House Hunting

Thursday, May 16

Eric and I drove Elissa to Summerville very early to meet her ride for some training at the Air Force Base.  We hung out in Starbucks for awhile and made some calls.  Eric talked to Elissa and Jonathan's realtor for awhile and got the news that the stolen refrigerator would not be replaced and probably not compensated for.  That could be a deal breaker.  After things started opening up, we headed over to the Summerville visitors center for some sweet tea and real estate and apartment guides.  Summerville is the birthplace of sweet tea. The ladies there invited us to stay in town this evening for their "Third Thursday" celebration.  Stores stay open, booths set up and bands were to play bluegrass all over town.  We stopped in Belks to look for a swimsuit for our upcoming trip to Mexico.  Success! and they were having customer appreciation day so we got some great prices. 

We had some great tacos at Montreaux Pub and Grill.  Eric loves this place.  He usually waits in here, while Elissa and I go shopping and to the yarn store. 

The Montreux Grill and Pub - it is a Charleston-style building

Eric and I spent the afternoon looking at apartment complexes.  After that, we were too tired to stay and enjoy the "Third Thursday" activities. 

Friday, May 17

 Elissa and I went across a huge bridge and onto one of the islands around Charleston to go shopping in Mt. Pleasant.  They had a beautiful mall area that looked like "tropical mall town".  Elissa got a pretty swimsuit to wear this summer.

Saturday, May 18

Elissa and Jonathan participated in a color run at the base.  They walked/ran a 3k course and at certain points people sprayed them with liquid color or threw powdered color on them. 

Elissa and Jon covered in paint

In the afternoon while Elissa was at work, Eric, Jonathan and I went to Summerville to check out neighborhoods.  It was so tiring driving around and checking out several possible neighborhoods. 

Sunday, May 19

After lunch, we went swimming in the White Gables neighborhood pool.  We didn't actually swim.  It was a bit cold and it started raining shortly after we got there. We met a realtor in White Gables and looked through three houses.  We all really liked one of them and Elissa and Jonathan are planning to make an offer on it.  The house is vacant so hopefully they can get in fairly quickly.  

The house we liked best

After looking at houses, we visited with Elissa and Jonathan's friends, Melissa and David who live in White Gables.  We stayed and charcoaled hamburgers with them.  They were very nice and Elissa and Jonathan would love to live near them. 

Monday, May 20

We packed for our Mexico trip.  We will head to Charlotte, NC on Tuesday and then fly to Mexico on Wednesday morning.  It is about a two and a half hour flight from Charlotte so we will arrive before noon which is nice.  We will be gone through the 31st, so no blogging until I get back. 

In the evening, we headed back over to Summerville to look at the house in White Gables that Elissa and Jonathan liked in order to inspect it a little closer before they make an offer.   

Leaving Oklahoma

Thursday May 9 - Saturday May 11

We are now homeless.  It feels liberating to know we can live wherever we want. 

We had sent ahead a few boxes by Greyhound bus - hopefully they will arrive about the time we get there. 

 

boxes for the greyhound bus trip

 It was really nice to get our possessions pared down.  We still have some work to do in downsizing, but we are getting closer to where we want to be.

We left the red dirt of Oklahoma behind us and headed for South Carolina. Our first day of driving, we made it to about 45 minutes south of Memphis to Olive Branch, Mississippi.  Day two we made it to Augusta, Georgia.  Day 3 we headed across South Carolina.  We decided to take the scenic route across the middle of the state rather than the interstate route.  The route took us through rural South Carolina and through several small towns.  When we started seeing signs for Lowcountry this and that, we knew we were close.  We stopped in Summerville and met Elissa and Jonathan at Perfectly Franks for lunch.  It was so good to see them again.  We had a nice lunch then walked around Summerville and did a bit of shopping.  Elissa and Jonathan took us to the White Gables addition in Summerville to look at the house they are trying to buy.  The house was very pretty and the neighborhood was really nice.  They did notice that the fancy refrigerator that was supposed to be included in the house, was missing.  Jonathan e-mailed the realtor about it when we got home.

Sunday May 12

Mother's day.  We cooked some chicken and chopped some veggies, then we went to a nice park at the Naval Weapons Station for a picnic lunch of chicken and veggie pitas.  The park was located by a pretty lake covered with lilies.  

The weather was perfect for a picnic.  Mid-afternoon, Eric, Elissa and I went to Starbucks for coffee.   

Monday, May 13

I took Elissa to her chiropractor appointment.  Her chiropractor specializes in dealing with pregnant women.  Jonathan got an e-mail from the realtor saying that someone had broken into the house and stolen the refrigerator.  The police were fingerprinting the place.  I am so glad we all stuck our hands all over the windows peaking in. 

Tuesday, May 14

Our boxes arrived in Summerville!  Eric and I went to the Summerville bus station to pick up our boxes.  They all arrived but the bus station was so tiny they were just piled up in front of the chairs in the waiting area.  We talked to the station manager who was very nice and friendly.  He helped us carry out half our boxes and we loaded them in the Subaru.  We had checked prices on storage units and managed to find a great rate on the far side of Summerville.  We delivered our first round of boxes to the storage space near where Elissa and Jonathan are trying to buy a new house.  After our first load, we decided to stop for lunch at a Mexican restaurant that we had discoved last summer that we really liked.  After lunch, we headed back to the bus station for our second load of boxes.  After our second load, we stopped at the prettiest Sonic in Summerville.  They had built it around a huge tree that had branches overhanging the drive-in.  We also stopped at the Summerville welcome center and picked up some maps.  Summerville is a very pretty town with lots of old, beautiful homes with big front porches.  It's nickname is FlowerTown.