Sanibel was our top choice years aho but we discarded it after being there with Red Tide and environmentalists who let the dead fish killed by Red Tide rot on the beach, "natures way" Sickening.

After the kids outgrew 15 or more years of Disney, we'd take April school vacation on Sanibel Island each year, renting a condo on the beach.
I believe it was the "High Tide".........it was new at the time.

Never experienced the red tide on Sanibel or Captiva.

It wasn't until we bought in Venice, beachfront..........actually, it was the year before we bought, but just thought hubby had a "cold". He thought he got something from the lady realtor's car. I thought perhaps from the airplane flight....stale air, etc.

We visited quite a few times and Venice was a nicely laid out, planned community, called a "Main Street" Florida community and that's what we wanted as that's what we were used to in Vermont........it was pretty.
It was a totally self contained town.

We sold our home, flew down, during high season in December.....bouncing around from rental condo to rental condo while waiting for the one we bought to be remodeled..........it came out great.

All along, hubby was having these really bad symptoms...........he was strangling......we still didn't know what it was.........we didn't leave because of the red tide, but another issue............and to get my mom who was in early stage alzheimers back to her support system, and ours, in Vermont..............but then I began to do research and back then it was kind of a "hidden secret" about the red tide............now they have to post it I notice..............but we never saw any dead fish. Just felt like black pepper in our throats all the time...........coughing, irritation, almost pnuemonia like symptoms with the "braided phlegm" he had......not to gross anyone out...............but we returned to pure clean COLD air; got off the plane in April ; it was 36 degrees at Albany, N.Y. airport and all three of us said..........."Ah, we can breathe."

That was almost twenty years ago and now we are craving the sunshine again........for the old bones........and I know The Villages does not have the red tide.

But, what an experience that was. As I've mentioned, our realtor always wore a white surgical mask. We must have been very trusting back then. He never divulged the red tide.

Venice had some nice smaller beaches also, besides the newly refurbished beach that we were on, Venice Beach. It also had jetties where the skidoos would go out/jetskis, boating..........the other beach was secluded; Casperson Beach and Nokomis , next town, also had a nice deserted beach.

Again, not everything is what it seems........even on three or four visits.

I won't mention the reason we left as when I first was researching TV, some didn't like the topic ; but I figured we don't want to make the same mistake again. But, TV doesn't have OLD CITY sewers, right? Or canals, or big pipes that let the water out onto a beach, right?

Back in the early 1980's I attended a continuing education course at a resort hotel on Longboat Key. Whenever I left the hotel and went out on the beach I started to get a strange tickling in my throat, develop some nasal congestion and cough some. The nearer I got to the water the worse my cough and congestion became. Very near the water is was almost impossible for me to breath, much less inhale a really deep breath. Welcome to the Red Tide. After I returned home I did develop pneumonia which as I look back probably got its start with the Red Tide.

The traffic on Longboat Key was very bad, it being March or April. I did spend some time in Sarasota, visiting the Ringling House and grounds, as well as some of the very hard sell timeshares just starting up. I recall one was a converted motel for which I calculated that for the cost of a a week or two's "ownership" one could probably build the place.

There's no question that Sarasota is beautiful. It's our favorite beach vacation destination. But most people here in TV cannot afford to live there and enjoy golf and tennis and all the other recreation we have here. Or, we just don't want to spend that much to do the simple things in life, like go for a ride on the golf cart with our dog.

Definitely sounds like you were affected by the RED TIDE.
It's really a terrible feeling and does put a damper on your visit to an otherwise very nice area....

Thanks for sharing.......

Well, of course she wouldn't like TV! She needs to go somewhere that there are things she likes to do. There are plenty of options,really.

If she is the artistic type, she'd love the seascapes she could paint while living in a beachfront condo or home near the coasts of Florida........

If they are into boating, ditto.........the coasts would be ideal.

Believe me, not everyone is into golf........but that said, one could live very happily in The Villages and never play golf at all (or dance in the squares for that matter)........TV has a lot else going for it.

Florida is a very huge state with plenty of options for all interests.

Exercising on the beach, going for long walks in the evening......or early morning........are just one of the things that draw people to Florida's coasts............but then again, condo living is also not for everyone....but it sure is nice to just come down and be right on the sand..........Vero Beach is very nice and does not have red tide.

Can't be any clearer than this!
 

I could not agree more! While some posts factually report what their visitors have said about their views of TV (which--positive OR negative--is certainly okay), I will never understand what seems to be insecurity and/or defensiveness on the part of others.

And at the risk of sounding unaware, what is a "B"?

We have had friends that are not thrilled with TV
 

and love their quiet country club lifestyle, and I respect their opinion but TV "fits me to a Tee"....Before we made the move to TV (took us three trips and we were sold) I would mention TV and they would say "You want to move down to Florida with all the bugs and heat", can't argue with that BUT what they don't know is this wonderful "Village family" that I've grown to love more each day...

Stands for BEAST.

And some of us B's are defensive because this is our home town that we love. This is where are hearts live and our friends. Some of us were just as defensive about the places we were born and raised. It is called B-ness.

Some of us love the culture, the age of our peers, the social and political climate, the danged belly laughs that erupt everywhere. The prettyness, the sassyness, the feeling of a college campus without the classes.

Some of us can't understand WHY anyone wouldn't love this place but to be fair those people peobably were fairly positive all of their considerable successful and interesting lives.

B nice.
B sweet
B sassy
and sometimes just be a B. You deserve it.

BINGO!:BigApplause:

I thought "b" was for b_ _ ch! DUH.

I should have sold real estate here because I have brought six couples and one single here! Only one of our friends came here and thought it was "too big." They live where there is ONE golf course, one clubhouse and nothing else to do. Different strokes, I guess.

My brother in law in Fl as a deep hatred for TV.
He says all you yankees have moved down here and think FL owes you a retirement.
He say's the lake he live on is 8 feet low because of the development in TV
Traffic = TV
Overcrowded stores = TV
STD's = TV
Florida housing prices =TV
Crash in construction jobs =TV
The last 2 was very detailed as to how TV sucked it all up.
It's like poking a bear.
I used a hot stick daily.
:1rotfl::1rotfl:

Cisco - why don't you just bring that boy to the next Crispers luncheon and I'm sure we can set him straight.:icon_twisted: