28. SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
My serendipitous Maryland playground meeting with Safi Ingram, the Savannah real estate agent, turned out to be a life-changing event for Connie and me. We’d already decided to explore Savannah as a possible retirement home, having been somewhat smitten with its history and charm during our occasional day visits from our time-share in nearby Hilton Head, South Carolina. As we began our “exploratory” trip, in early September 2005, I emphatically decreed to Connie that we were only going “to look it over; we’re not going to buy anything.” Famous last words. I was wrong, very wrong. We met with Safi, warm and exuberant, and looked at several possible future homes. We never intended to buy on this exploratory trip, but – by the end of our second day -- we’d made an offer to purchase what became our new Savannah home. It was a two-story, brick home on a quiet tree-lined street in a pastoral subdivision situated in west Chatham County. We looked at [...]