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If you can't decide where to live then why not kill two birds with one stone? Check out the option of full timing in an RV. Full timing does not mean you are driving all the time. It just means you don't necessarily have a house to go "home" to. You can drive south in the winter, north in the summer and spend months at a time in one location. You can boondock(stay in places where you don't have to pay for the lot or hook up to electric service and run off generator) in remote locations or in many Walmart parking lots and other places while you are travelling.
You can purchase a used RV and save some of the depreciation costs, then, if and when you are ready to sell, you won't lose that much. When you find your ultimate location you might even decide to keep it for trips. You might even like the lifestyle so much that you will do it for many years, before you settle down.
The great thing about doing this, is that it puts you in contact with a lot of people you have one thing in common with, but also have other interests that might coincide with yours. It will allow you to get around to see where you might prefer to ultimately settle down. You can research the details if you are interested. There are many web sites devoted to the lifestyle. It really can be affordable no matter how high the gas prices get.
Yep! Glad to get the old man out of their hair for awhile! There's, a group of men where I live who meet for coffee, lies and laughs every morning at 7:00 in our community center. I think it goes on for an hour or hour and a half. The women swear the men gossip more than they do at the garden club meetings and the men say all they do is joke around and give each other a bad time. I've yet to join them but just might someday out of idle curiosity.
A local cafe changed hands recently and the new owner not just made drastic changes to the place (new menu, smaller portions, less choice, higher prices) but got rid of the cook and the waitresses as well. They also closed down the 6:00 a.m. early opening option during which men would meet for coffee, smoking and joking in the back prior to the 7:00 opening for the breakfast crowd. Predictably, the place does far less business than it used to and I think the former regulars miss the staff as much as the comfortable atmosphere that used to be there.
There really is a comfort level in finding a place "where everybody knows your name."
Yeah, you could go and contribute your own "lies" to the conversation. lol
One place I used to work opened at 6:00 but I got there at 5:30 and there were ALWAYS two cars parked out front. These two guys came in every morning and I always let them in, started the coffee and they sat at the counter to read the paper, talk and drink coffee. At first it irritated me that they'd come so early but I got used to it and they were nice guys. They were generally gone by the time we got really busy.
Too bad about the cafe where you live. Sometimes people don't know the value of keeping things familiar for the locals. I hope the employees found good jobs elsewhere.
Because "hanging out" is not for me, I hadn't really given the OP's questions much thought. However, if it's any help, the main center/clubhouse in our 55+ community (Sun City Anthem) offers a couple of options for those who like to do so. The first is the TV area. Whenever I go to the center, there's always a group there chewing the fat and watching a little TV together. They seem to have fun. The other gathering place is around the pool tables in the central gallery area of the clubhouse. There are always a couple of games going and a group of people hanging out watching and visiting with the players.
Just a thought for you Caladium if you're considering a 55+ community.
Thanks Robyn. It seems like IPAs are the big fad here--my husband likes them, gets his fill here in Dunedin but I'm sure he'd love to hear your husband's favorites.
As for the DUI's, that's why we live in downtown Dunedin! We walk to these places (although last night we were down in Clearwater and had to be very careful of consumption.)
Finally remembered to ask my husband. When it comes to somewhat local beers - his favorite is Sweetwater IPA (from Atlanta). He also likes Terrapin (from Athens GA) - and Bold City and Intuition Aleworks IPAs (both local to Jacksonville and probably harder to find outside JAX). I think his absolute favorite right now is Torpedo IPA (Sierra Nevada - which isn't local at all). Robyn
...You can boondock(stay in places where you don't have to pay for the lot or hook up to electric service and run off generator) in remote locations or in many Walmart parking lots and other places while you are travelling...
Just FWIW - we're seeing more and more signs in local shopping center parking lots - "NO OVERNIGHT PARKING". Don't know why (perhaps liability concerns?). But I wouldn't necessarily count on overnighting for free in shopping center parking lots in the future in at least some parts of the country. Robyn
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There's, a group of men where I live who meet for coffee, lies and laughs every morning at 7:00 in our community center. I think it goes on for an hour or hour and a half. The women swear the men gossip more than they do at the garden club meetings and the men say all they do is joke around and give each other a bad time. I've yet to join them but just might someday out of idle curiosity.
Places to hang out
