I know you LV NW, but

here is my own take (of course this is trictly our own).

The following experiences colour our feelings, :)

1) on one trip to Seattle/Vancouver/Portland, in late March, we counted a total of 7hrs of feeble sunshine out of a stretch of 9 days - may the rain just been followed us all around. To make things worse, our rental (a brandnew Corolla) started to have battery issue just before we drove up Columbia River Gorge, and by the time we got on I-5, heading back to Seattle, the battery quitted charging. Snowing and sleeting on I-5, but we could only use windshield wiper sporadically, and did not dare to turn on headlight - the car sure would die on I-5 if we did, and with the freezing weather, we did not want to wait on freeway for rescue !!!

2) We have seen people scuba diving in COLD, Murky water near Seattle and we are so so glad about we could dive warm, clear Caribbean water. :)

3) Sailing was one of the primary reasons we consider NW, but Eastern seaboard from Carolina down to Florida have equal or BETTER sailings.

The only equal I see is both Washington and Florida have no state income tax.

We will take Florida everyday, and spend our summer time else where, anywhere we would like at the time, but winter in Florida is unbeatable. :)))))