The Fountain of Youth is in St. Augustine too. The campus there is beautiful as well.
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That isn’t bad.
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Off to do research.
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I believe it’s the oldest city in the USA, first settled by Ponce de Leon
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Yesterday, DSIS told me she is going to FL at the end of July for a conference. She is working to get me to go by tempting me with WDW. FL/WDW in July REALLY doesn’t appeal to me! Been there. Done that. A cottage on the beach for a couple of days, maybe. Do share what you come up with so I don’t have to research! 
Then, maybe I might go. But I think I’m traveling too much this year. When am I supposed to work? I think you and @Julianne_fki dangled DLR in September last week. And I am seriously considering that already.
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If you Google “fountain of youth” you might see a Japanese toilet. 
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So far I have discovered that St. Augustine beach is beautiful, but definitely more expensive than the other options. Melbourne seems quiet but I’ve read that some areas can be rocky? We’re leaning towards Cocoa at this time.
Although when is the conference? The epic liner meet is in July.
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They seem like the fountain of youth.
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If you want a really nice beach Marco Island (gulf side) is beautiful too. Also, in the panhandle, The Emerald Coast, near Eglin AFB you can rent beach houses right on the water in Navarre, FL
I miss living here
Navarre Beach, Pensacola Beach Vacation Rentals | Airbnb
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Marco Island is beautiful, but I don’t want to head further south. Navarre is nice too.
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Oh, another dangle! I see that the meet up is July 22 - July 26. Well, DSIS was planning on flying in on July 27. She could arrive earlier. I need to read that thread, which now has nearly 700 posts.
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Earlier would be good.
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We have plans to go to a beach on Thursday.
Originally planned the Clearwater area, but not sure we want to spend that long in the car.
I really wanted the kids to feel the warmth of the gulf coast, but is there really much difference in paddling temperature between the west and east coasts?
Wondering if Cocoa Beach would be just as good.
We would probably only spend a couple of hours at the beach and would like to find a nice beach shack place to go for lunch.
Thoughts and suggestions??
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I think the East coast of Florida is plenty warm. I swim in Hilton Head Island, SC all the time and it is the perfect temperature, and that’s decently north of Florida.
Here’s some data for you (I think these are readings from yesterday):
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TheAtlantic side will be warm enough at this time of year.
I think it’s going to be easier to drive to Cocoa Beach then Clearwater Beach. I do like Clearwater but the traffic on I4 to get there and then the traffic to go over the bridge to get to the beach and then to find parking is not that pleasant.
I have to admit that I have not been to Cocoa Beach though. But it was my beach choice if we had decided to add that onto our last trip.
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I have been and it is a fine choice. Locals may know even better ones, though.
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So I did a google map estimate for you for next week. Estimated time from UOR to Clearwater is 1 hr 50 min to 2 hr 50 min. Cocoa is 1 hr 10 min to 1 hr 30 min.
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Possibly. It it seems like a good choice for a day trip. I noted there were plenty of beach activities available.
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I agree with @Dreamer about it being easier to get to Cocoa Beach from Disney than Clearwater.
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I will add that for me personally if you were going to make the drive to the gulf coast I wouldn’t do it for Clearwater. Too crowded and touristy! 
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