Well, I figured it’s been a while since I posted something and if I don’t keep the content fresh on the website, all my legions of fans will fade away and my editor (me) will get fired. Actually, I haven’t had much to report on lately. We’ve been checking out neighborhoods in and around Fernandina Beach, St. Augustine, Savannah, Hilton Head and Charleston on our never-ending quest for the perfect town. Whenever I get discouraged, I think about Ponce de Leon doing the same thing in 1492, except he was in an old boat and 1000’s of nautical miles from Spain. And yes, he was looking for The Fountain of Youth (Viagra had not yet been invented, much to the chagrin of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella), so his quest was a bit harder.
As for the search….we have found some amazing communities here and in Savannah and Charleston. Unfortunately, to get a great lot with a great view and not have to stare into another home ten feet away, you pretty much have to live in a gated golf course subdivision….which means the monthly HOA fees are outrageous and your money is basically used to keep up the golf course. Since we don’t play golf and never intend to (since my bionic back operation, I can’t twist anyway), the ridiculous monthly fees are a waste for us. Oh and I forgot to mention the “one time” fee to join most of these clubs is about $25,000, which the realtors conveniently forget to tell you until the tour is over (don’t you hate it when people do that?). Too bad, since we found some absolutely beautiful homes near Hilton Head and Savannah. An even bigger problem for us than the up front costs was that most were way out of town and not near all the fun stuff we like to do….an automatic deal-breaker for us. I guess the people who live in these clubs never leave…just wake up, play golf, eat lunch at the club, go home and swim in the pool, play some more golf, back to the club for dinner and martini’s at 6:00, then home by 9:00 to watch reruns of Lawrence Welk. Yikes….shoot me now and get it over with!
We did have a great time exploring Charleston….without a doubt one of the prettiest cities in the US (I posted some pictures) and one with an amazing history (start of the Civil War took place there). While walking through Battery Park, we stopped by the beautiful old fountain which overlooks the harbor, the beautiful mansions and Fort Sumter. Tuck, doing what labs do best, headed into the fountain to cool off. Oh well, it was early in the morning and no one really cares anyway. At least he didn’t pee in the water. Anyway, I digress. Check out the pictures, as the mansions that ring Battery Park are among the finest in the country and front and center is one of the homes used in the movie Gone With the Wind. Pretty cool to think about Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh walking around exactly where we were standing. The amazing thing is….the homes look exactly the same as they did when they were built in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. The Charleston Historical Society makes sure of that. Nothing can be repainted, replaced or remodeled without approval from a panel of historians and museum curators. Gee…that sounds like a lot of fun.
Charleston does have a dark past though and when walking around the old town where the slave ships docked and the slave auctions used to be held, it does give you the creeps. I applaud the town for not only restoring all the old buildings, but turning most of them in to working museums so others can learn from past mistakes (Trump…..are you listening?). The Civil War divided the country along racial lines then and unfortunately it continues to do so to this day. Very sad.
That’s about it for now kids. I’ll write more later after Claudia and I do some more exploring. Who knows…maybe we’ll stumble across the Fountain of Youth when we’re in St. Augustine later next week…or find an old Spanish doubloon in the sand (that’s another story).
Cheers!
Wayne, Claudia & Tuck