[parrotheadtexan]

Hi there everyone! Been going to seaside florida a couple times a year as far back as I can remember. Today I was sitting there thinking how nice it would be to stay in a town like seaside (get groceries and supplies and never go back to the car all week) but without an ocean of tourists. It seems to be getting more and more crowded every year or maybe I'm just getting older lol. I feel there has got to be a little beach bum town you can walk to everything, I just can't for the life of me find it. Any suggestions from the locals out there? I promise I'm not an annoying tourist, I won't block your driveway an we got plenty of shrimp and cold beer to go around

[daytonadewd]

It's funny that you come to Florida as a tourist, yet don't want to be around them!

A lot of people in Florida depend on them for their livelihoods -- like Texans do on oil wells. While you have to look at oil rigs all year round in Texas, tourists come and go here.

My suggestion would be to become a buccaneer -- buy a large boat that offers lodging quarters and live in downtown marina slips -- till you find your perfect hamlet. There are plenty of island communities like Amelia Island, Pine Island, Cedar Key, Edgewater and Goodland you could find what you asked for in your OP.

Or you could stay in downtown marina slips of smaller cities like Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Vero, Sebastian, Port St Lucie, Daytona Beach or Tarpon Springs.

And we haven't discussed inland hamlets along the St John's River or around Lake Okeechobee which may also offer what you're looking for.

[dothetwist]

Gulfport.

[beachmouse]

Mexico Beach east of Panama City. Enough rental homes you'll find something, but not the zoo you get from PC and points westward.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by dothetwist

Gulfport.

Oh my, not at all...Seaside is very polished and pristine, while Gulfport is neither. They are two very different places.

[kyle19125]

Check out the somewhat non-touristy town of Melbourne Beach which is compact and walkable with a small yet comprehensive grocery store in the center of town and a larger Publix supermarket on the south end, plus many good restaurants and shops.

[gypsychic]

How about Rosemary Beach, or is that just as crowded?

[smarino]

You could move to Tortola. There are beaches there that are ONLY accessible by boat. Makes for a nice Gilligan's Island experience. You can stay 6 months, and then you have to leave, but for 6 months it would be just what you want. You'd have to show that you have sufficient funds for your length of stay, and other bits of security to assure the folks that you would be an asset to their island and not a liability. You can even stay year round if you have a business that does not compete w/ another business, and you hire from the local population. If this country ran like that island, all these problems we have would disappear.