Still Cottage Crazy!

We LOVE OUR  Paws & Paddles Cottage on Tybee Island, Georgia. A year or so ago I retired. That enabled us to spend the fall and winter of 2015 at the Cottage. It was great fun and we avoided the super cold weather, snow and ice in Virginia. Previous to retirement we were only able to spend a few weeks at the Cottage each year. The extended time we spent there in 2015 allowed us to make a number of improvements. Under floor insulation that reduced the humidity in the cottage which made the Cottage seem even warmer during cooler weather. The biggest visible change was adding beautiful pavers. We wanted to be able to walk through our Cottage gate and have our feet stay on pavers to the front door and to the back door. We also created new outdoor seating/grilling areas. 

The view from the front and walking down the side towards the back yard.

A great place to enjoy a glass of Wine and reflect on the day. 

A couple of shots of the side yard walking to the back porch/patio and Outdoor Shower

The New back patio for grilling/eating & relaxing. 

The pavers were installed by Olde Savannah Gardens. Heather & Ross Harrison were great. We were very pleased with the completed project. 

We liked it so much we have been discussing since March if this should be our full time residence?  As in most things in life there are many pros and cons. 

We LOVE Tybee. Fresh seafood from Bowie's just across the street...major yum. Painting classes, shops, restaurants, library, Y.M.C.A., the Monday Farmers Market, & the local grocery store are all a short bike ride away from our Cottage. Best of all...beautiful Savannah is 25 minutes from our front door. We love Savannah and all of her charms. 

We also LOVE Virginia's Blue Ridge mountains and enjoy spending time at nearby Smith Mountain Lake in the summer. SMLake has 500 miles of shore line. Lots of coves, a huge dam, and large expanses of beautiful blue water.  We think it is the prettiest fresh water lake on the east coast. A few photos follow to give you an idea of what this area is like. 

First kayak lesson with The SuperWonderfulGrandBoy! June 2016.

Captain Mike piloting the Toon around Smith Mountain Lake. 

Mike, Daughter and SuperWonderfulGrandBoy swimming at SMLake June 2016 

A pretty little sailboat under way at SMLake. Lots of power and sailboats at the lake. 

A nice young man paddle boarding with his dog on an INFLATABLE paddle board! Looks like fun.

They both are wearing life vests which is always a good idea when out alone on the water. 

Our Favorite SMLake Home.  It is NOT ours. Great and generous friends let us pretend to live there several times when they were traveling. It is an amazing home the photo wasn't large enough to take it all in. The water and sunset views, the beautiful large decks, a lovely boat dock and entertaining area, screened porch, & amazing landscaping, plus the stunning interiors was and is still the nicest place we have ever stayed! 

Our SuperWonderfulGrandBoy and his Mom live near Smith Mountain Lake and it is nice being close to them. We both have lots of family in the Roanoke area as well as some great friends. We also have made many wonderful friends in Tybee. Friends and Family enjoy spending time at Tybee and we have 3 bedrooms so that can work too. Lots to sort through on many fronts. We spend time hiking, walking the many greenways and biking in Virgininia.

I wanted to share these photos to give you a sense of the dilemma we face in deciding to move full time to Tybee Island or continue to maintain two residences. I miss our light bright Cottage with all the happy colors. We are living in an urban environment and it is wonderful in so many ways. Walking distance to everything. A garage and elevator. Our building &  living space is beautiful. We have realized we miss the light that we have in the cottage and nature. The little things like having hummingbird feeders, flowers & herbs, sun coming thorough the window, grass and outdoor spaces that are just yours. So we have spent months trying to figure this out. 

More on our plans soon!