I second the areas near Charleston, SC, Isle of Palms & Sullivan’s Island. Sanibel FL is very nice, and on the Gulf side.
Here in NC, Landfall Community in Wilmington is just over the bridge from Wrightsville Beach and is a very popular with NC residents. Some of the other NC Islands are great, Emerald Isle, Topsail Beach, Holden Beach, but they can get very quiet in the offseason.
If you want constantly warm weather then south Florida is your only bet. Even north Florida has 3 seasons. Some areas are very quiet in the offseason but places like Charleston, Myrtle, and Wilmington are busy year round. Wilmington has UNC branch.
@collage1 , like the poster said above south Florida for warm weather and water. However, it’s horribly humid in the summer!! The Gulf of Mexico in general is always warmer than the Atlantic Ocean. In the heat of summer it will be warm in the other states, but not in March.
Miami thru Palm Beach area is developed, but north to Jupiter and Stuart are more open spaces. Some areas, like Jupiter Farms, have expensive communities, but that is because homes have boat docks. There is a wonderful de range of prices. My colleague just bought a 2/2 ocean view condo in Ft Lauderdale, in a nice neighborhood. It’s older but he will redo everything. ( See HGTV?)
We have friends who have moved to Palm Coast…and they love it.
I think you will find golf, bridge, things to do, and ability to make friends everywhere.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I probably didn’t make myself clear. I can’t imagine we’d ever come in summer. And we live in a place with good weather year round. Ideally it’d be a place that had warm weather during winter and spring months.
I have a friend who lives in HHI. It can get pretty cold there in Dec, Jan, Feb. I lived in Jax for several years and while the weather is nice enough in Jan, Feb, it’s not ‘beach weather’. Golfing is fine.
I love the area on the A1A between Vero Beach and say Cocoa Beach. It is very much ‘old Florida’ and there isn’t a lot between the towns. There are some state beaches along both sides (ocean and river/inner coastal) with nature walks, turtles, birds, etc. Look near Sabistian’s Inlet. I like the area closer to Melbourne Beach because there are some restaurants and stores. It isn’t that far to Orlando (should anyone want to go there) or to the Space Center, cruise ships, etc. St. Augustine Beach (it’s about 10 miles to downtown St. Augustine) is also really nice and not too commercial, but it is farther north so the weather does get chilly in the winter months.
I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the winter and in South Carolina in the summer. If you want warm in the winter, Florida is your place. As others have said, the water in the Gulf is warmer than the Atlantic (east coast of Florida). There are many areas to choose from depending on what’s important to you - do you like rustic? do you like isolation? OR do you like a more vibrant scene with restaurants, shopping, theater, etc? Is golf important? Tennis? Direct beach access? How far is too far from an airport? Florida offers lots of great options. People here can be a good resource to answer your questions.
My cousins have a townhouse near Naples Florida. They are there in the winter, up north for the summer. We visited, and liked the town of Naples a lot. Cousins live in a HUGE development called “Lely Resort” in a townhouse area. They love it. Social side is very nice. Place is not age restricted but self selects so that many (probably most) of the residents are retired snowbirds. Lely also has neighborhoods of single family homes on the golf course. We also visited 2 other friends that live in the area - both in very fancy country club subdivisions. Very nice, but way out of our league.
We chose Tampa for retirement coming from Wisconsin. And away from the water- where one would evacuate TO for a hurricane (wise move for 2017). There are many considerations in your choice for your next city. We really like being close enough to a major university for auditing classes for free, Hillsborough county has an excellent library system and the senior Ollie classes, taught by seniors, are a great addition.
Politics do matter- eg your comfort zone for Republicans/Democrats (Tampa has both). Your wealth and middle class versus upper class lifestyle choices (we’re hopelessly well educated/intellectual middle class although we could afford to pay more). State income tax. Religion. How often you want the “arts”. Ethnic groups. I personally find living in a neighborhood with a variety of ages nice. I’ll bet you will find the cost of housing/living better than California.
Feel free to PM me. Good planning for a March wedding- not hurricane season. Keep in mind that living full time (with vacations away) is very different than a few weeks’ visit.
March is a great month to visit those areas. I really like a lot of them. Something that may be an unpleasant surprise to you may be the humidity if you’re used to beautiful warm weather. Past April is pretty brutal in south Florida.
Amelia Island and Hilton Head have beautiful beaches and tons of golf.
The west side of Florida skews much older from Sarasota south.
It depends on what time of year you envision going and what you’re looking for. My sister lives in Wilmington and I love it there too.