It seems like months ago since I tossed the old "Sale by Owner" sign into the first dumpster. Needless to say it's been a long time since we returned from the Lowcountry on January 18th. That's when we decided not to wait until next year to make the move selling the house and moving to South Carolina. You can see that recap, HERE.
Selling a house coupled with a big move takes lots of strategy and tactics, and lots of planning. There's no doubt we've busted our butts getting the ball in motion. One of the hard dates we planned for was today, May 22nd.
That's was going to be the day that the home went on the open market, most likely with a realtor. Well, that's today, and we're not signed up with one and the home isn't hitting the MLS or Zillow. The plans went sideways, well hopefully forward, when a young couple saw our "Coming Soon" sign on the front lawn and gave Theresa a call. That was about a month ago and now we wait for the word if things will move forward with them, following a no-doubt brutal series of home inspections, or will we have to go in a different direction. As Tom Petty sang in his song, The Waiting, "Waiting is the hardest part". I still feel optimistic, somewhat, that these are the buyers, but only time, just a little bit more, will tell. We haven't heard a peep from them all week, which has my doubt meter raised.
Luckily this past Monday I kicked off the student's psych semester and the mix of classroom and clinical at Capital Health and the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital has kept my mind busy and not obsessing over things I can't control. Theresa and I are still having early AM and late PM sessions on Zillow looking at what's available down in Sun City, but that is stressful as well. Like I've said before it's hard to house shop 750 miles away.
But our search has produced a home that we both agree could be the one. Nice home, good location, and in a realistic price range. It's funny, as soon as we had a price agreed on the sale of our house, we moved up the amount of potential homes down there into the next price bracket. I guess we never learn. "Just some more space". "What if lots of people visit?". "We can afford it". So, with the prospect of giving some money back on the sale we became real, and responsible. The goal is to downsize and simplify, not to get the most for the most.
And this house is good in a fishing way as well. Sun City, in Okatie, Jasper County, is about 13 miles from Hilton Head, but there's plenty of fishy water between home and the island.
So while checking out the listings on Zillow and looking at kitchens and floor plans which helps rule houses in and out I look for other things as well. Sun City is a huge 5,000 acre complex and finding a home inside can be overwhelming. Things like distances to the amenities and exits are things to consider. I also pull up how the sun travels over each property to see
what part if the house we can burn insects through the windows during each part of the day. It gets hot, like stupid hot, these days in New Jersey, and even hotter during the summer months down in South Carolina.
When we toured some houses down there it wasn't uncommon to find handle protectors on the exterior doors, put in place so you don't get 3rd degree burns on your fingers when you go to open your door during the hottest parts of the day.
But while doing my Google Earth intel gathering I noticed that fishable water is even closer than I thought. Part of Sun City is called Riverbend, why?, well because it borders the Colleton River. The Colleton River is a 7-mile long reach of tidewater that empties into the Chechessee and Broad Rivers and Port Royal Sound, which then opens up to the Atlantic Ocean between Hilton Head to the south and Beaufort County to the north.
So our home is a short golf cart drive out of the Sun City North neighborhood to Riverbend, which is just across Route 170. There the headwaters and mud flats on the Colleton River can be accessed at the Riverbend Pool and Park which is private and for homeowners, which will hopefully be us sooner then later.
I calculated it out with the help of Google Earth and it's a 1.43 mile golf cart drive to the pier at Riverbend Pool and Park. There you can find a long pier and mud flats you can fly fish on incoming tides.
And what does the internet tell me about fishing in the Colleton River? Nothing but good, from reds, to cobia, to specks, to tarpon, and sharks. Sounds like a good place for me.
I hate to say it but it might sound like I'll need some type of additional watercraft other than the Jones to access these skinny water spots. A paddle board? Yeah, no, surely I would fall in and get eaten by the gators. Kayak? I hate fishing from kayaks, but I might have to learn. At least one would get me out to the flats, channels, and oyster beds on lower tides. I'd hate to see Theresa's face when I tell her I need another vessel? In eight years she's seen a bunch come and go. My two-person pontoon boat (sold), my drift boat from the Upper Delaware (sold), my first Jones Brother's boat (sold), Jim's Jones Brother's boat (waiting for the trip south and for some plastic surgery), the first SS Archer (sold), the second SS Archer (now in the Vineyard), two kayaks (sold), and the jet boat (sold). I know it's coming, and probably sooner than later, when we get down there. Walking on those flats and oyster beds and in that pluff mud isn't easy, and can be dangerous.
But before that we'll have to get our hands on a golf cart so I can zip around, you know, to the gym, and the pool, and the Colleton River. I'll have to make some type of fly rod carrier so I look cool, otherwise below is what my neighbors will be seeing more often then not.
And as I end this week in a state of flux I thought about going fishing. Surely after the rain the river bumped up a bit and there will be herring and bass navigating the higher flows....yeah right. We must be in a severe drought by now, I can't remember New Jersey being this dry in years. Soon the massive wildfires will start to flare up. After that deluge of rain the river is still at
late summer flows. This 3rd week of May and it's running at 7,640 cfs? Cmon man? Someone is going to have to open the gates up at the New York reservoirs soon or else the crabs and bluefish will be up in Trenton due to the creeping salt line with no water keeping it in check downriver. And yes, there have been crabs, bluefish, and even a whale that has hit Trenton over the years.
Luckily the water temps are now around 70 after almost hitting 80 during the heat we had last week. But even if things were to be different I still haven't picked up my truck after her facelift from Maaco as of yet. Maybe today, that'll make me feel better heading into the rainy Memorial Day Weekend. I already slathered the windows with Rain-X and new wipers, hopefully that'll be all she needs for a while.