Where we find ourselves

We may have moved east, we may even live right on the eastern coast of the U.S., but we have yet to leave "the South".

For those of you needing some brushing up on American history (like I did), Maryland is still south of the Mason-Dixon Line and it stood firmly on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War.  I've already seen the all-too-familiar sight of the back window of a pick-up truck emblazoned with a blown-up decal of the "Southern Cross".  And "sweet tea"is a staple on all fast-food restaurant menus.

St. Mary's County is located on what is called the "western shore" of the Chesapeake Bay and is at the very southern tip of this shore, sandwiched between the Chesapeake and the Potomac River which separates Maryland from Virginia.  The very tip of this peninsula is home to the Point Lookout lighthouse and state park and was the site of a Confederate POW camp during the Civil War (interestingly, in Korea, we lived about an hour's drive from Geoje Island, site of a Korean War POW camp).

It's a curious little corner of the world.  We are only 60 miles from the nation's capital, but it could be thousands for all we can tell from where we sit.  Ideologically, politically, culturally, this area looks nothing like Washington, D.C.  It's a rural area - home even to a small population of Amish in the northern part of the county - but growth has come suddenly and rapidly to it.  The main road through Lexington Park is lined with brand-spanking-new versions of all the strip centers so ubiquitous to our nation - Lowe's, Marshall's, Target, Kohl's - the parking lots still unfinished in some places, machines still working away at tearing down trees and leveling out terrain.  Olive Garden and Kohl's have just opened in the last couple of months and they are all the rage right now.

It's a beautiful area of tall, lanky trees flanking ravines and open pasture land and cultivated fields, but the quick population growth has made for quirky property arrangements and indeterminable zoning standards.  Houses sometimes appear haphazardly oriented on a plot or almost stacked right on top of one another.  One urban block or rural stretch of road will find a $350,000+ house plunked down amongst single-wide mobile homes.  Half the houses we've looked at have not even bothered to list total finished square footage in their real estate customer reports and no one has mentioned price per square foot yet.

So looking at houses to rent or buy has been an adventure we have yet to tire of.  We never know what we're going to find.  It's taken us to planned communities in the middle of town and tiny, quiet little corners of the country and has given us a chance to really explore the lower half of the county.

On our first day of house showings, we surprised a nanny at one home for rent, who had not been warned to expect us by her employers and we visited a house for sale where the mistress was still at home, watching TV in an upstairs bedroom - with suds of something still in her hair (and on her hands) - she didn't make herself known when our realtor announced us at the door, so we can only assume she intended to still be there.

The second day out we visited a home for rent on the water further south of here.  It was already a spectacular house - two levels - with three bedroom suites (bath included in each) and an addition was under construction that appeared would double the size of the home.  Only the first level walls had been built and it looked like it hadn't been touched in awhile.  We also visited a house located on three fabulously-wooded acres with 5 (!!!!) garages.  It was a potential short sale, although in better condition than expected considering the circumstances, but still needed work.  Apparently, they shouldn't have had so many cars!

Friday, we visited several houses for sale, including a beautiful two-level one on over an acre of wooded property here in town; our realtor said Gideon could grow up to be a billy goat there, thanks to the graded terrain of the property.  We also visited a "waterfront" property on Town Creek that had thousands of dollars of trees around it, including a certified red maple tree from Thomas Jefferson's home (or something like that), but still had orange-brown carpet in one upstairs bedroom of the house (the rest of the carpet had been updated and was in good shape).

Saturday, we drove through the country visiting listings on our own out of curiosity, the "waterview, water access" one on the St. Mary's River that had been on the market for over two years, the one that had a notice posted on the door that in June of last year it had been found to be "abandoned", the house right on the Chesapeake that I'm pretty sure was getting just a little mist off the waves crashing up against the rocks at the yard's edge.

Gideon's shot of the house right on the Bay

We ended our drive on Saturday with a drive down to Point Lookout, where the wind off the Chesapeake whipped our hair around and threw sand into our faces, but the sheltered sandy beaches of the Potomac - just yards away - gave us (i.e., Gideon) the much-needed break from the car we needed.

Chesapeake Side

Potomac side

More of Gideon's photography (the distraction that helped him push 

through one more wild goose chase through the countryside)

But we have found plenty to be interested in, house-wise.  So, without any further adieu or rambling tangents, here's our short list of housing possibilities - the ones we will be re-visiting this week for a second look, a more serious scrutiny:

The one with the screened-in porch

The one in the country south of historic St. Mary's City and St. Mary's College

The other one on 3-acres

The one on an acre in the city (mentioned above)

The one on half-an-acre in the city

The one on a (relatively) tiny lot in a planned community that made me hungry because it smelled like curry

Whaddya think?

Postscript:  Our house in FW still has not sold.  We'll be putting up for lease, as well as for sale, soon.  The houses above are all for sale, but we're still considering renting and have found a house near the base with a community beach on the Chesapeake that we like for renting.  It's frustrating because if our house in FW had sold already, we would probably only be considering for sales.  It's been hard to readjust that mindset.