Thanks for the input, Road Fan. I am very happy to have all the input people have been giving me. Everyone's comments seem to be spot on.
After thinking about it, I think I am going to be compulsive (ultimately) about a bike that has the proportions that fit my body. The "downside" is my long legs. On the other hand, I also have long arms (which will make it easier to sit up straight like I want to) and broad shoulders so that even bikes designed more for a man will suit me better than the average woman. I don't think I have ever been compulsive about fit for a bike. It's funny, but even with clothes that fit perfectly, I get a whole different feel -- it's like I feel sprightly! -- no distractions.
I am totally haunted by that Pashley Princess!!!! One drawback is that I don't think there are any dealers close to me so I could try one out. I completely agree that it will take some time to find out which bike really works for its intended purpose. One pro is that a 22.5" frame is a STANDARD size for the Princess (Oh Oh -- now I am starting to rationalize!! danger. danger.)
As for the drawbacks, and there are many: The Princess seems to only come with 5 gears and it appears to be a heavy bike. With the uneven topography in my neighborhood, that means some work. Nearly every day is a great day to do outdoor activity in San Diego because the average temp year 'round is a sunny 70. One downside to that, though, is that we don't have a lot of nice shade trees lining our streets and the sun and reflected heat off pavement can really take it's toll on you.
I have also decided that my main goal for a bike is leisure, not exercise, and not a lot of sweating! I am fit and strong and can probably manage to stay that way another 20 years. Maybe I would soon adapt to a heavy bike, with few gears for use on hills (I grew up in Wisconsin and every time the snow melted in spring, even in my teens, there would be a period of a week or so when my quads would BURN from riding my bike after a winter of no biking!), but spending 4 figures on an experiment seems ill-advised.
Someone gave me a small huffy five gear, step-through bike. It is a rattle trap and even with tweaking and new brake pads, the gears don't shift well and it takes me at least 5 feet to come to a complete stop. Riding that bike, though, is how I discovered that we have hills. Somehow, I totally overlook that fact otherwise!
I am sort of leaning toward getting a basic schwinn bike -- probably a suburban after the input from this forum, with as big a frame as I can find and trying it out for a while to get a good feel for how I ultimately will use a bike (assuming there may be some discrepancies between my bike use fantasies and reality! A reality/fact gap seems to be ubiquitous). I figure I can probably find a decent vintage schwinn/raleigh with some of the features I am seeking for a little over $100 and that I would get back at least $100 in self education from it. After that, if I don't luck out by making a perfect choice from the get-go, I could probably sell it easily for at least half what I paid for it, then apply what I have learned to getting something more tailored to my needs.