We get to Florida every year or so to visit Carol's folks. They live in Naples, on Florida's southwest coast, just up from the western perimeter of Everglades National Park.
In the last decade, Naples has grown explosively, making it proportionally less inviting to us. However, there are some islands of nature in south Florida, and we try to visit these places whenever we can. They include:
Personally, I prefer the east coast of Florida, particularly the stretch between Jupiter Island and the Kennedy Space Center. Urban growth from Miami has not yet reached this area, and you can still find beaches with not another person in sight from north to south (but I'm not going to tell you where!).
We honeymooned in and around Port Salerno, a fishing port on the Indian River, just in from the St. Lucie Inlet. While there, we canoed in the Indian River and intercoastal waterway, on the Loxahatchee River outside Indiantown and Dickenson State Park, and watched sea turtles nest (again, I'm not going to tell you where).
Some years later I had an assignment that took me to Satellite Beach / Indialantic (near Melbourne) for four months in winter/spring. I had three days to find and move into temporary lodgings, so I had little alternative but to find a furnished oceanfront condo :-) My hosts were very gracious and provided access to spots in Port Canaveral where we were able to observe Shuttle launches at close hand. Carol got to come down frequently, and took advantage of the opportunity to go to Canaveral National Seashore as often as she could.
One of our long-time friends has just retired to Cocoa Beach after her 20 years in the uniformed services, and we now have yet another excuse to visit the area.
We've been visiting Disney World on occasion over the past 20 years, but our most recent visit (over New Years, 2002) was somewhat less satisfactory than previous ones. We're still trying to put our finger on exactly why. I could give you some examples, but still can't articulate it very well. On the whole, we prefer Cedar Point!
Last Updated February 17, 2007