After my Shakespeare and photography centered trip to Colorado, I flew to Florida to spend a couple of weeks during the hot time of the year to see if it is a place I might like to move to in the future. While I was working I visited the University of Florida, which is located in the inland middle of the state, one or two times each year, but it was during the more mild months in the Spring and Fall. After watching a number of videos on the pros and cons of Florida, I realized the heat and humidity is a major con to some people, so I decided to evaluate myself.
I guess I wasn’t as thorough in evaluating the areas as I could have been and took a more relaxed approach, just trying to get a feel of various areas. In terms of weather, I think I experienced the typical summer weather. It did get hot (low 90’s) and was humid, but not at all unbearable. We had the traditional afternoon thundershowers each day. I got caught in one gully-washer coming back from a restaurant at the beach in Vienna which soaked me to the bone by the time I could run out to my car. So excluding a hurricane, I think I have a pretty good feel for the summer weather.
Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota
I flew into the Tampa airport, planning to explore this area of the state first. After communicating with my cousin Stan, who owns a place in Sarasota and recommended there over the more urban Tampa, I based my stay in this area in Sarasota. I got a very nice Airbnb, which although relatively inexpensive, was a comfortable, relaxing separate place on a beautiful 5-acre home east of the main city. I visited the Main Street area near the bayfront (which is a somewhat touristy restaurant/bar type area) walking around and having a nice dinner. Most of the housing there was in high-rise apartments that overlook the bay. I assume they would be quite expensive. I drove down to Vienna to the beach where I got drenched. I also visited the highlighted Siesta Key Beach, which was nice. I took a wade into the water and was stunned to find how warm it was, with a water temperature of 89 °F (32 °C). It was like bath water. If I hadn’t been carrying my stuff I would have happily swum around for a while. The sand there is white and unique. I must say, while pretty, this “best beach in America” is kind of boring compared with the more dramatic ocean on the Pacific coast.
I took one day and drove up north, into St. Petersburg and up through Clearwater to Dunedin. The overall area is somewhat reminiscent of the San Francisco Bay Area. There were some beautiful bridges to cross to get around. I must say that in all the areas I wasn’t really struck by the local housing, that is until I saw some of the homes in my northernmost drive into Dunedin, but I’m sure they were million-dollar places. To be fair, in my driving around I didn’t really go off of the main streets into the neighborhoods much. There appear to be lots of heavily trafficked roads everywhere, but I think I got a bit of a feel of the areas.
Ft. Myers
After a few days, I headed further down south on the east coast of Florida. On my way down I stopped by Casperson in Venice and afterward grabbed some lunch at a place by the sea. The day seemed hotter, or at least more opressive, than previously. Based on my friend Kate’s suggestion I based my second stay in Fort Myers and checked it out as well as Coral Gables. They had very nice neighborhoods with not too expensive houses. I also drove down and checked out the more expensive Naples. My brief data points suggest it’s an older, wealthier population. My host told me Fort Myers is known for lightning, and that seemed to be true as we got some pretty good thundershowers each afternoon.
Port St. Lucie
A former colleague of mine lives in Stuart Florida, so I decided to check out this area north of the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area. I drove around a bit and experienced some more aggressive driving, and an area with lots of bridges between the areas permeated by waterways. I had a nice lunch at a restaurant along the ocean. It was a nice visit and a chance to get some local insights, and also gave me a chance to check out an Atlantic coast beach. The traffic where I was seemed pretty heavy even though this isn’t the main “season”. After a couple of days in this area, I headed further north on the Atlantic coast.
Kennedy Space Center and the Return
After my information-gathering tour, I decided to do one thing specifically for fun before I left Florida. I visited the Kennedy Space Center. I visited here twice before, once decades ago, and once about 5 years ago before I retired. I got there early as they opened, and on a Sunday after school had started, it wasn’t too crowded. They again opened with the Star Spangled Banner, which was kind of moving. I made my way directly to the bus trip to the Saturn V center. It was still extremely impressive to see, along with the audio-video presentations that preceded it. I spent six or seven hours here. I made one tactical error and ended up spending an hour standing in line to see some future 4D type ride that only lasted about 10 minutes. I guess it gave me the experience that people have in Disneyland, which is why I’m glad I didn’t go there.
The next day (my last full day) I headed back toward Tampa. Unlike the drive east, from Fort Myers to Port St. Lucie (which was totally rural), the drive back west quickly became urban, hitting the outskirts of Orlando relatively soon. I stopped in to Lakeland for some lunch, and went by the Florida Air Museum, which was kind of interesting. Lakeland looked like a nice town. Finally, I drove into downtown Tampa, where I hit traffic well before rush hour, and spent my last short night before flying home.
My Florida visit wasn’t as detailed as it could have been, but I feel I got a good cursory feel for the areas I visited, and I got to catch up with an old colleague and see the space center to boot. I’m glad I made the trip and feel I got some useful information relevant to possible moves in the future.