[Layaway Queen]

Hello everyone,

Well we heading down again for the month of May to the villages and I can't wait. It has been a long and very very cold and snowy winter here in Canada. Last year when we were there we rented a car and drove to St. Augustine for a weekend and loved it. Year before it was Mt. Dora. Was just wondering if anyone could suggest where they would like to go for a weekend? You guys are always so helpful. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Layaway Queen

[buggyone]

I would recommend St. Pete Beach. It is about 2 hours from The Villages. Very wide and beautiful beach. Stay at the Residence Inn right on the beach. There is a great bar right on the beach called The Undertow. Have a great time!

[dzine]

You might enjoy taking a trip west to the Sarasota/Lido Key/Siesta Key area. It's a bit over 2 hours and the most beautiful sugar sand beaches on the gulf. Sarasota is upscale with a nice shopping area called St. Armand's Circle. Marina with restaurants. Lots of good rdining and a couple of funky fresh seafood spots on the water. Hotels along Lido Key and a nice nature preserve at the end where loads of birds collect. Shaded area with picnic tables on the gulf. There is even a Trader Joe's in south Sarasota.

[SantaClaus]

I'd hit Disney, Epcot mostly. Flower and Garden festival will be going on then. You could do it as a day trip but rooms on-property are so cheap you might as well take your time. Staying on-property gives you free parking, which is pricey. We'd spend a full day at Epcot and the second touring the nicer resorts. There is a lot more at WDW than the Magic Kingdom, and lots of great things for adults.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Layaway Queen

Hello everyone,

Well we heading down again for the month of May to the villages and I can't wait. It has been a long and very very cold and snowy winter here in Canada. Last year when we were there we rented a car and drove to St. Augustine for a weekend and loved it. Year before it was Mt. Dora. Was just wondering if anyone could suggest where they would like to go for a weekend? You guys are always so helpful. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Layaway Queen

Captiva Island has a great resort (located at the tip).....name escapes me at the moment.

Gulf of Mexico's beautiful azure blue waters and white sand beaches are peaceful and relaxing.....

When we'd vacation on Sanibel Island (accessed via the causeway from Fort Myers area), we'd always drive from Sanibel to Captiva (which will remind you of the old Florida landscape) just to eat in the Bubble Room, a very quirky Florida cousine eatery.

Captiva is connected to Sanibel by a teeny tiny bridge you don't even realize you are crossing.......it all seems to be one (or at least to me it did) but the flora changes to very "natural" on Captiva.

Like not groomed or landscaped. Just like the old Florida.

At least that's how it used to be...... last time I saw it. We drove on a very narrow pokey type of road with the foliage right up to the edges.......not a highway type environment....like a slow going country lane.....or road. Hopefully, it is still that way and not developed.


Captiva also has homes for rent. Sanibel has great condos directly on the beach for rent. Sanibel Island's beach is known for the seashells.

We always went during third week of April; weather was perfect.
If you want a lot of nightlife and excitement, don't go there.

Sanibel has the Ding Darling Nature Preserve which you can canoe down.......alligators, etc., snakes, etc. and so on and so forth.

Have fun wherever you roam.....so much to see in Florida.

I wouldn't recommend Mount Dora as far as overnighting or a long extended stay. It was not what we had expected at all and couldn't understand what all the hype was about.

Sebastian Inlet State Park has the sea turtle walk coming up.
That's on the Atlantic Ocean side (directly north of Vero Beach, a pretty seaside community on the Atlantic Ocean.)

Sebastian Inlet State Park is south of the barrier island seaside towns of mainland Melbourne Florida which has the Brevard Zoo and the Botanical Gardens which are part of Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne..........to the north, on the beach side (barrier islands) of Melbourne........is Cape Kennedy Space Center which has tours.

We send our astronauts up from Russia now, but years ago they were launched into space from Cape Kennedy......which still does send up "care packages" to the international space station about once a month I believe, so you can still see the rockets go up, if your timing is right.

The beaches of Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic by the Sea Beach, Melbourne Beach are still a "best kept secret" as far as not being crowded like more touristy areas.....condos for rent in all four "seaside residential towns" accessed by three causeways from mainland Melbourne, Florida.

Each town has a cute boardwalk type park access to the beaches and free parking. Each town has nice restaurants, including Indian cousine, etc., etc. Across the Intracoastal waterway, on the mainland are some good seafood overlooking the river / intracoastal which leads out to sea via the inlet at Sebastian.

The river itself is a boat lover's dream come true with jet ski rentals, boat and captain rentals, paddle boats (you stand on a surfboard type thingie and maneuver down the river with long poles........)..........entire area is known for its fishing. Deep sea charter boats go out above Patrick Air Force Base on the beach side........out of Port Canaveral. So do cruise ships, including the Disney Cruise Ships if you have grandchildren plus many others.

Oh, and Vero Beach has the Disney Beach Resort with great activities for the little ones. That entire "space coast" down to Vero Beach has an awful lot going for it.........and not as crowded as the gulf coast of Florida.

[cquick]

Originally Posted by buggyone

I would recommend St. Pete Beach. It is about 2 hours from The Villages. Very wide and beautiful beach. Stay at the Residence Inn right on the beach. There is a great bar right on the beach called The Undertow. Have a great time!

I agree with that suggestion! Daytona Beach is nice too, but I prefer the Gulf side, myself. I have been wanting to go to Siesta Key in Sarasota all winter, I think we might make it there the first or second week of April, finally!

[janmcn]

Originally Posted by buggyone

I would recommend St. Pete Beach. It is about 2 hours from The Villages. Very wide and beautiful beach. Stay at the Residence Inn right on the beach. There is a great bar right on the beach called The Undertow. Have a great time!

I agree with buggyone about St Pete Beach, plus there are no lovebugs along the beach area. If Trader Joe's is your thing, a new one just opened in Tampa last week.

[Madelaine Amee]

I would go a little further away - take a one hour Southwest flight to Key West and have a crazy weekend. Love Key West.

[Golfingnut]

I would recommend The Villages.

[DonH57]

For a weekend I would say St. Augustine or Key West. It would have to be at least a 3 day weekend!

[buzzy]

Ana Maria Island, on Gulf coast just above Sarasota.

[chuckinca]

Cedar Key about 1 1/2 hour drive northwest.

(Ana Maria Island is very nice too)

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