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samboct -> RE: florida hotels/stuff to do NEED HELP (1/8/2008 6:45:52 PM)
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I've hit 3 areas of Florida over the years- the East Coast- Ft. Laundrypail and Miami Beach, the West Coast (Tampa, St. Pete- know this area much better), and the panhandle- Ft. Walton Beach. I hit these places when I go sailing and I'm at a regatta- sometimes you get out more than others. I'll throw out some guesses.
The panhandle has amazing sand, and nice warm water- lots of thunderstorms in the summer. It's not far from Alabama, so it's also known as the Red Neck Riviera. I didn't see anything wonderful around there in terms of night life- just lots of strip malls etc. However, I'll lay long odds it will be easy to find cheap places to stay. I don't look for horseback riding, but I've never seen a horse on the beach, so it might be a little tough. Horses are at Palm Beach IIRC- and you might be able to find someplace cheap at West Palm- it's where all the servants and worker bees live.
Miami has probably the hottest night life going, very impressive when I was last there- which is like 10 years ago. Cheap it ain't unless you've got a local guide, and even then I wouldn't bank on it. I suspect it's also going to be hard to find anyplace cheap to stay within 2 hours.
Tampa St. Pete- St. Pete's come a long way in the last 2 decades, it's now kinda fun. Tampa's a much larger town, has some world famous strip clubs (according to a buddy of mine who went.) Good micro brewerys in Ybor City- places to go dancing etc. You can probably find someplace cheap to stay- but be a little careful around St. Pete- there's a lot of racial tension in that town, and the wrong side of the tracks is not the place to be if you're melanin challenged- you'll probably feel uncomfortable. However, it's probably pretty easy to go sailing there (good luck around Miami) and when I've gone sailing, we've had dolphins swimming around the boat. They do take off when you jump in though, and I'd be a little worried that in Jan. the water might be a bit nippy. Oh yeah- the locals in St. Pete go hit Clearwater.
Does this help?
Sam
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