I had intended on moving up to Seattle when I was able, but we ended up in Virginia, and… I’m definitely happy here. Nowhere is perfect, but it’s pretty damn nice.
Although winter this year was relentless. heh. If this had been my first year up here, I would have regretted it. lol
Lived there for aout 15 years, and moved around in August 09 to Tennessee. The year we got to TN, they had heat advisories to like crazy because it was going to be 80 whole degrees! We should have figured out then just how unprepared we were for Winter. That first winter was one of the worst since moving here, and oh my God, I did not expect it. Haha
I do seriously miss Virginia, though. It’s not where I’m from originally, but Hampton Roads is where I think of when I think of home.
LOL, 80°, eh? I grew up in DFW - only a little hotter than Hampton Roads. But lots of years we’d have >100 days over 100° in a row for summer. I don’t miss that feeling of walking out and just instantly melting. heh
Yeah, if they’re issuing warnings for 80°, I’m not gonna be a happy camper come winter. lol. This is about as much winter as I want right here. I think even Richmond would be sligtly too much, and DC even more slightly too much. heh. This seems to be a really good spot. :)
I grew up in DFW, lived 16 years in Panama City, FL (panhandle), and now 8 years in Hampton Roads. I think I’ve decided this is home, even more than I did when I was in Florida. There’s things and people I miss from DFW and FL, but… eh…
Yep! I can still remember this crossing guard woman in Kingsport, TN we spoke to. We’d been there a few days at most. My mom’s wearing like a light cardigan, I’ve got shorts on under my jeans in case it gets hot, and this lady is telling us she’s “melting” and how she just doesn’t know if she can handle this or not. For what it’s worth, they don’t really issue the warnings for that temp anymore as it has gotten warmer, yeah. Haha.
I also lived in Florida for a while before VA. Homestead. Down in SC, now, and after 17 years in Tennessee, I’m the person who feels like they’re melting at 80. Haha. I spent 17 years trying to figure out how the hell to dress for winter, and I finally got it the winter before I left! Got my layering down pat, discovered scarves work well for me… And then ended up back down south with no need for it.
And I’m glad you found home! If I could convince my people to move back there, I’d be back so fast. Do you know where Cradock is in Portsmouth? That’s the neighborhood I grew up in before we moved to the peninsula, and we were right there where Jefferson Ave and Denbigh come together. It’s funny, since moving, whenever anyone asks where I’m from I just have to tell them Virginia Beach, because they have no idea where the rest of it is. Lol. I always feel like I’m lying to them, because I was only in VAB for a year before leaving the state lol
Ah, Homestead. My wife grew up in Ft. Lauderdale - well, Plantation specifically, which was fun to explain to her mixed college class in Dallas! lol
I had a below-knee amputation three years ago and it made pants a real pain in the ass (because the leg comes with the shoe, so it’s like putting on pants with your shoe on) - so I basically wear shorts now. Gets me some odd looks, and it is a little cold, but I’m usually only outside long enough to go to the car or go from the car to inside. heh. But I layer t-shirts under my shirt for warmth - ever since Florida, I feel like I gained the right to wear Hawaiian shirts, and I like the reactions I get - I’m old enough now that I don’t care what people think except I like to make 'em smile. :)
I don’t know where Cradock is, alas. Well, I just looked it up, though. I’ve been through there a couple of times, but haven’t spent much time in Portsmouth.
We moved to VB in 2018 and lived for a year in the flight path of Oceana NAS - right up against I-264 just east of First Colonial. Then my wife got hired at Colonial Williamsburg and was making that 1h15m+ commute to Wburg, so we ended up moving to James City county, which I thought was awesome living in the county that Jamestown is in. But we just moved down to Newport News. I like Wburg, but we wanted to be with a little more variety of food, and with all the military down here, it’s much better.
So I’ve been on probably most of the major roads in every one of the cities except Poquoson and the nearby part of Hampton over there on that side of I-64, and I haven’t been much around Portsmouth to Suffolk, but Chesapeake, VB, Norfolk, most of the Peninsula, I have. heh.
Hampton Roads is wild. Before we moved here, I really didn’t know much about this part of the country at all, and I hadn’t really heard about Hampton Roads; I’d heard a little bit about Norfolk and knew there was some navy stuff here, but that was about it. heh.
Actually, in 2009 I did an internship in Seattle but had an orientation for it in DC, so I drove from Florida - but I wanted to drive through a few extra states to say I had, so I peeled of I-95 and came over to Hampton Roads so I could cross the CBBT (which was amazing) and go up into Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, then back down I-95 to DC for the orientation. So I think it’s hilarious I drove through here before we moved here 9 years later. heh
Oh, and forgot to get back to that bit - I am right now right off Jefferson just south of Atkinson, so not too far north of Denbeigh. hehe. It’s perfect since all my doctors are in Williamsburg and Rachel still works at CW, so while her commute had been like 7 minutes, now it’s still only just over 20, so it’s really not bad.
