Great Journey of 2019 - Episode 1 of Season 5
Season 5 is not for fun. As I mentioned in Season 1, this trip is a continuation of our search for a new residence. A location where we can retire to. We are tired of the cold and snow of Minnesota. We are also trying to extend our retirement dollar. With retirement outside of Minnesota, we anticipate a cheaper cost of living due to lower taxes and living expenses.
What is our plan? As we did last November, we will go into a prospective area and get a feel for the land. We evaluate the terrain. We check out the commerce to tell if the area is prospering or dying. We try to use resources such as google, and AAA guide books to learn about the area. We tour different communities in the area to see if they have housing that we would like and can afford. We are not house hunting!
We had already ruled out Florida because it just to far South East. Since we want to travel in retirement, Florida would add a couple more days for us to get anywhere. Admittedly, the time with our friends, Mark and Delores, early in this journey has caused us to step back and rethink about Florida. I guess the jury is still deliberating on that.
We also have ruled out the eastern area of North and South Carolina for the same reason as Florida; they are simply too far away from the rest of the USA. We still hold true to this decision.
Day 1 - Mar 9
Packing up for this leg was easy. The warm weather clothes were still packed up tight. We just had to bag up the dirty clothes into one bag and set up a single bag to carry in for tonight,
We got up, cleaned up and went down to the motel lobby for the included breakfast. They were out of everything. No free breakfast at the inn for us. We packed up the car and headed across the street to McDonalds for breakfast.
We left town going north along the coast to Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach was another first for both of us. We stopped in town and walked over to the beach. It was another chilly and overcast day, so we didn't play in the water, just walked the beach.
Then we loaded back into the car and headed farther north along Myrtle Beach and found a quaint seafood restaurant; Sea Captains House. This would be our last sea food meal along the coast until our return to the coast. The hush puppies were scrumptious. The Fish was great!
After a great lunch we said a sad goodbye to the ocean and beach. From Myrtle beach we turned west on the interstate and barreled over to Columbia SC for the night.
Coming into Columbia SC we got lost when relying on the GPS. The GPS took us into downtown, which I will say was alive and active. When we corrected our issues, we found that our Motel was actually outside of town along side the freeway without a restaurant within walking distance.
We had collected several different left overs in the last few days. Neither of us wanted to pile back into the car and drive to a restaurant. LoriAnn suggested we just relax in the motel room and have left over's for dinner. Quite a buffet!
Day 2 - Mar 10
This morning we headed toward Greenville SC. On the way there we passed through Powdersville, and then into Easley. Both of these towns had homes built in the period we were looking for. They also had commerce that indicated new growth. And then we got to Clemson.
LoriAnn, for some odd reason liked the name Clemson and wanted to tour the Clemson University. We both were impressed with the campus we found. It was compact with no intrusion of city into the campus. We set out to find the football stadium. "The stadium is also known as "Death Valley" after a Presbyterian College head coach gave it the moniker in 1948 due to the many defeats his teams suffered there. Currently, it is the 16th largest stadium in college football." LoriAnn had me park (illegally) so we could get out of the car and take a selfie with the football stadium in the background.
From Clemson we continued into Greenville. After touring the Clemson and Greenville area we agreed the area had potential. There were area's with homes that could work. However, we are concerned with the distance east.
When we left Greenville, LoriAnn chose the route we took to Asheville. She picked a route through the mountains that was very twisty. Highway 178 would be be a great ride on the motorcycle. But in the car, it was hard work, turning through all the winding corners. We made it to Asheville, and found one of our favorite restaurants, Texas Roadhouse, right next to our motel. Very convenient way to end the day.
Day 3 - Mar 11
Today was suppose to be a play day. Our objective was to visit the Biltmore estate in Asheville. Our plan was to tour most of the day, and then make a run to Gatlinburg TN late in the afternoon. But because we failed to practice the 7 P's (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance) we failed to make early reservations to tour the house. The earliest we would have been able to tour the home was 330 PM. If we allowed 1.5 hours for the home tour, we wouldn't be leaving for Gatlinburg until close to 6 PM. That would put us into Galtinburrg late in the evening.
We decided to put the Biltmore back on the list of things to due. Instead, we toured the city of Asheville and then we took a leisurely ride down Blue Ridge Parkway, and then into the Smokey mountains to Gatlinburg TN. Although it was an overcast day, there were a lot of beautiful vistas and exciting scenes. At this time of year, there were very few other travelers so we could stop pretty much where we wanted.
Getting into town early, we walked along the Gatlinburg strip to an Italian Restaurant for dinner. It was great food, and again we had left overs.
