessee is also an activity we enjoy. [Editor’s Note: Escaping Florida is a beloved summer tradition for many of us.] The weather is way more tolerable there being outside than it is here. We just bought a little splash pad for the house that the boys have been playing with. 

Favorite summer food is a combo of Popsicles and watermelon. Just started making Popsicles at home, so that's been fun. 

Keeping cool tips include using a doggie cooling mat for the kids to sit on when in the stroller.  Clip-on fans. Freezer packs with wipes to help cool off. Just to name a few. 

Matt Fischer

I love Florida summers! It gets hot here, but we have no shortage of waterways in north central Florida to help with that heat. My single favorite thing to do when the heat reaches those triple digits is to visit one of our natural springs. The year-round 72-degree water feels fantastic when it’s a scorcher out. [Editor’s Note: As long as one watches out for the alligators. Not kidding.]

My wife, daughter and I love to paddle the different spring-fed rivers as well (we just paddled the Weeki Wachee River, and it’s by far my favorite paddle so far). If paddling isn’t an option, we also love to picnic and swim at one of the many state parks and recreation areas. My personal favorites for swimming/snorkeling are Alexander Springs and Silver Glen Springs located in the Ocala National Forest.

There is no more quintessential summer food that the famous Pub Sub (for non-Floridians, Publix sub sandwich.) Readily available, delicious, and easily packable in your cooler! [Editor’s Note: for non-Floridians, Publix is the state’s leading grocery chain.]

Aside from being near water to cool off, my best tip that has made Florida life more bearable is buying UPF-rated and quick-drying, moisture wicking clothes. These have been a game changer for keeping me comfortable, dry, and less sunburnt on our weekend adventures.

Rick Cundiff

I love summer. My wife disagrees. Give her a nice winter evening and a good book and she’s happy. Me, I like long days with plenty of light, the chance to get out and do things after work.

Well, other than the fact that it’s just too darn hot to do much outside in Florida in the summer, that is. I take our dogs out for their after-dinner walk, and they look at me like “Dad-Dad, are you crazy? Take us back inside, where the air conditioning is!” But every once in while, especially if there’s a storm moving in, the temperature drops quickly and we get a nice breeze. The pups are shorthaired, so they like that part.

I still enjoy the season, just from inside a well-cooled home, car, bookstore or coffee shop.

The trick is to get necessary tasks, such as pressure washing the sidewalk (thanks, HOA!) out of the way early.

We do enjoy the beach. We’re about an hour away from either the east or west coast beaches, so we try to go often.

Tim Gallagher

My wife and I love going for walks in nearby parks. nature paths, shade. Really gives you a chance to unwind and relax from the daily grind. The farther you can get from the sounds of people and vehicles, the better.

Just remember to stay hydrated! Bring water! If you think you have enough, double it. Trust me, Its better to have too much, than not enough. Heat exhaustion is horrible.

Picnics are a good weekend getaway in Florida, I typically stay away from the shoreline. I’ve had too many friends with gator stories, and I don’t want to have any of my own. [Editor’s Note: See? We told you we weren’t kidding about the gators.]

Theme parks are a great idea if you have kids or can afford to go. But I try to go in the winter months. Just imagine waiting for hours in one of those lines. Waiting is tough sometimes, let alone in that Florida heat.

My wife’s favorite beat-the-heat meals are salads, cold pasta. and my go-to is ice cream.

Trick for beating the heat?  Frozen water bottle. Keep one in your back pocket, or inside jacket pocket.. Everyone will wonder how you’re able to wear a jacket or hoodie in this weather. Liquid cooling, works like a charm.

Courtney Cole

Summer in Florida is hot. Too freaking hot most of the time. However, spending weekends in the pool or jet skiing out on the lakes are both fun ways to beat the heat.

Sometimes though, just staying in and hanging out in the air conditioning is just as nice. For those of you reading this who have never experienced a Florida summer, just imagine breaking a sweat just walking from your car to your front door. That is 100% not an exaggeration. As far as favorite summer foods, you will always be able to find ice pops in my freezer.

Matt Maio

Summer time for me always bring the springs to mind. I could spend all day with my head under water looking at fish. Going fishing is a close second.

My favorite summertime foods would be a nice big salad. Loaded with cheese, croutons and olives is my preference. Theme parks are a bit too busy for me this time of year. I will wait until school is back in session for that. As for beating the heat, that’s what my pool is for!

Justin MacDonald

What do I do in the Florida summer?  EVERYTHING.  I am somehow both cold- and warm-blooded, I love and enjoy low temperatures, but I also really love the scorching heat. So much so that when I leave Florida for a personal vacation, I often go to the desert to ride motorcycles.

I paddleboard the Silver River, I camp in the National Forest, I fish in the dawn and dusk, I go running in the middle of the day, and I take full advantage of any pool or body of water.  I love summertime and I even have a certain love for the often-oppressive heat. 

As a kid, I loved theme parks but as I have gotten older, I tend to be annoyed by waiting in lines for hours. Also, everything seems so darn expensive. [Editor’s Note: This is known in Florida as early-onset Get Off My Lawn Syndrome.] So we mostly skip the theme parks in summer, and instead hit nature when and where we can.

The only complaint I have is that when it stays super hot for days on end, our poor ol’ air conditioner has a hard time keeping up. We have to turn the thermostat up so it doesn’t burn itself out, but we’re still pretty lucky that it cools the house down well.

Summertime foods are typically any kind of smoked meat or the summertime classics, burgers and dogs.

Since I’ve had kids, I’ve realized my favorite thing about summer is the longer days I’m able to have with them. Not just the fact that the days are literally longer, but that we’re not rushing around to get them in bed early for school. We get to enjoy later nights and do more things together, and I will always love that.