The Quieter Side Of Florida

December to April and depending upon which direction you travel, the highways to and from Florida are packed with cars, trailers, and RVs. License plates are usually displaying a state or a certain country to the north of the US. Coming and going, the migration of the snowbirds is tremendous.

Our favorite spot is Key Largo, mainly because we've established a lot of friendships with other snowbirds and, not insignificant to us, our grandkids are just north of there. Once you are established with a condo owner and keep renewing your stay each year, you don't want to lose your place. If you don't or can't renew and you want to return, it is difficult to find rental places that are not already booked.

I ran across an article that may come in handy in a couple of years when we take our world cruise and lose our condo place when we don't renew that year. Some of the paces they mention (Underrated Places to Visit in Florida) sound intriguing and may be an alternative if we can't return to Key Largo.

There are a few places in the panhandle area like South Walton and Amelia Island which may be a little chilly in the winter months. Of course there still won't be snow.

Manasota Key halfway between Fort Meyers and Sarasota looks intriguing. It is a bit off the coast but looks beautiful. It invites those who love to hunt for sea shells and apparently is a favorite sea turtle nesting spot. Population is only about 1200 and it is said to be low key and laid back. Maybe a little too much for a three month stay?

Dunedin on the Gulf Coast may be a good spot. It is about 30 minutes from Tampa/St Petersburg and has proximity to two offshore islands that look like they invite exploring.

I guess that the best of all worlds though would be to return from our World Cruise and know that the next winter our little condo would be available to us again. We'd miss all our friends and definitely our Pickleball group if we located somewhere else.