We have a lake cabin here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so not too far from you. I actually have the cabin up for sale right now, as we don't use it as much as we used to, and I'd like to use some $$ from the sale of the cabin to do some improvements to our new Florida house.
Our house is in west-central Florida, on the Gulf. Great place for kayaking and fishing, which are two of my favorite things to do. Always a little tense at this time of year during hurricane season, so I keep a close eye on the tropical storm updates from down there. It's way too hot and humid down there now for me, but I'm hooked on spending winters there. We also drive, and I also haul plenty of tools with me, for house projects.
RAE,
My cabin is only an hour away from my Minnesota home, so a short drive.
I own it with my cousin, and it works out very nice. I'm up there every other weekend in the summer, and I have a partner/friend to help me maintain and fix up the place. We also split all of the costs. I have no plans to get rid of it, unless I choose to stay in Florida full time.
I'm hoping that I enjoy my new Florida place as much as you enjoy yours.
I'm also located on the gulf side, and have plans to be very active in the winter. This sounds much better to me than sitting around inside my house during a long Minnesota winter.
Take care, JP