[Griffis]

Really appreciate all the replies, folks, and Merry Christmas to all. Happy 2017 as well.

Lots of votes for Naples! Some native Floridians we met also suggested Naples to us. Have heard many great things about Cape Coral and St. Pete also.

We've been exploring the panhandle and are having a wonderful time in this unique and beautiful state. The raw oysters here are incredible. My wife's addicted.

We've visited a couple state parks, watched a few sunsets on the beach. Awesome.

Next week we are heading towards St. Pete. May push on further but may wait a bit for a more southerly leg of our wanderings. We are wanting to check out Dunedin next, specfically. That general area. Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs...

Any suggestions on spots along that stretch with more of an "old Florida" sort of charm? Maybe not as flashy with tons of new development, but not run down? Artsy, fun, progressive?

[TD*]

Tallahassee is really nice and on the way from Panama City. Check it out

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Griffis

Really appreciate all the replies, folks, and Merry Christmas to all. Happy 2017 as well.

Lots of votes for Naples! Some native Floridians we met also suggested Naples to us. Have heard many great things about Cape Coral and St. Pete also.

We've been exploring the panhandle and are having a wonderful time in this unique and beautiful state. The raw oysters here are incredible. My wife's addicted.

We've visited a couple state parks, watched a few sunsets on the beach. Awesome.

Next week we are heading towards St. Pete. May push on further but may wait a bit for a more southerly leg of our wanderings. We are wanting to check out Dunedin next, specfically. That general area. Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs...

Any suggestions on spots along that stretch with more of an "old Florida" sort of charm? Maybe not as flashy with tons of new development, but not run down? Artsy, fun, progressive?

Visit the Atlantic side as it is quite different.

Stop at New Smyrna Beach and drive on the beach (Note avoid Daytona). It is great in that you can bring everything you need, park on the beach and everything you need is in your car and ... you can easily keep an eye on it. My wife loves that even though waves are not her thing.

St Augustine is neat to visit as well.

[beachmouse]

Pensacola has a little of the New Orleans feel you're looking for- drive over while you're running n Panama City

[jwolfer]

Fernandina had a nice little restored downtown, St Augustine is more well known. They are smaller towns but close enough to a larger city( Jacksonville) so you have access to larger airport, more shopping, symphony etc. Culturally more similar to panhandle than South Florida.

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by Griffis

Really appreciate all the replies, folks, and Merry Christmas to all. Happy 2017 as well.

Lots of votes for Naples! Some native Floridians we met also suggested Naples to us. Have heard many great things about Cape Coral and St. Pete also.

We've been exploring the panhandle and are having a wonderful time in this unique and beautiful state. The raw oysters here are incredible. My wife's addicted.

We've visited a couple state parks, watched a few sunsets on the beach. Awesome.

Next week we are heading towards St. Pete. May push on further but may wait a bit for a more southerly leg of our wanderings. We are wanting to check out Dunedin next, specfically. That general area. Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs...

Any suggestions on spots along that stretch with more of an "old Florida" sort of charm? Maybe not as flashy with tons of new development, but not run down? Artsy, fun, progressive?

We stayed at a property with old Florida charm right on the bay, called Bayesters Inn on St Pete beach. I loved it! Each room has a kitchenette fully stocked with plates, utensils and cups. Enjoyed making a cup of coffee and walking out of my room, into the courtyard and out onto the dock enjoying that beautiful view. The owner's "receptionist" is a friendly black lab. We brought our golden & she had a great time. You will love St Pete & St Pete beach. Make sure you visit Fort DeSoto State Park too.

If you want to stay in downtown St Pete, I recommend the historic Hollander Hotel. Very quaint, also lots of charm. St Pete used to be known as "God's Waiting Room" but no more--downtown is vibrant and exciting and has been invaded by the younger set now. The beauty of the area has been discovered.

We're actually heading down to St Pete this week -- spent about a week there this summer--hit all sorts of restaurants & had great service & great meals at all of them. Safe travels to you. You should enjoy St Pete.

[wizrap]

Oops I mistyped. It's Baywaters Inn. Sorry.

