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Where are your favorite low key chill spots?

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NorthJerseyGator

Bull Gator
Sep 17, 2010
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About to be vacation time outta town for me and I love nice salt water areas, specifically Atlantic coast from NC to FL. This summer, we're westward ho and going to Orange Beach, AL for the first time. I've never been to a panhandle FL beach either. I like discovering new spots, especially quaint, charming, historical, rustic, etc.

I read articles like this that pop up as click bait, always on the hunt for the next chill place to unwind at, and maybe move to one day.

Looks like Micanopy has more than just Cafe Risqué, only place I've been to there 20 years ago when I was a UF student, hahaha, is it still there, free showers, free breakfast and all? Hahaha.

https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/8-adorable-small-towns-in-florida.html
 
Indian Shores Florida outside of Tampa just south of Clearwater. Not very people heavy. Beach is just okay, but not very people heavy, which to me means more than white sandy beaches with tons of people. We stayed in a condo on that beach and it was great. Plus, the fish of choice there was Grouper. So, that, and probably a dozen more places like it in Florida, lol. BUT we are planning on either a panhandle Florida beach vacation or a short cruise out of Houston.
 
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NorthJerseyGator said:
About to be vacation time outta town for me and I love nice salt water areas, specifically Atlantic coast from NC to FL. This summer, we're westward ho and going to Orange Beach, AL for the first time. I've never been to a panhandle FL beach either. I like discovering new spots, especially quaint, charming, historical, rustic, etc.

I read articles like this that pop up as click bait, always on the hunt for the next chill place to unwind at, and maybe move to one day.

Looks like Micanopy has more than just Cafe Risqué, only place I've been to there 20 years ago when I was a UF student, hahaha, is it still there, free showers, free breakfast and all? Hahaha.

https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/8-adorable-small-towns-in-florida.html
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Port St Joe is nice and VERY quaint. Mexico Beach also. PSJ is like Destin was 60 years ago when I moved here. Cape San Blas is the beach area there. From there to Orange Beach you will have the beautiful beaches. Cannot go past PSJ because the Apalachicola river dumps dirty water in the Gulf. If you would like to be at THE MOST beautiful beaches without the crowds...Destin in October is AWESOME. Tourists mostly gone, and the most beautiful weather of the year. Try early in the month to avoid cool fronts and wind.
 
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You want chill low key...Tobermory Bruce Peninsula Ontario Canada

Home

Tobermory is a harbour village on the Bruce Peninsula in the province of Ontario.
tobermory.com tobermory.com
 
Capt Ron 1 said:
Port St Joe is nice and VERY quaint. Mexico Beach also. PSJ is like Destin was 60 years ago when I moved here. Cape San Blas is the beach area there. From there to Orange Beach you will have the beautiful beaches. Cannot go past PSJ because the Apalachicola river dumps dirty water in the Gulf. If you would like to be at THE MOST beautiful beaches without the crowds...Destin in October is AWESOME. Tourists mostly gone, and the most beautiful weather of the year. Try early in the month to avoid cool fronts and wind.
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Port St. Joe and Grayton Beach do get mentioned in those list articles I read about places locals know that most out of towners don't know.
 
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NorthJerseyGator said:
About to be vacation time outta town for me and I love nice salt water areas, specifically Atlantic coast from NC to FL. This summer, we're westward ho and going to Orange Beach, AL for the first time. I've never been to a panhandle FL beach either. I like discovering new spots, especially quaint, charming, historical, rustic, etc.

I read articles like this that pop up as click bait, always on the hunt for the next chill place to unwind at, and maybe move to one day.

