In Celebration, Florida – not far from where we stay in Margaritaville resort – there is a great looking Italian restaurant. We have never eaten there. For me, Italian food is perfect for cold weather, not the Florida sunshine. I can think of a number of good comfort, food restaurants like that in Florida. Never been to any of them. For me, the four food … Continue reading Florida Four Food Groups
Our friends and us sometimes debate the “vibe” of snowbirding in Florida versus Arizona. I would guess that about 2/3rds of our friends opt for Florida and 1/3 opt for Arizona. We were undecided until a few years ago when my wife noted that although we’ve been to both many times, when we’ve chosen Florida over Arizona at about a 3:1 ratio for vacations over … Continue reading Sunshine State Snowbirding Vibe
Mr Plow came and scraped out our driveway this morning. It was just as I got back from walking our dog. I only knew because I received an alert on my phone that there was “motion detected” on our driveway. I watched him on my phone as he cleared everything … from 1,561 miles away in sunny Florida. I saw my neighbor (Hi, Mark!) in … Continue reading Mr Plow & January Snow
I have been eligible to live in a 55+ community for almost 2 years now. Still, our visit to Latitude Margaritaville in Daytona Beach last week, was the first time that we have ever visited one. It is quite a development. Pitched as a “55-and-better community inspired by the legendary music and lifestyle of Jimmy Buffett, built on food, fun, music and escapism.” it has … Continue reading Latitude Margaritaville, Daytona Beach
We’ve been in Florida for a little more than a week so far, and so far so good. This is the 4th year we have had an extended snowbird trip and we are getting good at it. In particular, the packing went well. It’s amazing that we can live here for 2.5 months on just what you see on the luggage cart in the photo. … Continue reading Packed Tight for Snowbirding
We’re back in Florida for our fourth year snowbirding from cold Minnesota. We toured models at the giant Latitudes Margaritaville/ Daytona Beach development yesterday. A weird thing happened when they asked us where we were from. Being from Minnesota, we had to sign an “Out-Of-State Non-Solicitation Affidavit” to acknowledge that we arrived “voluntarily”. What? Yes, apparently it is against Minnesota law for a Florida developer … Continue reading Wait, Sign What?
We’re back in Florida this winter, snowbirding from the Minnesota cold. One bucket-list item I got to do today was drive down the sands of Daytona Beach in a bright red Jeep with the roof panels taken off. That was fun! Recently, I’ve been reading about people’s disappointments with some of their bucket list experiences. It started with THIS POST on EarlyRetirement.org, where people shared … Continue reading Bucket List or Garbage Can?
Everywhere you go in Florida, everyone is talking about real estate. It’s really engaging, even when you are just trying to enjoy your vacation. Yesterday we made a few stops on the Parade of Homes near red-hot Sarasota. Even the so-called custom builders are too busy to customize anything right now. They are just building spec homes and then auctioning them off to buyers in … Continue reading Scarce Inventory Boosts Real Estate
We met some fellow Minnesotans down here in Florida yesterday. Unlike us, they jumped into investing in a Florida vacation cottage a couple years ago when they first got the urge. They snapped one up when the Margaritaville Orlando resort was relatively new and said they have already seen a couple hundred thousand dollars of appreciation. The colorful cottages are bright, nicely designed, and well-furnished. … Continue reading Investing in Vacationland Paradise
Our Florida ‘Winter Summerland’ escape took a strange twist this weekend. I was at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona auto race and saw a random text from someone named ‘Andy’. I looked at it and realized it had something to do with our February month-long AirBNB rental outside of Orlando. Andy was the AirBNB ‘host’ and he said our reservation was immediately CANCELLED “due … Continue reading Homeless in Florida?
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