Hi BW,
I met my husband online. It took years to find the right guy, but I dated some awesome people.
You just have to be careful. I dated guys for ages before I told them where I lived. And... you must always meet the guy first at a public place.
I always did a cursory check (whatever I could find for free) online before meeting anyone, because I'm sure that any halfway intelligent person could track me down through my license plate. However, after a while, you can "read" a guy's comments and "read" his bio.
Here are some other thoughts:
http://boomerinas.com/2012/08/12-places-to-meet-men-over-50-in-the-real-world/Tina Boomerina