Why are we moving to Spruce Creek?
We had for some time felt that although the Virginia house was gorgeous and our dream house (this is the back of it):
it was too big, too much work, too close to Washington with all the traffic, and too expensive in upkeep. We also no longer made the most of all the area had to offer in the way of theater, museums etc. The question was, how much should we downsize and where should we move to? I (Peter) had for years been urging a move to a warmer winter climate, but Joyce was reluctant because she does not stand hot weather well.
We dismissed overseas locations because our family is all in North America. Canada is too cold in the winter, and we thought Mexico might be less stable. So we were left with Florida or Arizona, both having reasonably priced housing and a warm climate. We never followed up on Arizona, because really Joyce did not want a desert climate.
The winter of 2003/4 found us with more time on our hands than had been the case for the past several years, because we were no longer making several trips to the UK to see ailing parents. I looked on the internet and found a delightful condo on the water in Cedar Key, on the north west coast. So we booked to go there for two weeks in January and February 2004.
It was not really a house hunting trip. However, several years ago, in Manila, I had encountered an airline pilot, who enthused about Del Webb developments for 'active adults', so I had always been interested in this possibility. This year, on our way to Florida we decided to look at one of the Del Webb developments at Hilton Head on the southern South Carolina coast. We were not impressed, the houses were on narrow lots, with wavy walls, and Hilton Head, although it had an upscale reputation, looked very gloomy to us with limited access to the beaches and ocean.
We continued on to Cedar Key.
We were impressed with this old fishing town and port, past its best days. Our condo on the water had a gorgeous view to the east:
We ate fresh grouper and clams almost every day and, for a few minutes, we considered buying one of these condos. But there is little to do other than watch birds and fish - (we met a Canadian from Ontario who fishes every day for five months) too limiting for me, particularly as I wanted to be close to a good exercise facility.
Added to which a condo really did not, by a long shot, provide the space we wanted, so sanity prevailed
While we were at Cedar Key, on a rainy day, wondering what to do, I researched some information about another Del Webb development called Spruce Creek, about 12 miles south of Ocala, and we decided to go and see. We thought the houses were better designed and better built than at Hilton Head, the location nicer although it lacked trees, and the climate better. It was a gated community, which we wanted as we expect to travel in the future and wanted to be able to walk out and leave things securely looked after. In addition there were our good friends from Vancouver days, the Kenudsons, who had moved from Guam and Hawaii to Gainesville, about half an hour from Spruce Creek north on I75. They enthused about Florida.
After returning north, through the broken trees along I 95 in South Carolina, the aftermath of an ice storm, into snow in North Carolina, and into below freezing Virginia, we decided that we would move. We returned to Florida at the beginning of March. We did look around Gainesville, with the Kenudsons' agent, but finally decided that we preferred the package of amenities offered at Spruce Creek. So we returned to Spruce Creek, looked at lots, selected one backing onto a lake, and locked into the design and the options in three days.
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