I understand your wife's feelings. We have three great kids (if 28, 30, 32 can be called 'kids') and my wife had the same reservations about 'leaving them'. One has since moved from the DC area to Raleigh-Durham and one most likely is going to relocate (can't say where because he's going to work for NSA and they're like the military, they send you where they need you). So, my wife realized that moving to TV wouldn't necessarily reduce her time with the 'kids'. That and we figure our place will be a 'grand kid' magnet.
We bought a home in Pennecamp last March and have been using it as a 'vacation' spot for the last year. We had all our kids and their respective spouses/fiances visit for a week at New Years. They love the place and were very happy that we wanted to move there. They plan to visit often, plus, we'll be able to travel to visit them as often as we want as well.
My wife is happy and looking forward to the move (this November when I retire) as much as I am.
Of course our decision was helped by the fact that we live in the DC area and simply cannot afford to live in the area after we are both retired.