Why does this happen? (Fort Myers, Lee: sales, employment, high school)

[kroeran]

Up in Canada most people carry around a mental image of Florida that is a cross between Disneyland, South Beach, and whatever experiences they may have had visiting as a child. Most grow up flying over Florida going to Dominican Republic or Mexico for more reliable beach weather in January February and low cost.

I learned about Florida as an adult visiting my parents who were at Maple Leaf Estates Port Charlotte in the 80s, and the wife and I gravitated back to Florida in middle age after getting bored with the islands, not to mention the expense, the poverty, the feral dogs, the safety issues.

We never did make it to Mexico or Central America, as I was never able to make the business case that we could get out with our health or hides should something go wrong, given the lack of institutional infrastructure, let alone the risk of being victimized by the institutional infrastructure.

All this to say we don't know anyone up here of our generation who knows anything about Florida or has ever been down there. Everyone is very keen on living in San Miguel (Mexico) and getting their throats cut, which is what more or less happened to a local dentist's wife last week.

[hiknapster]

I would take Florida over Mexico and many other tropical locales like, say, Jamaica. I don't find it restful to have people coming up to me on the beach offering to braid my hair, cutting me a deal on drugs, or other assorted unwanted solicitations. I don't understand the appeal.

There are decent places, though, like Bermuda. Beautiful and refined. You can go anywhere on the island and be safe.

Aruba and Barbados come to mind, as well. Perhaps the Seychelles where William and Katherine honeymooned?

Granted, there are very upscale resorts in some of these places, like Jamaica, but I like to explore, not be locked behind a gate somewhere. I want to know about the culture but not worry that the culture is going run off with my purse.

Having said that, I'd like to visit Cuba. Must be the subversive in me.

[kroeran]

Barbados is nice, almost enough to do, but forget about shopping or picking up an inexpensive appliance or electronics at Walmart if you were trying to live there...unless something has changed since we were last there

If I won the lottery and had serious like fly your own jet money, I would go with Naples for the fun, sun as well as FBI being a phone call away and American "infrastructure" behind everything

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Having said that, I'd like to visit Cuba. Must be the subversive in me.

I agree all these exotic places are for visiting, but not settling in for months at a time, except for certain types who are used to living overseas and enjoy the adventure of this lifestyle

We spent a couple of weeks once on a drop dead georgeous beach in Antigua, no AC and no TV, and we have not been back to that sort of thing since...a fellow I know who worked cruiseships called this getting beached out.

I would rather have the fantasy at Bahama Breeze and not wait an hour to get the menu, which is island service.

[hiknapster]

Jet money=Bermuda, for me. It's British! But it's tough to get a place there, that's for sure. They don't let just anyone in.

[justNancy]

When I was in Mexico in the 80s, the exchange rate was around 850 to 1. Even in 2001, when I was in Costa Rica, people were happy to get their hands on the U.S. dollar. Not any more. So these places are no longer the great bargains they were when our dollar was stronger.

Never been to Barbados, but I've been to Aruba 3 times. It's always very hot & humid and it rarely rains since it's a desert. I obviously thought it was a nice spot to visit or I wouldn't have taken vacation 2 and 3, but I wouldn't want to live there.

I haven't been to Hawaii since 1988, but Hanalei Bay, Kauai is still the prettiest place I've ever been. I hope it's still beautiful and hasn't been overdeveloped. Way, way out of my price range. When I win Powerball......

Never been to Bermuda, but I understand it's lovely. I worked with someone who stayed in a B&B every year for a few days. I was in Tortolla in the British Virgin Islands once. Pretty, but not a place I'd want to live. If I wanted to live full time on a lush Caribbean island, it's probably a lot easier to just move to a place like St. John, since it's part of the United States.

