Whew! Lodging is booked for 5 of the 7 destinations. A cabin on a river in Bryson City, a "green" boutique hotel in St. Augustine, a chain hotel in Savannah, but Atlanta & Charlotte are proving much more tricky. Prices are high - even with my sweeeet teacher discount. Parking & tax add over $50 a day to the rate. Ain't nobody got time for that!
This conundrum led me to vrbo.com. Oh VRBO, where have you been all my life?! I found an awesome place in midtown Atlanta. 1 bedroom in a high rise condo, kitchen, free parking, doorman, wi-fi, $99 a night (maybe we'll just live there!). So I started to to look for a place in Charlotte, the town I consider my "Hometown".
Hmmmm... a pied a terre in Myers park, a town home in Dilworth, a cottage in the Cotswold area, and then I saw something that made my heart stop. And then it started again, but it was beating fast! A large 1 bedroom in the Elizabeth area. How fun, how cool! I had lived in that area long ago, and already loved it's eclectic feel, but when I clicked on the listing I couldn't believe my eyes! Could it actually be? My first apartment!
I would know that building anywhere! This was it (Click to see!), I just know it! Of course it goes without saying that the gorgeous place has a decidedly different look than it did when I lived there. Somehow our yard sale finds & childhood home hand-me-downs didn't achieve the designer look the space now has, but the front of that building was alllllll too familiar.
1989, I was a mere 19 years old. It was time to escape my parent's house and Anne, my best best friend & I had found 2100 E. 7th street. A looooong way from where I grew up off Albemarle rd. but I didn't care, the price was right, Anne was by my side as my perfect roommate, & we were ready. It was the coolest building - LOTS of unique people living in each unit, and even now my memories of that place are some of the most favorite that I have. It was an amazing year. And to think I may actually be able to stay there with my daughters? Oh, how I hope the walls can't really talk :).
This is the sad part where I have to write I was wrong - guess I wouldn't know the building anywhere. This isn't 2100 E. 7th st. It's 1 block over. Shucks! Not gonna lie - the idea of it being the same place sure was fun for a couple days. Oh well- we're keeping it on our short list of possibilities.
~ Regan
I was so excited to think that you three might stay in our first apartment and the memories of our little crooked house could swirl around you. I was hopeful that, from the pics you sent me, our slightly beat up little one-bedroom shack had made a modern transformation of palatial proportions. Stranger things have happened, right? But, in the end, maybe I'm also kind of glad that it isn't 2100. In my mind, our first home away from home can still have its terribly uneven floors that we could almost roly-poly down (at least slide a willing cat or two), can still have a patio that screams, "Sure - come on over - we have plenty of Bartles & James," can still have a cat sunning in every window, and the sound of two young girls laughing their way to womanhood rising just slightly over the sound of AC/DC's "Back in Black." As you drive your girls to the real 2100 - the one that makes both you and I crave those yesterdays - remember that I would not have wanted to learn about making it out in the world with anyone but you (and our many kitty cats) - my best best friend!
ReplyDeleteWell, I was about to comment that I was heartbroken that it wasn't YOUR apartment... you had me with that post! My heart was beating fast with excitement for you... but now that I read Anne's comment I guess I am happy it's just nearby... or maybe not. I am now conflicted! But I am happy to have a glimpse into your first apartment and to "virtually" meet Anne who I have heard so much about (I love her and feel like I know her already through her comment :) Enjoy your drive by!
ReplyDelete