Elgin.... Man things have changed since then. My wife accepted a position at May River HS. We will live in Sun City. May River HS is a new school because Bluffton is over populated. May River Sharks. She teaches AP Calc. Was offered job in 20 minutes of interview. We have already purchased a home. Ready to move. Have to clean some things up here regarding house. But I am stoked to move. Hot summers....bring it on....Bugs I'm ready! Some say it's hot...I say I love it! I'm all for driving south until you can no longer see "bridges ice over before roadways" bring hot weather on! Difference between 95 and 90 during those times is simply 5 degrees. Other 10 months out of year could mean 30 degrees! Big trade off! Bluffton is exploding. I have personal interest because of mother in law. Plus I just bought a house.
The weather is awesome down here. If you can get through late July and August when it feels like you soaked a comforter then put it in the dryer for 10 minutes on high heat and draped it over your head, you've got it whipped. This past winter wasn't normal according to locals. We got a snow storm and temps stayed freezing for a week or so. Other than that, winters here are like having several months of WV fall. I was just like you. I was stoked to move and people kept telling me about the bugs, heat, etc. and I said bring it on.
I will say though that I learned really quickly that living somewhere in the summer and vacationing somewhere in the summer are 2 different things. You'll learn a lot very quickly. There's a major difference in laying on the beach in July and doing your lawn work in July. I found this out when I thought I was having a heat stroke after working on my patio in July for only 20 minutes. You learn to get up and get stuff done early before that sun comes out. That includes stuff like even grocery shopping. If you're like me, you'll also drink a lot more water and not want heavy food in the summer time.
The bugs are also no joke. A qualified exterminator is a must. We never used one in WV, because we thought the chemicals were more dangerous than the bugs up there. Not the case down here. The day we closed on our house, I found a black widow with a web full of babies.Like I mentioned in a previous post, the skeeters are the state bird of SC and palmetto bug cockroaches are everywhere and even with an exterminator, they are hard to keep away. There are also these bugs the locals call "See-me-nots" (self explanatory) and they will eat you alive. In late August and September, there are these laboratory created bugs that infest everything called love bugs. They are called that because you never see only one of them. The horny little boogers swarm you constantly while they are stuck together doing the nasty. I swear if you listen closely, you can hear insect porno music for about 3-4 weeks. An exterminator can also tell you some snake repelling ideas since you are moving from an area with 2 species of poisonous snakes to an area with quite a few species.
One more thing you will notice is the long intense allergy season, which I am bearing right now. We started seeing thick pollen everywhere and buds on the trees around the second week of February and it hasn't let up since. I'm hoping that the end of it is near.
You'll love it down in this region though. The only things I miss are my family and friends and going to Marshall events. Other than those things, I wouldn't move back to WV if someone paid me to. If you're like me, you'll love the beaches, culture, Gullah Geechee food, activities, fairs and festivals, concerts, etc. Here in the Charleston area, we never get bored. There is always something to do. Another thing is the sunshine. In the winter, even if its not warm, most of the time the sky is blue and you see the sun. In WV, it seemed to turn gray and gloomy in September and stay that way most of the time until April. I hated that. I love the fact that I finally had to break down and buy expensive sunglasses because they are necessary. We actually thought about moving to Beaufort had my wife had to take a job in Hampton, but they put her in Summerville so we moved up this way. Like I said, you'll love it.
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