Looks like Micanopy has more than just Cafe Risqué, only place I've been to there 20 years ago when I was a UF student, hahaha, is it still there, free showers, free breakfast and all? Hahaha.

https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/8-adorable-small-towns-in-florida.html
Click to expand...
We bought a waterfront home on the gulf coast on the Big Bend. Population 500. It's annoying on holidays when there are about 2500 in town. :mad: Regarding Micanopy, (named after a famous Indian chief with kidney stones, "Me can no pee", used to rent a mobile home on Orange Lake on weekends to duck hunt Nov-Jan. I love that area. Pearl BBQ has the best gas station/convenience store/ BBQ in the entire nation. 😂
 
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NavigatorII said:
We bought a waterfront home on the gulf coast on the Big Bend. Population 500. It's annoying on holidays when there are about 2500 in town. :mad: Regarding Micanopy, (named after a famous Indian chief with kidney stones, "Me can no pee", used to rent a mobile home on Orange Lake on weekends to duck hunt Nov-Jan. I love that area. Pearl BBQ has the best gas station/convenience store/ BBQ in the entire nation. 😂
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Not being a native Floridian, I just like the line "from the Okeechobee all the way up to Micanopy" in the Seminole Wind song by John Anderson and when I hear it, I think, "yeah, I've been there", albeit was brief, middle of the night, and the only wildlife I saw was pale white goth looking chicks dancing Risque, haha.
 
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NorthJerseyGator said:
Not being a native Floridian, I just like the line "from the Okeechobee all the way up to Micanopy" in the Seminole Wind song by John Anderson and when I hear it, I think, "yeah, I've been there", albeit was brief, middle of the night, and the only wildlife I saw was pale white goth looking chicks dancing Risque, haha.
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Went there just once. No alcohol but they served food. It's not the kind of place you want a stray curly hair in your hamburger. :oops:
 
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NorthJerseyGator said:
I haven't set foot in Alabama in 20 years since my step-grandparents picked me up in Gainesville at semester's end and drove up to her son's house in Horn Lake, MS just south of Memphis. We stayed in some motel right off I-10 on the east side of the bay by Mobile.
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The Alabama gulf beaches are beautiful and not as crowded as say Destin.
Really out of the way spot is Mexico Beach, which took a massive hit about three years ago but has come back beautifully.
 
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goldmom said:
The Alabama gulf beaches are beautiful and not as crowded as say Destin.
Really out of the way spot is Mexico Beach, which took a massive hit about three years ago but has come back beautifully.
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Arrived in Orange Beach yesterday and the area is more built up than to my liking, lots of traffic. I did find a shark tooth the very first minute I sat down on the waters edge, which was to my liking, and we saw dolphins from the balcony as soon as we unpacked, so these are good signs, haha. Two years ago we went to Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach specifically for sharks teeth and came home with a can full.

Tourists here mostly Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama. I haven't seen not one Gators hat, shirt, auto decal, etc. Even Amelia Island was predominantly Georgia people/fans with Uga paraphernalia far outnumbering any Gators or Noles stuff.
 
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NorthJerseyGator said:
Tourists here mostly Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama. I haven't seen not one Gators hat, shirt, auto decal, etc. Even Amelia Island was predominantly Georgia people/fans with Uga paraphernalia far outnumbering any Gators or Noles stuff.
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Have you ever been to a Georgia beach? Try that, and it will all become clear. 😂
 
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NavigatorII said:
Have you ever been to a Georgia beach? Try that, and it will all become clear. 😂
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Tru dat, haha. It's all rivers flowing out. Tybee Island I was maybe going to put on my list of potential places to see one day but the whole Orange Crush spring break hordes this year and the hoopla and craziness that happened, I removed it from my potentials for the future.

We drove through downtown P-Cola yesterday in a monsoon on our way to Orange Beach so now I can officially say I've been from Key West to Pensacola. I've done South Beach, Mac's Club Deuce in Miami, Calle Ocho, Coconut Grove, Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne, all the bars on Duval St. in Key West (all while underage I might add through slick maneuvering on my part slipping past doormen, haha), downtown Ft. Laudy, Palm Beach, done Disney, Gatorland, UCF dorms in Jamlando, Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Augustine, downtown JAX greyhound Station (didn't get to drink here, haha), Fernandina Beach, snorkeled with manatees in the springs in Citrus County and ate the grouper at Crackers, been to Tally with FSU students via UF buddy on way to Nawlins for Mardi Gras (18 years old but still obtaining drinks in the French Quarter, haha). The only part of Florida I haven't been to or seen is Tampa and the Southwest coast. The only part of the panhandle I've seen is I-10. Although I did drive through podunk Jackson County and Baker County coming through Georgia on way to I-10 yesterday and then P-Cola and Perdido Key to Bama state line. Not bad for a non-Floridian. 4 years living in Gainesville helped.
 
