Charleston, SC. WOW. Never in a million years did I consider I might be moving - not only to the South, but to the BEACH !!!! Born in the midwest, raised in Northern California, college in San Francisco then off to Chicago for five winters, back to San Francisco, transferred to New Jersey, transferred to Los Angeles and then, back to San Francisco (full circle) where I snapped up an early retirement package and moved to Arizona where my son had just gotten transferred. I hope no English teacher reads that last sentence!! Whew. I have never lived in the south. Oh, I vacationed in Florida once, but last years drive from Little Rock to Greenville was my first real exposure to the Southern lifestyle.

My first reaction to something new is to google. So, yesterday I got busy. Of first concern is How Hot Is It Going to BE?? (Remember, I'm coming from Arizona). First site I found says:


"Weathermen find it boring. The rest of us find it delightful.

The Charleston area has a semi-tropical climate with typically mild winters and warm summers."

I think Charleston just passed the weather test. I like to garden (one of the reasons I need to get the heck out of Arizona) and there is no doubt I can get back to growing veggies and roses in a semi-tropical climate. Woo Hoo.



Next test is overall ambiance....is the place attractive. From the map above, I would suspect the answer is yes. Note all the water. No matter where I choose to live, it looks like some water recreational area is nearby. In addition to gardening, I also am a birdwatcher.


I did some research on birds in South Carolina and I found this site with a lot of beautiful bird pictures.

Birds of South Carolina

Now, as so much of the area is beach, swamp, marsh, rivers, one has to learn to be on the lookout for these guys -



Could be hazardous to your health if you are walking around in the wetlands looking for a rare bird and run into an alligator. I did learn, via google, that there have been no alligator deaths in South Carolina recently, although they had a nasty critter down in Florida that did a couple of people in.

Link to a website discussing alligators in SC and Georgia.

Alligators of South Carolina and Georgia

To get back to the overall ambiance, Charleston is certainly a historic city. A colony arrived even before St. Augustine (credited as oldest city in America) but it failed and the next attempt came a year or so after St. Augustine. Here is a great site to read up on Charleston history.

Charleston Community History

I am looking forward to seeing Charleston, walking the cobblestone streets, visiting the gardens and historical houses. Here are a few pictures I found.















I think it is going to be just fine.

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Clay Aiken
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