I vacationed in Florida at Disney World and surrounding attractions and enjoyed it for the 2 weeks we were there. Also spent a week at Treasure Island outside of Tampa. Treasure Island's elevation is 1 foot above sea level, so do the math. I long for Florida in the winter but the summers are too much.
My parents lived on the gulf coast and we visited a few times. One winter we were on the beach in full winter regalia. It was COLD that year and I think we were the only people on the beach, or even outside. Floridians were not prepared. We never wanted to live their full time. Hubby complains it is too cold here in the winter and that it is too hot in the summer like most old curmudgeons. But I like it right here in Wisconsin. We have two snow blowers and I bought Dave snow cleats for his boots. I have winter canes...
Yep, it can be very unbelievable how many seniors live in areas/states that have real winters and they like it. Then again, there are seniors in Florida that handle the heat/humidity/hurricanes or whatever faces them living there. There are seniors that live in Phoenix, Henderson and Las Vegas and the high heat, very little rain and no snow are very pleasing to them. Then again, there are seniors that live in an area because their kids/grandkids do.
I was stationed for a time in Pensacola and loved it there. The high point of living in south Georgia was the nearby Gulf beaches in Florida. I have also spent time in and near Dunedin, Florida where DeSantis grew up and enjoyed the culture (and the beer) there. I met a guy who was a beer judge and had a school for judging beer quality. He was also a judge of Scotch whisky and cigars. He was a handy guy to know and he introduced me to Irish Cuban cigars, something I didn't even know existed. When we lived in North Carolina there were a lot of folks from places like New York who had moved to Florida, found they couldn't deal with the summers, and moved to the mountains of North Carolina for respite. Unfortunately, they tended to cut the tops off the mountains and deforest the mountainsides to get a better view. Their actions probably made the flash floods during Helene much worse.