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
