[countrykaren]

Thank you everyone. Funny, most of the recommendations listed I already had on our visit list. Keep them coming. Can't wait to get down there and away from this gloomy, rainy weather we constantly have.

[REWitch]

I'll throw another vote behind Venice if you really want to be on the coast! I'd also put Melbourne on the list. Another town you may not have heard of but may like is Dunnellon, FL.

Dunellon has a nice "old downtown" area where all of the shops are in old 1800's houses, and the town is not too far from the coast. There is a small community in Dunnellon called "Blue Cove". It's right on the Rainbow River, which is a natural spring fed river that has some of the most epic bright blue water you have ever seen. It's also home to the Rainbow River park which is also super nice.

I'm new so I don't know if you can send messages on here, but feel free to message me if you want to know more about Dunnellon. I live about 7 miles from there!

You may also like Cedar Key, which is right on the coast and was literally made for walking around the little shops on main street. It might be hard to find a house around there though as it is a small area surrounded by preserved land.


We too moved here from upstate NY a little over 10 years ago!