I really did like Williamsburg. After growing up in DFW, when we moved to Panama City with 150k people in the metro area, it was just so small. Moving to VB felt like civilization again, but after a year I kinda liked the small-town feel of Wburg. But now I’m back to liking being in a real city. lol. The traffic really isn’t bad, and there’s just so much more stuff down here.
I really hope South Carolina feels like home for you for as long as you’re there. I know every place has its positives and negatives. I definitely wouldn’t want to go back to DFW at this point. I miss the severe weather, but I don’t miss tha traffic, and I’ve grown to be spoiled on real trees. This winter has been damned long with the spate of really cold temps, but summer is just that much prettier, I suppose. I’m even getting used to fall. Winter even, for a couple of months. lol. I’m working on it. :)
I’m sorry about the amputation. That sucks. Of all the problems I imagined having to deal with with that, the shoe-through-a-pants-leg bit did not occur to me.
You said you were right in the flight path. I wonder how close my old place was to yours. Do you know where Laskin and Bird neck is? We used to live in the Link Horn apartments there. The planes were so low we could literally see the pilots as they took off and landed. We used to wave at the pilots and they would wave back!
Also, jealous you got to live in JCC, I always wanted to move to the historic triangle. My mom used to take us on day trips to York Town when I was kid. Absolutely loved it up there.
Life happens re: amputation. heh. Appreciated. Could be worse - could be dead :)
I do know where that intersection is. :) We were on the south side of 264 in Piper’s Landing - https://i.imgur.com/jSEjpVp.jpeg - so VERY close, although a solid few minutes to drive from one to the other. hehe. Oh, man, the jets were so LOUD there. And so often so late at night! I sort of got used to it, sorta, but I really was so very glad to get away from that. But yeah, it felt like you could just about jump up and catch the planes. lol.
I always though the 7-Eleven right around the corner from our apartments was wild - since it was in Williamsburg, there was no signage on the building itself, and only this out front: https://i.imgur.com/Flv7Spv.jpeg - that’s at 199 and Jamestown Rd. heh
I’ve come to the conclusion that given electricity, air conditioning, and good internet… I can pretty much live anywhere. But Virginia really is a nicer place to live than many places. heh. Nowhere is perfect. But it’s nice.
But I know a lot of areas have been getting better and better - I know more about North Carolina than South, but hopefully you’re in an area that matches what you want :)
![[OC] Sunset on the James River](https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/f4a84628-927c-4753-9ce6-a182a23217fa.jpeg){kind=link}
Hello from Newport News. You can’t be too far away since that’s clearly the estuary. :)
I’m not there anymore, but I grew up in Newport News and Portsmouth! God I want to move back so badly l{lol
I had intended on moving up to Seattle when I was able, but we ended up in Virginia, and… I’m definitely happy here. Nowhere is perfect, but it’s pretty damn nice.
Although winter this year was relentless. heh. If this had been my first year up here, I would have regretted it. lol
Lived there for aout 15 years, and moved around in August 09 to Tennessee. The year we got to TN, they had heat advisories to like crazy because it was going to be 80 whole degrees! We should have figured out then just how unprepared we were for Winter. That first winter was one of the worst since moving here, and oh my God, I did not expect it. Haha
I do seriously miss Virginia, though. It’s not where I’m from originally, but Hampton Roads is where I think of when I think of home.
LOL, 80°, eh? I grew up in DFW - only a little hotter than Hampton Roads. But lots of years we’d have >100 days over 100° in a row for summer. I don’t miss that feeling of walking out and just instantly melting. heh
Yeah, if they’re issuing warnings for 80°, I’m not gonna be a happy camper come winter. lol. This is about as much winter as I want right here. I think even Richmond would be sligtly too much, and DC even more slightly too much. heh. This seems to be a really good spot. :)
I grew up in DFW, lived 16 years in Panama City, FL (panhandle), and now 8 years in Hampton Roads. I think I’ve decided this is home, even more than I did when I was in Florida. There’s things and people I miss from DFW and FL, but… eh…
Yep! I can still remember this crossing guard woman in Kingsport, TN we spoke to. We’d been there a few days at most. My mom’s wearing like a light cardigan, I’ve got shorts on under my jeans in case it gets hot, and this lady is telling us she’s “melting” and how she just doesn’t know if she can handle this or not. For what it’s worth, they don’t really issue the warnings for that temp anymore as it has gotten warmer, yeah. Haha.
I also lived in Florida for a while before VA. Homestead. Down in SC, now, and after 17 years in Tennessee, I’m the person who feels like they’re melting at 80. Haha. I spent 17 years trying to figure out how the hell to dress for winter, and I finally got it the winter before I left! Got my layering down pat, discovered scarves work well for me… And then ended up back down south with no need for it.
