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I'm not playing up or exaggerating the existence of alligators in Florida, but they do exist. At the Honda Classic golf tournament a couple weeks ago in Palm Beach Gardens Florida, an alligator was watching the tournament floating fully exposed in one of the many small bodies of water on the golf course.
And one poster here wrote about the invasion of the canals in his Florida town by alligators. And, of course, the horrific incident at Disney resort in Orlando where a 2 year old child was dragged off the shore into the water by an alligator and killed.
Just a few examples. One does not need to live in fear of them, but they do exist in great numbers and can exist in any small body of water which are so common in Florida.
You should always assume there is a gator in any body of water that is freshwater.
To the OP, my husband and I did things a little different than most.
We knew in 2003 we wanted to move to Florida, well before retirement.
My husband is in the restaurant business so his career easily transfered to Florida which is what we did in January 2012. We were relocated by his company to Sarasota, Florida from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
We absolutely LOVED Sarasota but needed a little more stimulation so he went with a bigger restaurant group in 2013 and we moved over to Fort Lauderdale which we absolutely love.
It was important to us to become a part of our community and give back not just retire.
We have great careers and an amazing life here in Fort Lauderdale. We have family in Sarasota so we do visit there about every six weeks or so but can't imagine living back there.
My husband will retire in two years and I'm about ten years behind him.
OP: We did the opposite. We moved to Tampa 45-years ago and subsequently lived in Kissimmee and then Melbourne/Satellite Beach for 27-years (4-5-years into retirement) ... until moving to Destin (a small, nice town in the Western Panhandle of Florida) to be near grandkids.
We've often wished we were back in Satellite Beach because of traffic and weather, but, would miss the grandkids and, after 6-years, would probably find things changed on the beach. Don't overlook the East Coast of Florida. We've lived on both and prefer it over the Gulf side.
My wife and I love visiting Florida. Been many times to several different cities and towns. I can't help but think it would be a great place to retire. Wife's parents are down there already. We have the finances to be someplace really nice, and 50 billion of my fellow NYer's have preceeded me, so there must be something to it.
The only caveat is that for as many times as we've been down there we have never gone in the summertime. Closest I got was Tampa for a week in May and another in October, both times on business. My wife is going to try it this year though. She's planning on visiting her parents in July.
We've discussed this many times before and we were sure we had decided to stay in NY but every year when I watch the fans at the Yankees games during spring training I can't help thinking we could deal with Florida's summer. Obviously the only way to tell is to try visiting myself during the dog days.
We have been in NE Fla for 10 years. While it can get hot and humid in the summer, we do not find it oppressive as a lot of nay sayers imply. We came from Southern California and it was a lot harder to get used to the slower pace of life and the Southern "Laid Back Wait and See" attitude than the heat in Summer. We did get used to the Southern Charm very quickly, especially where we are as folk are so friendly. SoCAL like New York is such fast pace that no one really has the time to stop and "Smell The Roses". We have been enjoying the slower pace of life for 10 years now and really like it.
I am not sure why FL gets such a bad rap on summer heat. It has been 100 degrees in Sarasota once since they started keeping records. Raleigh sees 100 just about every year, often for a few days in a row. Check the dew points (the real way to get humidity; RH depends on temp and drops as it warms) for humidity in FL cities and other cities in the South and it really isn't any worse. Check the averages breezes and FL doesn't often have the stifling calm hot days. Don't get me wrong; it gets hot. But it isn't worse than a lot of other places and many days isn't as bad. But, FL does have heat for more months in a row and people do get worn down by it if they don't like it.
I have lots of family in FL and have been there plenty of times in the summer without it seeming like a big deal. But I grew up in Atlanta, and lived there when they had 43 straight days with a high of over 100. It was the year of Mt St Helens eruption and I remember the prediction of a cooler summer because of the haze. Right...
I am cross posting from the "East Coast beach" thread...
In my East Coast search, I have pretty much ruled out having full cool/cold seasons, which pretty much means FL. If it is near/at the beach, it's probably going to be near I-95 between Jax and Melbourne. But note that I started that with "If". I still feel pretty sure I want to be close to the beach. But there are a few inland spots that have some appeal, a little more protection from the worst of the storm, lots of communities and potentially much lower housing costs. Winter Haven and Ocala, for example. They have some high end expensive properties, but there are also older communities with lower cost homes and fees. I might even consider manufactured housing inland. They are still the dark horse in my search; I kinda want the real sea. But there are gorgeous tropical parks and some lakefront areas (particularly in Winter Haven) that are like little beach towns. And the beach is not far away; some of the communities organize trips down fairly often. I haven't ruled out sound/inlet locations either. I really need to start making some trips. Next winter, for sure.
