We sought out life in the brisk mountain air. We dreamed of an old country farmhouse atop a hilly, rolling pasture. Away from busy streets and traffic, and mundane shopping centers. We yearned for seasonal change, for blooming spring flowers, and crisp autumn air adorning fall colors. Everywhere we looked, I secretly checked the elevation of the area. I scanned Google Earth in 3D, previewing the terrain and the "hilly" qualities the destination would offer. The only catch was, it had to be in a region of the country that provided adequate job opportunities in my field, but more importantly, contained a viable place for me to move up in my company.
Then it came, unexpectedly. My boss called me during a busy day of Av sets and strikes. He asked where we could meet. I told him, and he quickly responded. He knew how important our goal was, and sympathized for our Nashville loss. Stephanie and I were in fact $2000 in the hole in chasing that dream with nothing to show for it. He briskly walked up to me and asked, "What are your thoughts on Charleston, South Carolina?" I paused like a deer in the headlights. He flashed his hi-beams by quickly adding, "There's a position open for an Assistant Director at the Charleston Place Hotel, part of the Orient Express chain." I said, "Charleston? Isn't that on the coast?" He said, "Yes, it's a small hotel but does good business. This would be a great opportunity for you to advance your career." My ears were open, but I looked hesitant. He added these words, which I'll never forget, "You would be stupid not to take this golden opportunity." I thanked him and told him I'd think about it.
Our first choice became Nashville, TN. Not exactly in the mountains, but very hilly, no doubt. Our experience exploring that region was amazing. We fell in love with so many spots and started to truly envision our life there even after one short visit exploring there. We toured homes, tried out restaurants, and wandered into antique stores. By our next visit, the stakes were high. I had a job interview that would change our lives forever. Not so much for the better, as far as Nashville was concerned. We had found our dream house. Albeit, lacking in some of my must-have qualities, but Stephanie's ultimate dream starter-home nonetheless. We wrote up an offer, going against both our parents' wishes. Our dream was becoming so real we could taste it. I couldn't help but notice fear building up in me as we finished writing out the offer. Was this the place for us? Was this the city for us? Is living 53 miles from work too far? Of course it was. Was this the hotel I wanted to work at for the next major chunk of my life, perhaps my company's largest and most profitable convention hotel mecca, The Gaylord Opryland? Inside I was panicking. My goal was to stand out stronger among a few, to have more control over less equipment and fewer people. I was about to embark on an inevitable absorption into a sea of employees who would swallow me up and spit me out! I quickly told our realtor to hang on to that offer until I had confirmation of the job transfer. That was perhaps the best decision I had made concerning Nashville.
Low and behold, I did not get the transfer opportunity. I was told there had been a "hiring freeze" implemented in the region, due to the economy sinking. This was late spring 2008. We were crushed, Stephanie especially. Within the following weeks, I was sizing up my future with PSAV. We were desperate to get to Nashville, even if it meant switching jobs or careers. The hunt was on, but nothing came of it. I even pathetically failed a phone interview with Dave Ramsey's company, who was looking for a AV Production Coordinator for his traveling "Total Money Makeover" Seminars. Note to self: Never agree to a spontaneous phone interview after being woken up by it! I quickly exhausted all opportunities to get us to Nashville.
As time progressed, our dream had begun to fade. Reality set in. To my shocking surprise, my wife was not all against maybe staying in Florida for awhile. She wanted to buy a house so bad, she was even willing to sacrifice what part of the country it was in. I knew she was really desperate at this point. We searched the market, and ventured out and saw a few homes around Central Florida. We were not impressed. They just didn't have that feel that we came to love. Our honeymoon in the North Carolina "High Country" was nothing short of magical. Being immersed amongst all of the beauty God had to offer imprinted our minds forever. The evidence was clear. It was atmosphere, climate, and elevation we were after.
With that annoying prerequisite my job demanded, I searched for the happenin' cities in the North Carolina region. Asheville, Raleigh, Charlotte, even as low as Greenville, SC was proving worthy. Our sights honed in on Greenville, SC, which sits at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. But of course, all the above were barely up-to-par with my company's potential for growth, and offered no current job openings at any of their small hotel operations scattered throughout the region.
Then it came, unexpectedly. My boss called me during a busy day of Av sets and strikes. He asked where we could meet. I told him, and he quickly responded. He knew how important our goal was, and sympathized for our Nashville loss. Stephanie and I were in fact $2000 in the hole in chasing that dream with nothing to show for it. He briskly walked up to me and asked, "What are your thoughts on Charleston, South Carolina?" I paused like a deer in the headlights. He flashed his hi-beams by quickly adding, "There's a position open for an Assistant Director at the Charleston Place Hotel, part of the Orient Express chain." I said, "Charleston? Isn't that on the coast?" He said, "Yes, it's a small hotel but does good business. This would be a great opportunity for you to advance your career." My ears were open, but I looked hesitant. He added these words, which I'll never forget, "You would be stupid not to take this golden opportunity." I thanked him and told him I'd think about it.