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NorthJerseyGator said:
Tru dat, haha. It's all rivers flowing out. Tybee Island I was maybe going to put on my list of potential places to see one day but the whole Orange Crush spring break hordes this year and the hoopla and craziness that happened, I removed it from my potentials for the future.

We drove through downtown P-Cola yesterday in a monsoon on our way to Orange Beach so now I can officially say I've been from Key West to Pensacola. I've done South Beach, Mac's Club Deuce in Miami, Calle Ocho, Coconut Grove, Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne, all the bars on Duval St. in Key West (all while underage I might add through slick maneuvering on my part slipping past doormen, haha), downtown Ft. Laudy, Palm Beach, done Disney, Gatorland, UCF dorms in Jamlando, Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Augustine, downtown JAX greyhound Station (didn't get to drink here, haha), Fernandina Beach, snorkeled with manatees in the springs in Citrus County and ate the grouper at Crackers, been to Tally with FSU students via UF buddy on way to Nawlins for Mardi Gras (18 years old but still obtaining drinks in the French Quarter, haha). The only part of Florida I haven't been to or seen is Tampa and the Southwest coast. The only part of the panhandle I've seen is I-10. Although I did drive through podunk Jackson County and Baker County coming through Georgia on way to I-10 yesterday and then P-Cola and Perdido Key to Bama state line. Not bad for a non-Floridian. 4 years living in Gainesville helped.
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Nothing really to see in Tampa, but SW Florida south of there has some nice beaches and islands. There is no really good time to go there, it's hot as balls now, and when it's nice the snowbirds are thick as thieves.
 
NavigatorII said:
Nothing really to see in Tampa, but SW Florida south of there has some nice beaches and islands. There is no really good time to go there, it's hot as balls now, and when it's nice the snowbirds are thick as thieves.
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Yeah, I was scoping out areas online down there because Sanibel has loads of seashells and Caspersen Beach has loads of shark teeth and Tigertail Beach is tranquil but we ended up meeting with family in Orange Beach, AL.
 
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NorthJerseyGator said:
Arrived in Orange Beach yesterday and the area is more built up than to my liking, lots of traffic. I did find a shark tooth the very first minute I sat down on the waters edge, which was to my liking, and we saw dolphins from the balcony as soon as we unpacked, so these are good signs, haha. Two years ago we went to Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach specifically for sharks teeth and came home with a can full.

Tourists here mostly Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama. I haven't seen not one Gators hat, shirt, auto decal, etc. Even Amelia Island was predominantly Georgia people/fans with Uga paraphernalia far outnumbering any Gators or Noles stuff.
Click to expand...
Even when you get in to Florida, it is even mixed as far as fan bases. Split between Bama, Auburn, UF, LSUand FSU
 
NorthJerseyGator said:
Yeah, I was scoping out areas online down there because Sanibel has loads of seashells and Caspersen Beach has loads of shark teeth and Tigertail Beach is tranquil but we ended up meeting with family in Orange Beach, AL.
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Sanibel is AWESOME...but totally destroyed right now. Going to be a few years to get back to pre hurricane condition. I would have listed that if not for that. I LOVE to go there. Used to take my SeaRay from Destin and go there for a few weeks. Went about 5 times.
 
Capt Ron 1 said:
Even when you get in to Florida, it is even mixed as far as fan bases. Split between Bama, Auburn, UF, LSUand FSU
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You're seeing all those fanbases in the Panhandle right? It's not like that down the peninsula as much well at least on the Atlantic side which is what I'm more familiar with. The panhandle is where many Southerners head to.
 
NorthJerseyGator said:
You're seeing all those fanbases in the Panhandle right? It's not like that down the peninsula as much well at least on the Atlantic side which is what I'm more familiar with. The panhandle is where many Southerners head to.
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Remember...we are REALLY LA...Lower Alabama. From Pensacola to Panama City it is like this
 
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