Boating areas to retire
01-11-2015, 06:20 PM
#101
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Have two waterfront places if your able to. One on the St. Johns River in Florida that you wouldn't need to worry about maintaining it. Seeing that it would most likely be used from October till May. The Other would have it be in Minnesota up on the Whitefish Chain in Crosslake, MN. I've heard good things about the Whitefish Chain. Big lakes that you can run a performance boat on. I would imagine May to October for that place. Having a yard wouldn't be a problem seeing that you would be there during the summertime to be able to maintain it.
Just think you can use your boat year round. This is my personal preference. Hopefully this might help you.
Just think you can use your boat year round. This is my personal preference. Hopefully this might help you.
Last edited by Captain Nick; 01-11-2015 at 06:23 PM.
01-11-2015, 07:21 PM
#102
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It depends on what you want our of retirement.
I'm convinced that there are few places on the planet more beautiful, or that offer more diversions than the Traverse City/Boyne/Charlevoix area of northern lower MI.
Lake Mi, the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Huron, and the North Channel up into Canada and that's without talking about all the inland lakes. Torch is routinely rated in the top 10 most beautiful lakes in the world.
Got a big boat? Run across the pond and visit Chicago or Green Bay; or go north to Mackinac Island - just watch the weather but you're retired so you're not on a schedule.
The Hospital is second to none, I think because the people who are there really want to be there.
Casinos, winerys, you name it and it can be found (unless you're into horse racing - our previous Gov single handedly killed that in the state)
Visit the area in the summer, fall and again in the winter. Michiganders love to ***** about the weather, but few of us leave. If you're retired leave for a few weeks in Jan & Feb…March is time to get the boats ready for the season anyway.
Boating is usually May - Sept or April to Oct if you're hardcore and lucky. However, I like to boat when it's warm and when it's too cold to boat here, it's usually close to being too cold to boat anywhere else unless you're in S. Fla or the west coast. But I've boated a (very) little in Fla and I'm not wild about salt water, dealing with manatee zones, and the thought of hitting a gator while trimmed out I would think would ruin your day
Don't get me wrong FLA is very cool and I love to visit but can't imagine living there year round. The best of both worlds - to me -would be Traverse City and S. Fla somewhere for Jan & Feb.
Also, call me a sissy but we don't have hurricanes, fire ants, not many snakes or spiders, and you can walk barefoot on our grass.
Before you pull the trigger visit most of the areas suggested. I'll bet almost everyone on here would give you the tour of the areas they've mentioned but if you're going to tour all the boating Mi has to offer you'll be here a while.
cheers
I'm convinced that there are few places on the planet more beautiful, or that offer more diversions than the Traverse City/Boyne/Charlevoix area of northern lower MI.
Lake Mi, the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Huron, and the North Channel up into Canada and that's without talking about all the inland lakes. Torch is routinely rated in the top 10 most beautiful lakes in the world.
Got a big boat? Run across the pond and visit Chicago or Green Bay; or go north to Mackinac Island - just watch the weather but you're retired so you're not on a schedule.
The Hospital is second to none, I think because the people who are there really want to be there.
Casinos, winerys, you name it and it can be found (unless you're into horse racing - our previous Gov single handedly killed that in the state)
Visit the area in the summer, fall and again in the winter. Michiganders love to ***** about the weather, but few of us leave. If you're retired leave for a few weeks in Jan & Feb…March is time to get the boats ready for the season anyway.
Boating is usually May - Sept or April to Oct if you're hardcore and lucky. However, I like to boat when it's warm and when it's too cold to boat here, it's usually close to being too cold to boat anywhere else unless you're in S. Fla or the west coast. But I've boated a (very) little in Fla and I'm not wild about salt water, dealing with manatee zones, and the thought of hitting a gator while trimmed out I would think would ruin your day
Don't get me wrong FLA is very cool and I love to visit but can't imagine living there year round. The best of both worlds - to me -would be Traverse City and S. Fla somewhere for Jan & Feb.
Also, call me a sissy but we don't have hurricanes, fire ants, not many snakes or spiders, and you can walk barefoot on our grass.
Before you pull the trigger visit most of the areas suggested. I'll bet almost everyone on here would give you the tour of the areas they've mentioned but if you're going to tour all the boating Mi has to offer you'll be here a while.
cheers
01-11-2015, 08:31 PM
#103
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NOT Colorado. Beautiful state but no water. Any lakes of any size are at 5,000+ ft......kinda of a performance killer and cold. Did I mention the winters are cold? Cost of living not as bad as New York or California, but still up there. Skiing great, 4wheeling great, fishing ok, lots to do just not good boating.
Florida here we come!!!
Florida here we come!!!
01-11-2015, 08:47 PM
#104
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I just re-read your original post.
If you're after a good glass of wine, there are 2 peninsulas that go north of TC; the Leelanau Peninsula and Old Mission Peninsula. There are 25 wineries on the Leelanau and 8 wineries on Old Mission. My wife held a gun to my head a couple years ago and we did the wine tasting trip - in February - I thought she was nuts - February? Traverse City ? Wine Tasting ? Man I hate it when she's right (which is frequently) but it was one of the most fun trips we've ever done. The people at the wineries treated us like royalty because we were one of the few people up there getting smashed - sorry tasting - during the off season. I'll never go when it's crowded again.
There isn't a VA hospital in TC but there is a "Vet Center" and a "Community based outpatient clinic". The VA medical Centers are all in southern and/or eastern lower MI. (there is one in the U.P but that might as well be on another planet)
Traverse City also has distilleries, and there are almost as many beer micro-breweries in the state as we have inland lakes.
Thank you for your service.
Good luck with your search.
If you're after a good glass of wine, there are 2 peninsulas that go north of TC; the Leelanau Peninsula and Old Mission Peninsula. There are 25 wineries on the Leelanau and 8 wineries on Old Mission. My wife held a gun to my head a couple years ago and we did the wine tasting trip - in February - I thought she was nuts - February? Traverse City ? Wine Tasting ? Man I hate it when she's right (which is frequently) but it was one of the most fun trips we've ever done. The people at the wineries treated us like royalty because we were one of the few people up there getting smashed - sorry tasting - during the off season. I'll never go when it's crowded again.
There isn't a VA hospital in TC but there is a "Vet Center" and a "Community based outpatient clinic". The VA medical Centers are all in southern and/or eastern lower MI. (there is one in the U.P but that might as well be on another planet)
Traverse City also has distilleries, and there are almost as many beer micro-breweries in the state as we have inland lakes.
Thank you for your service.
Good luck with your search.