[kroeran]

What has kept us from Bermuda are the chilly winter temps, Carolinas latitude type weather, and ban on car rental for tourists. We absolutely need a couple of hours a day of driving around exploring time for this sort of vacation, and Barbados is best for this. We even find Bahamas to be too far north for reliable pool weather in winter....well, Florida latitude pattern. If you have only a couple of weeks, you don't want to be sitting by the pool or walking the beach in a jacket...you really have to be south of Dominican R for short escapes. I did spend a day in St. Thomas...very built up, very safe, very expensive, limited beaches....still, quiet island life.

DR, Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda are affordable shoulder season destinations, with great pool weather ie. March-November.

For living or snow birding, especially if investing in property, we voted for SWF with our checkbooks. It's as far south as you can go with car access, without getting into the nonsense of the keys...add a zero to buy anything, and very limited shopping and services. Another great area for visiting.

Hawaii is expensive and isolated, unless your ties are west coast. My relatives who have been to the islands and Hawaii say Hawaii is nicer. In Florida we have inexpensive connections to the northeast, Canada as well as Europe, not to mention relatives who drive down. we would get few visitors in Hawaii.

[hiknapster]

Bermuda's January average low= 61
Fort Myers' January average low= 54.5

Bermuda's weather is nothing like the Carolina's. That a huge misconception. It sits in the middle of The Gulf Stream and is quite warm. It doesn't get a lot of tourists in winter because of that fallacy which makes it a banging deal.

But shhhh.

SwFlorida=checkbook. True.

And it just isn't easy to buy a place in Bermuda. You need oodles of money. Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates money. They all have homes there.

St. John is an EXCELLENT idea.

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Bermuda's January average low= 61
Fort Myers' January average low= 54.5

Bermuda's weather is nothing like the Carolina's. That a huge misconception. It sits in the middle of The Gulf Stream and is quite warm. It doesn't get a lot of tourists in winter because of that fallacy which makes it a banging deal.

But shhhh.

SwFlorida=checkbook. True.

And it just isn't easy to buy a place in Bermuda. You need oodles of money. Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates money. They all have homes there.

St. John is an EXCELLENT idea.

sure, I don't disagree, thats a helpful clarification, ....I just put Bermuda in the same basket as anything north of Antigua, which is unreliable for a short vacation Dec-Feb, keeping in mind living and snowbirding or even second homing with flexible travel dates is a completely different paradigm, short bursts of cold are not nearly as important...and then add unaffordability to the mix, and Bermuda is just not worth the bother for a middle class type person such as myself.

I could see if money was no object and you were famous as well, I would feel safer on Bermuda and more insulated from riff raff, such as myself ; - )

I would also be willing to bet that each of those list have a home with pool worthy weather in February somewhere on the planet.

Apart from my whining about SWF short stays in winter, I think SWF in November or March is fantastic, very affordable, and infinitely more to do with your time if you are a stimulation junkie, compared to the islands or central america.

[justNancy]

Are you sure this is the Fort Myers/Cape Coral forum?

RE: Bermuda - I was trying to keep my last post brief, so I skipped how I ended up in Tortola. I was bumped off a flight in Oct 1992, and AA gave me a voucher to fly to most U.S. destinations, including Puerto Rico. It was also good for Bermuda. So in 1993, I began calling Bermuda hotels and inns, but even back then, the rates were high after April. When I called, I was told that the weather was pleasant off-season (50s, 60s) so for golfing and other outdoor activities it's perfect, but the water temperature would be cool until May or June.

So instead of going to Bermuda, I took a small plane to St Thomas after a night in Puerto Rico, and then took a ferry to Tortola. When I complain about the mosquitoes in SWFL, I should remember what it was like on Tortola in May. Many of the restaurants were outside, no screens. The beaches were lovely however. The roads were narrow and steep and I had to drive on the opposite side of the road. One hill was so steep I thought my rental car was going to tip over when I swerved to miss a cow. I met some people who sailed all the way from Canada and sent postcards saying, "A man invited me to sail on his boat tomorrow. I'm so excited. He said I could be the fluff." I thought it was a term used in sailing.