We have eliminated Asheville from our list because home costs were greater than our budget.
Come back for episode 2 of season 5 to read about the other towns we visited in our search!
You can easily follow this site by entering your email in the spot in the upper corner.
What is our plan? As we did last November, we will go into a prospective area and get a feel for the land. We evaluate the terrain. We check out the commerce to tell if the area is prospering or dying. We try to use resources such as google, and AAA guide books to learn about the area. We tour different communities in the area to see if they have housing that we would like and can afford. We are not house hunting!
We had already ruled out Florida because it just to far South East. Since we want to travel in retirement, Florida would add a couple more days for us to get anywhere. Admittedly, the time with our friends, Mark and Delores, early in this journey has caused us to step back and rethink about Florida. I guess the jury is still deliberating on that.
We also have ruled out the eastern area of North and South Carolina for the same reason as Florida; they are simply too far away from the rest of the USA. We still hold true to this decision.
Day 1 - Mar 9
Packing up for this leg was easy. The warm weather clothes were still packed up tight. We just had to bag up the dirty clothes into one bag and set up a single bag to carry in for tonight,
We got up, cleaned up and went down to the motel lobby for the included breakfast. They were out of everything. No free breakfast at the inn for us. We packed up the car and headed across the street to McDonalds for breakfast.
We left town going north along the coast to Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach was another first for both of us. We stopped in town and walked over to the beach. It was another chilly and overcast day, so we didn't play in the water, just walked the beach.
Then we loaded back into the car and headed farther north along Myrtle Beach and found a quaint seafood restaurant; Sea Captains House. This would be our last sea food meal along the coast until our return to the coast. The hush puppies were scrumptious. The Fish was great!
After a great lunch we said a sad goodbye to the ocean and beach. From Myrtle beach we turned west on the interstate and barreled over to Columbia SC for the night.
Coming into Columbia SC we got lost when relying on the GPS. The GPS took us into downtown, which I will say was alive and active. When we corrected our issues, we found that our Motel was actually outside of town along side the freeway without a restaurant within walking distance.
We had collected several different left overs in the last few days. Neither of us wanted to pile back into the car and drive to a restaurant. LoriAnn suggested we just relax in the motel room and have left over's for dinner. Quite a buffet!
Day 2 - Mar 10
This morning we headed toward Greenville SC. On the way there we passed through Powdersville, and then into Easley. Both of these towns had homes built in the period we were looking for. They also had commerce that indicated new growth. And then we got to Clemson.
LoriAnn, for some odd reason liked the name Clemson and wanted to tour the Clemson University. We both were impressed with the campus we found. It was compact with no intrusion of city into the campus. We set out to find the football stadium. "The stadium is also known as "Death Valley" after a Presbyterian College head coach gave it the moniker in 1948 due to the many defeats his teams suffered there. Currently, it is the 16th largest stadium in college football." LoriAnn had me park (illegally) so we could get out of the car and take a selfie with the football stadium in the background.
From Clemson we continued into Greenville. After touring the Clemson and Greenville area we agreed the area had potential. There were area's with homes that could work. However, we are concerned with the distance east.
When we left Greenville, LoriAnn chose the route we took to Asheville. She picked a route through the mountains that was very twisty. Highway 178 would be be a great ride on the motorcycle. But in the car, it was hard work, turning through all the winding corners. We made it to Asheville, and found one of our favorite restaurants, Texas Roadhouse, right next to our motel. Very convenient way to end the day.
Day 3 - Mar 11
Today was suppose to be a play day. Our objective was to visit the Biltmore estate in Asheville. Our plan was to tour most of the day, and then make a run to Gatlinburg TN late in the afternoon. But because we failed to practice the 7 P's (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance) we failed to make early reservations to tour the house. The earliest we would have been able to tour the home was 330 PM. If we allowed 1.5 hours for the home tour, we wouldn't be leaving for Gatlinburg until close to 6 PM. That would put us into Galtinburrg late in the evening.
We decided to put the Biltmore back on the list of things to due. Instead, we toured the city of Asheville and then we took a leisurely ride down Blue Ridge Parkway, and then into the Smokey mountains to Gatlinburg TN. Although it was an overcast day, there were a lot of beautiful vistas and exciting scenes. At this time of year, there were very few other travelers so we could stop pretty much where we wanted.
Getting into town early, we walked along the Gatlinburg strip to an Italian Restaurant for dinner. It was great food, and again we had left overs.
We have eliminated Asheville from our list because home costs were greater than our budget.
Come back for episode 2 of season 5 to read about the other towns we visited in our search!
You can easily follow this site by entering your email in the spot in the upper corner.
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