I quickly called Stephanie, and muttered out the words, "Charleston. Assistant Director. Look it up, do a home search. Tell me if you would like this city." She went to work immediately scouring for a sampling of what kind of country homes this region known as "The Low Country" had to offer. 10 minutes later she called back. She said, "I found it." "Huh?" I said. "I found the perfect house!" I asked, "what about the city, the area? Isn't it flat? It's on the coast! I don't want to live on the coast!" She said, "neither do I, but this house is awesome!" little did I know, she was talking about the very house we live in today!
As soon as I got the chance, I googled the hell out of Charleston and the "Low Country." It was an immediate love-hate relationship. I loved the old city charm, reminding us of St. Augustine, where we were married. I loved the sense of culture, tradition, and class. It was stark full of it. I hated the fact that it was surrounded by harbours, boats, and marshy swampland. But I fell in love with Charleston Place Hotel, where I could potentially be working in the coming months. Stephanie's newly found "dream house," being 45 miles away from the hotel, was kept a bit secret thereafter. She was sure I would never agree to it, having complained so much before about the previous dream house in Bethpage, TN, a whopping 53 miles from work. There was one major problem about the whole deal though, the powers that be were not offering the kind of pay I was hoping for. I was used to an hourly wage, with plenty of overtime work always knocking down my door. This job was going to be salary, and was offering $10K less than I was currently making where I was at with the yearly average of overtime added in. This was almost the deal breaker. I spoke with the Regional Director, and after some back and forth, he met me halfway on my request and I finally started to envision a life there. Our curiosity for this newly targeted city naturally demanded a visit to investigate the possibilities.
Wow. Wow, Wow, Wow! We immediately fell in love! It was like one gigantic St. Augustine! The hotel was great! A free stay in a fancy room. I interviewed with the Director of PSAV there, and felt at ease with the idea of working under him. He was young, and very easy-going. Stephanie and I hit the town, sampled the food, and drove for hours in search of country-side glamour. We had just a few hours to spare before dark, and Stephanie had one last request. She told me she was reluctant to ask me, but wanted to see that "dream-house" she found, in a little town called Jamestown. I said, "what the hell, let's go see it." Her face lit up like you wouldn't believe!
The drive out to see it was torture. I mean unbearable. I told Stephanie, "this is waayyy out in the middle of nowhere! Nothing but forest for miles and miles!" I couldn't begin to imagine that this would be my boring commute to work everyday. I was already dozing off trying to make all 45 miles of this trek to see this humble and moderately historic house. Well, it paid off. It was all it was cracked up to be, and then some. We peered in the windows and Stephanie was floored at it's uncanny beauty from a by-gone era. The house was completely beadboard through and through. A fireplace in every room! We were stoked. I did not like however, the supposed 1.74 acres being swallowed up by the surrounding National Forest. I dreaded the ever-eminent task of clearing the land. Plus, it had no garage, no workshop, no outbuilding of any kind, and only a front porch to offer any kind of outdoor enjoyment. If this was our dream house, our work was surely cut out for us. We called the home's realtor, but she could not join us on the visit. She was out of town. She did however divulge some peculiar facts about the house that had our ears perked. It was a 1920's parsonage home for most of its existence. A parsonage? Wow. It had history. We were drooling.
Luckily, the inside was well taken care of, and good enough to move right it. Stephanie was immediately sold on that prospect alone, and I soon became convinced that his could be "the one." My natural instincts, instilled in me by my Dad, was to see many other houses to compare to it. In other words, you can't just look at one and decide to buy. But, my wife was dead-set on this house and we never saw a single other house in person from then on. Stephanie does however still claim to this day that she saw every single house on the market on the Internet, and nothing even came close.
Almost 2 months later, it was ours!
And so our new life began taking shape, our dreams becoming a reality. Slowly but surely, our home filled up with primitive farmhouse antiques, and we learned more and more about our home's history, as well as Jamestown's past, dating back to the turn of the 17th to 18th century!
What started out as a lonley house on an overgrown lot, quickly became one with a big shed, beautiful DIY paver patio, 1/2 acre of freshly cleared land, and a huge chicken coop to brag about, full of egg laying hens and a free-roaming rooster and porch cat to protect the whole property!
We couldn't feel more satisfied at making the right choice in ultimately choosing the "Low Country" to host our country dream. What a perfect setting to start a family together! This is only the beginning, and we feel simply blessed!
~Brian
