I will be in the area of Old Town, Fla from September 12th through
September 17/18 of this year.  I am looking for a 'vacation'-type
rental with the following specs:

- Within a 40 minute drive of Old Town
- Minimum 2 bedrooms
- Kitchen and laundry
- Weekly rate no more than $1500
- Scenic location ('touristy' or waterfront) a plus.

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Request for Question Clarification by colin-ga on 16 Jul 2002 12:26 PDT

Kenei:

Unfortunately, Old town is about a 2 hour drive to the Gulf of Mexico.
There are small seaside towns there. Is that too far?

Crystal river, is southwest of Old Town, it is a quaint fishing
village with old time Florida fun. (Great seafood, fishing charters
etc) About an hour and 20 minute drive.

Are you limited to 40 min. drive?

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Request for Question Clarification by drjmetz-ga on 17 Jul 2002 08:38 PDT

There is more than one 'Old Town' in Florida - for example, there's
one near Kissimmee, one near Key West, and one near Gainesville.
Please could you specify which one you'll be visiting? Thanks!

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Clarification of Question by kenei-ga on 17 Jul 2002 08:51 PDT

Ah, a monkey wrench.  The Old Town that I will be visiting is the one
near Gainsville, not the city near Key West.

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Clarification of Question by kenei-ga on 17 Jul 2002 08:54 PDT

Further clarification: The 40 minute max 'commute' to Old Town is a
must, since we'll be traveling back forth quite a few times, with a
14-month old... :-)

Hello,

Thanks for this great question!  here are a couple of places that seem
to fit your requirements.

The first one is a "Secluded Lakefront Home near the Suwannee River",
a 2 bed, 2 bath (sleeps 5) located right *in* Old Town.  The owners
describe it as a "Fully furnished vacation rental on secluded lake."

Amenities: Woodstove, air-conditioning, outside shower, washer/dryer,
linens included, telephone, microwave, toaster, coffeemaker,
dishes/utensils provided, cable TV, VCR, stereo, CD player.

Cost: $650/week. You can rent it directly by going to:
http://www3.cyberrentals.com/FLD/SmithFLD.html

It is by far the most *convenient* option for you, especially with an
14-month old.  At the time of this writing, the dates you desire are
still available.

There aren't too many vacation rentals available in Old Town,
surprisingly, at least not immediately accessible via the web. 
However, there are a few additional prospects within your prescribed
driving range.  Since Old Town is practically on the Sewanee River,
here are some possibilities not far from Old Town:

Steinhatchee Landing Resort, Steinhatchee, FL.  "A riverfront resort
featuring 30 Victorian one, two and three-bedroom cottages some with
fireplaces and whirlpool baths. Amenities include TV, VCR, screened
porches and full kitchens. Activities available: Riverside pool,
tennis, basketball, volleyball, bicycles, canoes, landscaped gardens,
pontoon boat rides, wilderness trails, scalloping and fishing. Great
bird watching area."  According to Mapblast, it's 36 minutes away from
Old Town.
http://www.flausa.com/destinations/moreinfo.php/location=ca-st/ZID23=4531/ListingFormat=acc

Some more information can be found at
http://www.steinhatcheelanding.com/

From everything I've found, this is the quintessential small town.  I
called up the Sewanee Chamber of Commerce (352-542-7349), which
apparently also doubles as the marina, so at first I thought I might
have had the wrong number. (I said it was a small town).  Bill Miller,
the owner of the marina and president of the chamber, didn't know
about any vacation homes, but he told me to call back in the morning
after 8 a.m. to talk to his son, who has a Century 21 franchise and
might know more about vacation properties.  So, there is an additional
resource for you to try.

Information about the Dixie County Chamber of Commerce can be found
at:
http://www.dixiecounty.org/member.html

Another possible source of information could be here:
http://www.suwanneeriverchamber.com/lodging-restaurants.htm

Here are some other places to look around Dixie County, FL:
http://www.flausa.com/destinations/accommodations.php/location=ca-st/Lrec=0/Hrec=9/pageno=1/pHighRate=9999/pMain_City=Chiefland

Search Terms:
Google: Old Town, FL 32680 Vacation Homes
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=Old+Town%2C+FL+32680+Vacation+Homes

Old Town, FL Vacation Homes
://www.google.com/search?q=Old+Town,+FL+Vacation+Homes&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=10&sa=N

Some things to do in Dixie County:
http://www.purewaterwilderness.com/dixiecountythingstodo.htm

Sherlock Search Terms (no URLs avail):
Dixie County, Florida Vacation Homes
Map of Florida Zoom
Old Town, Gainesville Florida Vacation
Old Town, FL

I hope you find somewhere among these to suit your requirements. Happy
hunting!

Thanks for the great answer, drmetz.  Excellent work, and exactly what
I was looking for.
An extra star for you for using 'quintessential' in your answer :-)

Here are a couple of sites that may have what you are looking for, 
http://www.floridavacations.com,http://www.vacationkeywest.com