[squarpeg]

South Florida traffic is so absurd I can not deal with it. Naples has plenty of money, but Naples and Venice, Marco island are all so old, not the towns, the people. I am 56 and felt way to youthful to live in those towns. Seems like everyone is in there 80's. All blue hairs driving Buicks to the dialysis center. I liked Dunedin but it is pretty small in itself, but that whole area is essentially one big city, lots of pavement, traffic. I spent quite a bit of time on the west coast. Anna Maria island, longboat key, siesta key, Boca grande, sanibel island all offer the Florida beach feel most people think of. Those of us who can't afford to be in those exact spots must look elswhere. I spent some time in Placedia and Punta Gorda area which were as yet not completely ruined by overdevelopment however it has been years since I was there so they may be gone by now. There is little historic in Florida, Key west, st augustine, a little part of tampa. I live in Fernandina Beach which has a nice historic area. You should also look at this post which covers some of this same territory

//www.city-data.com/forum/flori...nity-feel.html

Similar comments from my other past posts

"I spent 2 winters down south poking around into various communities looking for what I wanted. I suspect the places I had on my list and visited may be on yours.

ocean springs MS
Fair Hope AL
Apalachicola FL
Clearwater/Dunedin FL
Anna Maria Island FL
Winter Park, FL
Mt. Dora FL
Deland FL
Stuart FL
Coco Beach FL
St Augustine, FL
Fernandina Beach FL

I also spent years traveling both coasts south of Tampa so I have been to sanibel, marco, naples, venice, boca, vero, jupitar, hobe sound the keys, etc. Each place has it's pros and cons. Some of the nicest places would have been financially out of reach for us. Another factor the weighted heavily in my decision... what is the traffic like? I am at a point in life I am simply unwilling to wait in traffic. Not healthy for me, or anyone riding with me. Much of south Florida has simply fallen into the overdeveloped concrete endless shopping mall syndrome. While your trying to get to some hideous Wal-Mart there is the added benefit of taking an hour to go 3 miles to get there. I just can't live with that... so many areas did not get a passing grade on that account."

[theurbanfiles]

Ybor City gives off a bit of a French Quarter vibe, but, on a smaller scale, and there really isn't residential around there with a good vibe that I know of. Fort Myers has a very pleasant downtown, as does St. Petersburg, but I'm not sure that either feels a lot like New Orleans. Pensacola is a bit similar to New Orleans, but on a much smaller scale.

[Griffis]

Many thanks again for the info and suggestions. Oh, and Happy New Year!

We have made it as far as the Clearwater/St. Pete area and it is so nice. We are staying in a little hotel in Clearwater just blocks from Dunedin.

The area is gorgeous, which I guess goes without saying. Beautiful neighborhoods including older ones with much charm and character, lovely parks, many things to do, great fresh seafood, and the beaches are incredible. Especially love Indian Rocks.

However, glad as we are to have had the opportunity to spend a few days here, we have decided it is just too big for us to want to live here full time. I certainly understand the appeal, and I believe we could make a go of it here and be happy, but the beaches are typically crowded, the further south you go the more congested it is, and even heading north out of the area back towards the panhandle there is miles and miles of sprawl and smaller towns running into each other, the traffic on 98 is fierce and we've seen a few really bad accidents along there.

I think our next course of action will be to go back to Panama City/PCB (where our stuff is in storage) and look for a place to rent. Alternately, prior to renting, we might look more closely at Ft. Walton Beach/Destin and Pensacola...take a few days to look around there.

Once we do find the right fit somewhere along that Pensacola-to-Apalachicola stretch of "The Forgotten Coast" to settle in somewhat, that will give us a sort of "home base" from which to strike out and explore this great state further.

We definitely want to see the more inland regions of Florida, but as we really want to be near enough to beaches to get on one on a daily basis (or nearly daily at least) we likely won't put roots down in, say, Tallahassee or other inland towns, though I hear the capital city is very nice and I am sure many towns and areas of the interior are nice.

We also very much want to see the Atlantic coast of the state (I particularly just HAVE to see St. Augustine and Fernandia) but I do suspect we are more inclined towards the west/gulf coast. In fact, I think I could happily live the rest of my life around the Gulf of Mexico.

Right now I am thinking Pensacola may be a good choice as it is a bit larger than Panama City, not too crowded or congested, and only 2.5 hours from New Orleans. But we'll see.

We are really enjoying this adventure. People have been very friendly and helpful, the weather and scenery are spectacular (I realize it gets far hotter and more humid in Spring and Summer, but we are used to that) and there's so much we've yet to see. Eventually we plan to hit Orlando, Miami, the Keys and the East coast, but we are so happy to be here. I understand traveling around is different from taking up full time residence, but I have a deep feeling that Florida will be home for us, at least for a few years.