One thing that may be different in my search is I do want a community with things going on. I don't want to become a hermit. I want to find some regular fishing buddies, not always dine alone and maybe plays cards and shoot the breeze at night. I probably wouldn't do this if I don't find a place where that kind of activity is common.
We finally saw our new house, the day before we closed on it. hee hee. WE LOVE IT!! We are in Harbor Heights, Punta Gorda. Which is actually across the river from Punta Gorda city proper. It's 10 minutes from Port Charlotte and it's Publix, and it's 10 minutes from Punta Gorda. AND we can hop on the interstate, go down one exit and come into PG on Marion Avenue, and can totally avoid the 41 bridge. If I go the other way on the interstate, the ramp is one and a half miles from our house, there's a Wal-Mart.
There's a park two blocks from our house with a boat ramp, a few piers, and a nice playground. We have 2 boat docks in our backyard, one with a boat lift, and we're 4 properties from the river.
Everybody talks about the heat, and the bugs, in Florida. Well...I live in Wisconsin. The summer heat and humidity is atrocious. And the bugs....blecch. I was in florida for 5 days last week, and saw ONE "bug". A moth on the wall in the airbnb apartment we rented. According to the sellers of our house, they never see bugs. The guy two doors down doesn't even have a cage round his pool. They get a few spiders in the house. That's it. And, what did I come back to in Wisconsin? Dead boxelder bugs about an inch deep in my front picture window, another dozen or so in the octagon window in my bedroom, and last night one of those huge prehistoric looking bugs in my kitchen sink. Sometimes in the fall I can't even sit on my deck because of the mosquitoes and the boxelders dive bombing me. Apparently they like blond hair. And they get stuck in it. I can't wait to get to Florida and get away from all these bugs.
We finally saw our new house, the day before we closed on it. hee hee. WE LOVE IT!! We are in Harbor Heights, Punta Gorda. Which is actually across the river from Punta Gorda city proper. It's 10 minutes from Port Charlotte and it's Publix, and it's 10 minutes from Punta Gorda. AND we can hop on the interstate, go down one exit and come into PG on Marion Avenue, and can totally avoid the 41 bridge. If I go the other way on the interstate, the ramp is one and a half miles from our house, there's a Wal-Mart.
There's a park two blocks from our house with a boat ramp, a few piers, and a nice playground. We have 2 boat docks in our backyard, one with a boat lift, and we're 4 properties from the river.
Everybody talks about the heat, and the bugs, in Florida. Well...I live in Wisconsin. The summer heat and humidity is atrocious. And the bugs....blecch. I was in florida for 5 days last week, and saw ONE "bug". A moth on the wall in the airbnb apartment we rented. According to the sellers of our house, they never see bugs. The guy two doors down doesn't even have a cage round his pool. They get a few spiders in the house. That's it. And, what did I come back to in Wisconsin? Dead boxelder bugs about an inch deep in my front picture window, another dozen or so in the octagon window in my bedroom, and last night one of those huge prehistoric looking bugs in my kitchen sink. Sometimes in the fall I can't even sit on my deck because of the mosquitoes and the boxelders dive bombing me. Apparently they like blond hair. And they get stuck in it. I can't wait to get to Florida and get away from all these bugs.
OMG lady, you crack me up but you know I can SO totally relate!! I once had a June Bug fly in my hair when I was on the back of a moving motorcycle and I thought a bat fly in my hair. LOLOLOLOL
I believe us "Wisconsinites" can take anything bad that Florida flings our way
I'm so happy for you guys with your house and all. It's so exciting!!
Thanks CindyRoo! Now you just have to come and visit us! AND find your OWN forever home!
My bug infestation continues, yesterday I walked into my bedroom to a box elder bug dangling from a spider web at eye level at the end of my bed. And I just did the usual sweeping for cobwebs on Saturday! And, in case someone suggests it, I've already sprayed "Home Defense" all over the outside of my house. I guess that's why the bugs in my window are dead.
Thanks CindyRoo! Now you just have to come and visit us! AND find your OWN forever home!
My bug infestation continues, yesterday I walked into my bedroom to a box elder bug dangling from a spider web at eye level at the end of my bed. And I just did the usual sweeping for cobwebs on Saturday! And, in case someone suggests it, I've already sprayed "Home Defense" all over the outside of my house. I guess that's why the bugs in my window are dead.
I keep getting big old Carpenter Ants in the house lately. Never had them before. Little bastards LOLOL
One was so big I could have put a saddle on him. JK! LOLOL
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And I just did the usual sweeping for cobwebs on Saturday! 
And, in case someone suggests it, I've already sprayed "Home Defense" all over the outside of my house. I guess that's why the bugs in my window are dead. 
