Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Our first winter in Florida… a review…

Great Blue Heron

2012-02-01 Seminole Campground area 002Today is our last day in North Fort Myers, Florida here in Seminole Campground. We have had a great time during our stay here in South Florida. Our first stay was for a week at Siesta Bay RV Resort in Fort Meyers, then a month stay at Bonita Lakes RV Resort in Bonita Springs, then we had a couple of stays down at Key West, and finally we stayed a month at Seminole Campground.

We first entered the state of Florida back at the first of November 2011 when we Key West and Shark Valley 022went to visit the Mayo Clinic for our annual physicals. We have been in this state for nearly four months, by far the most time spent in any one state so far. So what did we think about our first winter in our RV in South Florida?

We have really enjoyed our time in Florida and it has been a blast to be able to practically circumnavigate the coastline of Florida. The birds and wildlife in Florida are abundant and the Everglades are made for the naturalist photographer. Some highlights to us in Florida in no particular order are:

  1. Untitled-3 copyShark Valley in the Everglades National Park
  2. Bicycling to Bunche Beach from Siesta Bay RV Resort
  3. Watching the sunset at Captiva Island
  4. The drive through Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
  5. The beaches at Bonita Springs
  6. The farmers markets in Florida
  7. Buffalo Chips and Hog Body’s Bar and Grills
  8. Listening to the Blues at the Buckingham Bar and Grill
  9. All the nice walks we had in the various Lee County Parks
  10. All the nice people we met while staying at the various parks
  11. The efficiency and professionalism of the Mayo Clinic
  12. Everything in and around Key West

2012-01-29 Lee County Parks 0072012-01-09 Keys Bike Ride 001Will will spend winter in south Florida again? Probably yes, but next year we plan to winter in the southwest at a site to be determined later. Technically tomorrow we begin our slow journey out west to see the other side of the USA… Our next stop will be at Lake Manatee State Park near Bradenton, Florida.

11 comments:

  1. Florida is definitely a great place to winter. I'll be interested in seeing how the southwest compares. We've spent a LOT of winters in Florida, but never one in the west.

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  2. The review is really nice! I don't imagine there will be any way to compare Florida and the Southwest. As a lover of both these places, for me it would be like saying, "which do you like best, kayaking or eating". I am sure you will find the best of both worlds.

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  3. We have never spent a winter in Florida, even thou it is closer to our home area. There is just something about southern Arizona that keeps bringing us back six years in a row. Thanks for giving us a winter in Florida with you.

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  4. We have enjoyed your time in south Florida too. Safe travels. ~wheresweaver

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  5. I hope your next destination is as enjoyable! Thanks for sharing all those excellent wildlife photos and adventures.

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  6. I love your lists. I'm going to copy this one too so that as soon as we get the freedom to go where we want to go, we can check out all your places and ideas. Many thanks!! We'll be following along with you as you move up and out of Florida.

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  7. Come on out! The (lack of) water is fine! Really, there is a lot of water out here, we just haven't been around much of it lately.

    Roxanne
    The Good Luck Duck

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  8. We did Florida once in the motorhome and found that it's just not for us. Although we enjoyed ourselves, we like to boondock and camp on the cheap and found that Florida doesn't make it easy to do those things. It's simply too busy for our liking. We did find some inexpensive county parks and state forests inland, and enjoyed those. But if you wanted to see the beach, you had to pay the money. Also, the climate is not consistent enough for us.

    But, that's just us...we know that you enjoyed yourself, and we enjoyed reading about you enjoying yourself!

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  9. From your post it certainly seemed like you were enjoying winter in Florida; good to have confirmation of that.

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  10. Loved following your Florida travels. We want to do Florida eventually and yougave us lots of places to see and things to do when we are there.

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