Florida residents (or frequent visitors)- where to stay?

I know there are quite a few Florida residents here, so I thought I would ask if you can give me any advice on where to stay near Everglades National Park.

We are thinking about taking a vacation to Florida around Thanksgiving or Christmas. We will most likely fly into Ft. Lauderdale and rent a car. We want to mostly do outdoor stuff, hiking in the national parks, going to the ocean, etc, so we'd prefer to say out of big towns. Any advice on where we can find decent accommodations? I would love to rent a cabin, but I've done a little searching and just found expensive beach rentals. I'd love to stay in something like that, but they look too expensive!

If we find a nice cabin that's affordable, I want to book early so we can get a spot. :)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have!

There's a lot of Florida to see, and The Everglades is huge - any idea which part or parts you want to see?

If you don't want to do the hotel/motel thing, try For Rent by Owner at www.frbo.com. A friend of mine uses it all the time. He says it's the only way to go.