Minnie, your front porch looks very inviting, I sure wish I had a front porch, they are so enjoyable and welcoming addition to a home.

What I wouldn't have given to spend February in FL when I lived in IN. You will be pretty far south--my sister lives down there, so you will be a little warmer. We do have cold fronts come through, but they don't last more than a few days. It will seem warm to you because you'll be acclimated to the cold. As far as clothes, just bring what's comfortable. Most restaurants are very casual. There is a boat from Ft. Myers that takes you down to Key West. I think it's $90 per person, but Key West is something else! You can stay a few days or go back to Ft. Myers that evening. If you like to fish you may want to take a charter boat out. That's really fun. Or take a gambling cruise out. They usually have a buffet meal and lots of slots. LOL! Or you can just bask in the sun and relax with a Pina Colada. I hope you enjoy your time here. Please do go to the bird sanctuary Joan/MN mentioned. We saw the most beautiful sight there one evening. A tree was full of roseate spoonbills and it looked like the whole tree was covered in big pink flowers. (Take your bird book along.)

I love porches! I think every home should have at least 1! They are so inviting & so great if enclosed & bug free. My aunt used to use it to cool her Christmas candies & store her Christmas baking(So. Dak. was very cold back then). Grandma's lake cottage had 1 & it had a swing/bed hanging from the ceiling. That is where I spent my time when I was there unless I was swimming. At the corner before the porch turned & went across back(lakeside) was a table & chairs for dining. Lake side had several easy chairs or rockers to watch kids swim or play at bottom of the hill. You are so lucky to have another 1 upstairs!! Jan

I live inside the city limits of Los Angeles (not far from the beach) in a neighborhood that looks suburban, but I think of it as a sort of transitional neighborhood. It is too far to walk to a store, but there is a community playhouse just a few blocks away, and there is a small museum/park across the street from me. My street is a semi-loop, meaning that it is out of the way for all through traffic, and so no one drives on it unless they are going to something on this street. Because there is so little traffic, the police cadets from the nearby police academy like to jog right in the middle of the street, but usually in the middle of the day on weekdays. Being close to the police academy may be a factor in the low crime rate in the neighborhood. Right now there is construction of a new subway with a stop that will be about four or five blocks from my house, and this will make public transportation much easier for me, as I do not use it at all at the moment. The bad thing is that they will block off an important street that gives me quick access to work and Home Depot. I will have to make a three or four block detour once the station is completed and the street closure takes place. I lived in Venice very near the beach before buying my current house, and that felt much more urban. One reason I moved was traffic congestion and the tired tourist trade that flooded Venice, mostly from Europe and Japan. I rode my bike a lot in Venice, and it irritated me no end that pedestrians would walk on the bike path instead of using the adjacent sidewalks. Even worse when they would walk dogs on the bike path. My current neighborhood does not have dedicated bike paths, and so I don't ride as often. I liked riding my bike in Venice most of the time. I lived in even more urban neighborhoods in San Francisco, and I found that when I lived in those neighborhoods that I had a lot more visitors and guests. I lived in Austin between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and no one visited me there, except for when I had parties. I would still live in Venice if it weren't for the traffic and the exorbitant prices of real estate. I like urban areas that are bike-friendly.