The thing about Florida is that much of it is only a few feet above sea level. When pieces of Antarctic ice sheets the size of New York City break off and fall into the sea – and much the same is happening in Greenland and elsewhere – it does not bode well for coastal Florida. The problem is not just gradual sea level rise, but the much greater damage potential from storm surges and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events.
Missoula, which is the southern most part of that drive, is only 190 miles from the border driving, not as the crow flies. Which route did your “friend” take? 
I don’t get the appeal of FL either. I’ve visited once and that was enough.
Especially for those driving giant-ass RVs down to beach resorts.
My wife and I currently live in central (Piedmont) NC. She retired from CT.
We are virtually surrounded by retirees who first moved to FL and then “bounced back” up to NC. In virtually all the cases, these people were snowbirds and had a vacation/retirement home in FL, but decided after moving that FL was a bit too much year-round.
Being from the midwest I moved to Florida when I was 25 and spent 7 years there in various places. I loved the place and found coping with the heat/humidity season was much more tolerable than the cold/snow season of the midwest.
I moved from Winter Springs(Orlando) to Ormond Beach (Daytona) to Bonita Springs (Naples) to Bradenton (Tampa). Just always something to do and new places to explore.
I did return to the midwest however for better job opportunities and to raise a family. Still loathe winters and snow.
I plan to retire there in about 10 years since I miss it so much. Looked at other warm southern places but baking in the desert with no greenery ain’t for me, Cali is too expensive, southeast anywhere is just as humid and dreary in the summer as Florida, no desire to be in Texas.
Tropical fits me just fine.
I’ve driven across Oklahoma twice. There’s a certain austere beauty to long vistas of gently rolling grasslands.
South Dakota’s the same - I found it far more lovely than I had expected, when I had occasion to drive across it.
It’s amazing to me that people forget about St. Augustine and Sarasota, both beautiful places to visit. Even parts of Orlando are nice if you don’t mind gaudy and overpriced.
And you’ve got much nicer beaches, like Emerald Island, Topsail…
Wait, no, NO! Forget I said anything! Florida’s beaches are tons better than hellholes like Hatteras, Ocracoke, and Buxton! All y’all should just skip the Outer Banks completely!
(Phew, that was a close one…)
I LOVE Sarasota. The Jungle Gardens, the Ringling Museum, the late lamented Bellm Museum with all the calliopes and music boxes. (I seriously miss that place. It had a contemporary large music box that played Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. It gave me goosebumps.)
That said, I wouldn’t want to live there. But it makes for a GREAT weekend.
I never went to St Augustine, but the history there must be amazing.
This.
PLEASE realize that Ocracoke has no chain fast food places, no major grocery stores, and no movie theaters. In fact, the main activity there is dating cousins and carving whirligigs. Definitely not a place any Yankee would want to take a vacation. Don’t waste your time.
Me, too.
Not a retiree yet, but we moved to central (Piedmont) NC, from Orlando about 10 years ago. I was glad to get out of Florida, but it seems like there was not a lot of improvement, although we do get seasons now, so that’s a plus. It’s been a while but I seem to remember the weather being hot, humid, with Thunderstorms. Then you have cool day 1 and 2, and cold day 1.
We did go to Disney and the Universal quite a few times (2 young girls and grandkids). The girls got tired of the beach though. Would rather stay at the pool. And when we were there it wasn’t completely flat, we did have a hill…It was the sand on top of our leach bed.
I’ve loved me some bits of Florida. Like kayaking thru mangrove tunnels and to deserted keys down at the far southern end. Or wandering Key West and people watching and visiting Fort Taylor. Or taking a trip out to Fort Jefferson and snorkeling around the Dry Tortugas National Park. Or enjoying Playalinda beach with minimal other people nearby. Or riding Segways along the Hollywood beach boardwalk and dining at the local peruvian seafood restaurant. Or the local cuban food places. Swimming with manatees in the rivers with their surging fresh springs. I’d go back to do a lot of that again.
I’ve hated me some places there too, with the humidity and gators and flying, hissing cockroaches. And the guns and crazy politics, which go up to 11 down there. And the crazy tourists, including the Quebecois folks who get mad at ME for not speaking much french.
But overall, there’s lots of lovely stuff there. Even so, I don’t plan to retire there.
And some people have never heard of June Gloom.
but it’s a dry gloom…
I think we fooled 'em. But if any snowbirds do make it across the causeway, they’ll stop in Nags Head and think that’s as good as the OBX gets.
This sums it up for me (less than a minute long):
And after a few years, the “babe in bikinis” turn into “women who look 30 years older than they are because their skin has become leather.”
So basically, Red California. Or is California Blue Florida?
FL is really flat and very crowded in places, but I like the beaches, theme parks, and natural areas. FL has some really pretty clear and cold spring-fed rivers that provide great kayaking. You might even have some manatees floating along with you.