Place to live

If you're going West Coast then live in the Belmont Shore part of Long Beach or actually on Ocean Boulevard.

 

If I had to do that, I'd move to somewhere in between the Tidewater and the Outer Banks where my mom's relatives still live. Parts of that area are pretty Dismal, though, from what I understand.

 

I had a girlfriend years ago who came from Fernandina Beach, and that beach town had just the kind of lazy vibe I wanted. I just wasn't 70 years old yet.

 

Can't even say Jacksonville Beach was ... a trip to the beach. Then again, athletics put the band in a dump of a motel on the shore, which helped. Another help was the opposing school's band was a few floors up in the same hotel. And their drinkers put on a clinic on how to imbibe. It was amusing to watch.

 

As a Californian, seeing the Florida Panhandle’s white beaches and the Gulf of Mexico while going from Ala to Panama City was gorgeous. That water was so nice.

 

I love San Diego but it's just too expensive. Pensacola is the way to go. Great beaches and still somewhat affordable.

 

Naval Aviation Museum there too.

 

They don't call it the Redneck Riviera for nothing.

 

I lived in Jacksonville's Riverside neighborhood for more than a year, and we'd take our infant on walks along the St. Johns River and to the Publix in the Five Points area. We'd also walk to the Bold City brewery and to the 13 Gypsies restaurant from our bugalow.

Then GF, now wife, worked at the T-U as a reporter.

It is very true that the farther north you go in Florida, the further South you are.