The wife has started talking about moving to a warmer climate in earnest lately. The criteria for our supposed new home are: no more than an hour from the ocean, there MUST be a pool and there needs to be facilities for the horse she wants so badly. Sounds good to me! I like North Carolina and Raleigh is a good city. Moving to Raleigh (or the greater Raleigh area) sounds good to me.
We'd probably want to be somewhere between Raleigh and the ocean to get what Mrs. HDM wants. Raleigh, NC is a city with some colonial charm, which would appeal to my Boston sensibilities and they have a good airport. There's also good minor league baseball in the area should I get the urge to catch a game. I could see myself livimg there once the older kids clear out of the house.
We won't be calling anyRaleigh moving companies for a few more years, but it's always nice to keep educated about options!
A New Home
If Ignorance is Bliss, what is Wedded Bliss?
As you may know, I am married. For the second time. Some call that the triumph of Hope over Experience. I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have a fancy, Southern Style North Carolina Wedding.
Then I slap myself and smarten up. I live in Boston fercryinoutloud. The only way I'd have a North Carolina Wedding is if I married a gal from North Carolina.
I married a Canadian Brit, we got married on the beach. In sideways rain.
Maybe we should have gone South and had a North Carolina Wedding. At least it would have been warm rain.
Free Raleigh, NC Getaway
I've written in the past about moving South someday. North Carolina is one of our favorite dream destinations. Anyone who has flown South has probably connected through Raleigh/Durham airport-I have a bunch of times- but not many have taken the time to explore the city of Raleigh. Since I come from Boston, much of the USA and many of its cities looks like homogeneous urban sprawl to me. Boston is a city with colonial charm and an "old world" feel. So is Raleigh-it has been around almost as long as Boston and it has that charm.
Raleigh is also a heck of a lot more affordable than Boston! For the money we spent on our spacious town home in the burbs of Boston, we could buy a MANSION in Raleigh! There's a lot of fun stuff to do in Raleigh too. The Durham Bulls (minor league baseball) is nearby. Minor League baseball is a great pass-time in my book. Good baseball without the whiny millionaires.
The great thing about Raleigh is it has the feel, sophistication and charm of a Northeast City without all the hustle bustle. The Southern, relaxed atmosphere is far less hectic and stressful. There's lots of great stuff to do in Raleigh. It's a fantastic place to plan a Fall Getaway. There are many wonderful small concert venues with international talent nearly every week of the year. You could see Trace Adkins in Concert if you wanted to. Elvis Costello is even performing with the North Carolina Symphony. (I wonder if they'll do "Pump it Up?")
There are two things I love: Travel and Free Stuff. I may have found a really cool contest and it involves Raleigh. You could win a Free Raleigh Getaway by registering with the Raleigh Convention and Visitor's Bureau Free Vacation Site. If you win, you get:
-$25 gift certificate to Bloomsbury Bistro
-Free VIP admission for two to Rum Runners
-2 tickets to the North Carolina Theatre
-2 tickets to the N.C. Museum of Art’s Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism
-2 tickets to Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences.
Winning a free vacation is definitely worth 5 minutes of my time!
Nothin' Would be Finer
Every once in a while the wife and I talk/dream of leaving the hustle bustle of the Northeast for a warmer climate and a more relaxed lifestyle. North Carolina is a destination that comes up quite often. We both love the mountains and the Appalacian Trail begins down South and snakes through the Smoky Mountains near the idyllic community of Asheville, North Carolina.
This small city is surrounded by the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains and offers a wide variety of outdoor recreational and cultural activities. There is a plethora of places for hiking, white water rafting and tubing. Asheville has a symphony, theatre, art galleries and fine dining. It is a popular vacation spot and features many Bed and Breakfast Inns for weekend getaway. There are also opportunities for skiers in the winter months.
This is the type of place we'd love to move to someday and settle into one of the many North Carolina mountain homes in the area. Asheville is the perfect combination of a small town with big city amenities (without the big city hassles) and is a littered with North Carolina mountain homes.
Once our kids get out of high school, we'd love to sell our house and retire to the scenic beauty of North Carolina and find our very own North Carolina mountain home to call our own.
