Let’s Dream; Summer and Winter Homes Edition

[StormyDay]

So as I enjoy the beautiful fall weather, my neighbors are packing up to leave. They don’t like the cold so they are off to their Florida home already.
It seems that with the pandemic and the advent of so many more people working from home a lot of people have realized they could have two houses.

Of course, being a horse person, my dream would be to have two houses in places where it’s a horsey paradise.

So let’s say tomorrow you win a modest lottery. Where is your summer home? Where is your winter home?

And yes, this is just for fun.

[OfCourseItsAnAlter]

Summer in Ludington, MI, winter in Sarasota, FL. I’m not sure either would be identified as “horsey paradises,” but they’re sufficiently horsey to satisfy me.

[StormyDay]

@OfCourseItsAnAlter

Summer in Ludington, MI, winter in Sarasota, FL. I’m not sure either would be identified as “horsey paradises,” but they’re sufficiently horsey to satisfy me.

Interesting, I understand Sarasota but why Ludington? I’ve never been there.

[lenapesadie]

I guess I’d stay right here in FL most of the year.

June - October I’d like to live somewhere much cooler. Canada perhaps.

Or build an indoor arena and barn with AC here in FL.

[OfCourseItsAnAlter]

Lake Michigan, white sandy beaches, lighthouses, Ludington State Park, hiking, biking, canoeing, tubing, watching the SS Badger come into (and depart from) port, a summer full of festivals of all sorts, sweet cherries, House of Flavors (ice cream place), Hamlin Lake, Stearns Park, and a lifetime of sweet summer vacation memories.

There is no finer place to spend your summer than the west coast of Michigan.

[StormyDay]

@OfCourseItsAnAlter

Lake Michigan, white sandy beaches, lighthouses, Ludington State Park, hiking, biking, canoeing, tubing, watching the SS Badger come into (and depart from) port, a summer full of festivals of all sorts, sweet cherries, House of Flavors (ice cream place), Hamlin Lake, Stearns Park, and a lifetime of sweet summer vacation memories.

There is no finer place to spend your summer than the west coast of Michigan.

Sounds wonderful! I’ve never been but I’ll have to put it on the list

[Pally]

You know, I did the Florida in winter thing as a groom many times… I didn’t dislike it, but I’m not sure I’d spend my hard-earned lotto win on it. Instead I’d probably get the farm I want here in Canada-land, and use the “second home” money on an employee that specifically/mostly helps with the tribulations of winter on a farm. And runs the place for March while I take a nice vacation to skip that utter he**.

[OTTBs]

Aiken for the winter; if you’ve been reading my threads you know my top 2 for summer.

[Texarkana]

I wouldn’t mind a summer home in Lake Placid, NY or the southern Maine coast. Or even somewhere like Rehoboth, DE. Not exactly horse paradises, though Lake Placid has the show and Saratoga nearby.

While I hate cold weather, the snow bird phenomenon in the horse world irritates me now. It’s not even from a place of jealousy. I don’t know why the expectation has become that you have to pick up and go to Florida for 3 or 4 months out of the year, even if you are someone who lives in. mild climate and is learning to jump 2’.

[sunkistbey]

Harbor Springs, MI for summer. My family is there and summers are beautiful.
Ocala, FL for winter. Lots of horses and not as swampy as other parts of Florida.
I also have a place to stay in Weatherford, TX, so that’s a winter possibility too.

[punchy]

If we’re dreaming, I’d be in the U.K. somewhere, maybe North Yorkshire. I don’t mind cold.

[Djones]

Summer home is in SW Montana. Preferably built into the earth with geothermal cooling, solar, and such. Low impact, nearly invisible.

Winter home likely in Alabama, where I live now. Our state’s politics are impressively awful, and at the same time Alabama is beautiful and it is home. I would live where I am now and buy out the trailer park next door and other adjacent land and build an indoor.

[TheBigEasy]

Agreed. I feel the secret of the Michigan coasts is getting out though and we’ll soon be swamped by the northern version of the snowbird.

The Great Lakes coastline, especially the east coast of Lake Michigan is summer paradise. Beautiful beaches, bluffs, quaint artsy towns, state parks galore with bridle trails.

I should shut up. . It’s been an underestimated area but quickly growing.

[OfCourseItsAnAlter]

Not too long ago, I saw one of those “best vacation spots you’ve never heard of” type lists and it included about a half dozen of those wonderful Michigan Great Lakes coastal towns. My first thought was “It’s nice to see these places getting some recognition” and my second thought was “NOOOOO! Stop telling people about my secret places!”

I spent many summer vacations as a kid in Pentwater. I still love it there, but it has become really difficult to find a nice place to stay within the village - even if you’re willing to pay $$$$.