I think Florida helps, but the 6 meter work is E skip, when its there, its 
there.  If you run CW, you multiply your effective signal by a factor of 10, 
because you can be  received in at least 1 tenth the band width.  a 5 4 9 CW 
signal can be quite readable.  If you live in an apartment, its certainly 
worth learning the code.  If you live in a house, its certainly fun and 
useful to learn the code as well.  I have never wanted to run power, and 
with CW I never have needed more than 100 watts.