We are heading to Florida in October for vacation. We have been the last 4 years and have always stayed in the Orlando area. We want to try something different this time. We love culture and an old town vibe. We would love to see local wildlife ie dolphins, birds, ect. Ideally a house with a private pool would suit us. NO RESORTS or HOTELS. A beach would be great as well. In the past we enjoyed all there was to do in Orlando but we want to avoid the city atmosphere this time. We have done all the parks and just are hoping for some more interesting things to do. At the time of our trip our family will consist of an 18 and 13 year old boys, my husband and I and a 1.5 year old toddler. We are driving from just outside Toronto, Canada and prefer not to go as far as Key West since we only have 10 days in total. Any suggestions from a seasoned traveller would be appreciated. Thanks

Check out Anna Maria island, it should fit the bill for what you are looking for. There are many pool homes to rent. Small town old Florida vibe. No big resorts or huge hotels.

Have you been to St. Augustine? It's a pretty cool old town and very walkable. There's an old fort (Castillo de San Marcos) that my husband and I enjoy. There are always school groups there and the kids seem to enjoy it.

I'm going to suggest the Melbourne Beach/Sebastian area. It sounds like what you're looking for -- laid back, no high-rise buildings, the towns of Vero and Melbourne, good restaurants. You should be able to find a pretty good deal in a house rental that time of year.

Even though October is hurricane season, we have really enjoyed staying on the Beaches of 30A on the Panhandle. The weather is great,(as long as you don't have a hurricane) the rates drop, the beaches and restaurants aren't crowded.

That is a tall order. I would shop VRBO and see what you can find. Iv'e stayed in a rental home with a pool in Nags Head N. Carolina, and you can find lost of that up there, but in Florida I think that is going to be harder to find. St. Augustine might be a good place to look.

I would hazard a guess that there are at least 10,000 rental homes in FL that have a pool. Not to say that all of them are in your price range or in an area you want to stay it, but I really don't think you'd have too much trouble finding one.

Thanks we have checked out St. Augustine and Anna Maria Island. Both are on our potential list. How are the beaches there?

I just did a quick check on VRBO and there are 447 pool homes to rent on Anna Maria Island alone.

St. Augustine is on the Atlantic, Anna Maria Island is on the Gulf. You will get a split opinion on which is better. I happen to prefer the Gulf side beaches and Anna Maria's are spectacular. Prefer the Gulf because there are no waves, softer sand, and spectacular sunsets. In St. Augustine there is Anastasia island state park which has a really nice beach as well.

she wants a BEACH and a POOL house rental. Home with pool no problem....home+pool+beach not so common.

St. George Island
Here's a list of rentals with pools
http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals...Amenities=pool

>>she wants a BEACH and a POOL house rental. Home with pool no problem....home+pool+beach not so common.

More on St. George Island (see link for rentals with pools above )
http://seestgeorgeisland.com/
http://www.apalachicolabay.org/

well send me some links because I have a relative that is interested in exactly that, and I was not able to find any.

well thats interesting, never thought of looking in that area...mind you, winters are awful cool up that way. I was thinking Naples or Port St Lucy area, which in themselves are dicey in winter.

"mind you, winters are awful cool up that way"

Winters? She's going in October.


I was there in winter, in January. On some days we wore jackets. On some days we didn't. If the home has a heated pool, even January is swimming weather.

"well send me some links because I have a relative that is interested in exactly that, and I was not able to find any"
Links already sent.

Dahling....I dont know where you live, but I live in Miami and when it DIPS into the 70's were bundling up. Its plenty cold to us by Oct compared to Miami weather. Its 84 right now on the beach today, but in Panama City it is 64 degrees.....may as well be snowing to us in Miami. I come many moons ago from NYC....Im totally acclimatized now and to me that is snowsuit weather.

As funny as it sounds, its all relative!

Even the Canadians go to Naples to get a little warmer!!! Just saying...that far north it can be unpredictable that time of the year, but I was more talking for myself (my family who want to come for winter) it is dicey the winter months that far north.

"Dahling....I dont know where you live,"
" We are driving from just outside Toronto, Canada "

It's 75 right now in SGI and 23 in Toronto.
It's all relative, indeed!