And I’m glad you found home! If I could convince my people to move back there, I’d be back so fast. Do you know where Cradock is in Portsmouth? That’s the neighborhood I grew up in before we moved to the peninsula, and we were right there where Jefferson Ave and Denbigh come together. It’s funny, since moving, whenever anyone asks where I’m from I just have to tell them Virginia Beach, because they have no idea where the rest of it is. Lol. I always feel like I’m lying to them, because I was only in VAB for a year before leaving the state lol
Ah, Homestead. My wife grew up in Ft. Lauderdale - well, Plantation specifically, which was fun to explain to her mixed college class in Dallas! lol
I had a below-knee amputation three years ago and it made pants a real pain in the ass (because the leg comes with the shoe, so it’s like putting on pants with your shoe on) - so I basically wear shorts now. Gets me some odd looks, and it is a little cold, but I’m usually only outside long enough to go to the car or go from the car to inside. heh. But I layer t-shirts under my shirt for warmth - ever since Florida, I feel like I gained the right to wear Hawaiian shirts, and I like the reactions I get - I’m old enough now that I don’t care what people think except I like to make 'em smile. :)
I don’t know where Cradock is, alas. Well, I just looked it up, though. I’ve been through there a couple of times, but haven’t spent much time in Portsmouth.
We moved to VB in 2018 and lived for a year in the flight path of Oceana NAS - right up against I-264 just east of First Colonial. Then my wife got hired at Colonial Williamsburg and was making that 1h15m+ commute to Wburg, so we ended up moving to James City county, which I thought was awesome living in the county that Jamestown is in. But we just moved down to Newport News. I like Wburg, but we wanted to be with a little more variety of food, and with all the military down here, it’s much better.
So I’ve been on probably most of the major roads in every one of the cities except Poquoson and the nearby part of Hampton over there on that side of I-64, and I haven’t been much around Portsmouth to Suffolk, but Chesapeake, VB, Norfolk, most of the Peninsula, I have. heh.
Hampton Roads is wild. Before we moved here, I really didn’t know much about this part of the country at all, and I hadn’t really heard about Hampton Roads; I’d heard a little bit about Norfolk and knew there was some navy stuff here, but that was about it. heh.
Actually, in 2009 I did an internship in Seattle but had an orientation for it in DC, so I drove from Florida - but I wanted to drive through a few extra states to say I had, so I peeled of I-95 and came over to Hampton Roads so I could cross the CBBT (which was amazing) and go up into Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, then back down I-95 to DC for the orientation. So I think it’s hilarious I drove through here before we moved here 9 years later. heh
Oh, and forgot to get back to that bit - I am right now right off Jefferson just south of Atkinson, so not too far north of Denbeigh. hehe. It’s perfect since all my doctors are in Williamsburg and Rachel still works at CW, so while her commute had been like 7 minutes, now it’s still only just over 20, so it’s really not bad.
I really did like Williamsburg. After growing up in DFW, when we moved to Panama City with 150k people in the metro area, it was just so small. Moving to VB felt like civilization again, but after a year I kinda liked the small-town feel of Wburg. But now I’m back to liking being in a real city. lol. The traffic really isn’t bad, and there’s just so much more stuff down here.
I really hope South Carolina feels like home for you for as long as you’re there. I know every place has its positives and negatives. I definitely wouldn’t want to go back to DFW at this point. I miss the severe weather, but I don’t miss tha traffic, and I’ve grown to be spoiled on real trees. This winter has been damned long with the spate of really cold temps, but summer is just that much prettier, I suppose. I’m even getting used to fall. Winter even, for a couple of months. lol. I’m working on it. :)
I’m sorry about the amputation. That sucks. Of all the problems I imagined having to deal with with that, the shoe-through-a-pants-leg bit did not occur to me.
You said you were right in the flight path. I wonder how close my old place was to yours. Do you know where Laskin and Bird neck is? We used to live in the Link Horn apartments there. The planes were so low we could literally see the pilots as they took off and landed. We used to wave at the pilots and they would wave back!
Also, jealous you got to live in JCC, I always wanted to move to the historic triangle. My mom used to take us on day trips to York Town when I was kid. Absolutely loved it up there.
Life happens re: amputation. heh. Appreciated. Could be worse - could be dead :)
I do know where that intersection is. :) We were on the south side of 264 in Piper’s Landing - https://i.imgur.com/jSEjpVp.jpeg - so VERY close, although a solid few minutes to drive from one to the other. hehe. Oh, man, the jets were so LOUD there. And so often so late at night! I sort of got used to it, sorta, but I really was so very glad to get away from that. But yeah, it felt like you could just about jump up and catch the planes. lol.
I always though the 7-Eleven right around the corner from our apartments was wild - since it was in Williamsburg, there was no signage on the building itself, and only this out front: https://i.imgur.com/Flv7Spv.jpeg - that’s at 199 and Jamestown Rd. heh
I’ve come to the conclusion that given electricity, air conditioning, and good internet… I can pretty much live anywhere. But Virginia really is a nicer place to live than many places. heh. Nowhere is perfect. But it’s nice.
But I know a lot of areas have been getting better and better - I know more about North Carolina than South, but hopefully you’re in an area that matches what you want :)