re: Moving to Florida

Only you know what is best for you, but if I were in your shoes, I would choose to live closer to the Pensacola Beach/Navarre communities (which are located on Santa Rosa Island, southeast of the City of Pensacola) and commute to work from there. That way you're near enough to work, always near the beach outside of work, and still close enough to a real city (Pensacola). In the grand scheme of things, the City of Pensacola isn't the greatest city in the world, but it does have a decent Gulf Coast-style bar/party scene (while not as good of a bar district or Mardi Gras as Mobile or New Orleans, it is still respectable).