Why choose here to retire?

What fools would make the big retirement-location decision based on a single visit?  What dummies would end up with a 30-year mortgage 900 miles from a longtime home without ever scouting other locations and other states?

Meet the happy idiots of Hilton Head Island.  Yes, us, done with full-time work and now anticipating years of bliss here in southernmost South Carolina.

It all started with friends – friends just a little older than us, whose judgment we trust.  They had been spending increasing time in Hilton Head.  Visit and take a look, they said.

Well, love at first sight.

For one thing, we like water.  Not the dampness you can find in Michigan basements.  We like water that reflects blue sky and green growth, water rippled by wildlife, water that stretches to the horizon.  We came to Hilton Head and could see the ocean.

No, really, we could see the ocean.  The view wasn’t blocked by the kind of glinting high-rises, festooned boardwalks and cheesy overblown tourist traps we had encountered during vacations to other warm-weather coastal areas.  Here was just ocean, beach, low dunes, with tasteful structures blending in.

From water’s edge we turned around and went inland. Wonderfully, more of the same: nature shaped but respected and thriving, surrounding soft-colored buildings placed with care.  Island-wide, it seemed like there were a hundred times as many trees as houses.  And more water: lagoons, creeks, inlets, marshes, rivers, sounds. 
So we began a more thorough exploration, and found this place to be thoroughly substantial.  So we encouraged another Michigan couple, very close friends, and together wound up buying a Hilton Head villa, which we put on the rental market and also – of course – used ourselves from time to time.

Now we began to meet more of the people of the Hilton Head area, and what we found was crucial in our decision.

We had feared retirement into a community filled with grumps, snobs and others to whom only the past was important – people all wrapped up by how it used to be for them.  Here we were pleasantly startled by individuals living wholeheartedly in the present.

It really didn’t matter what you used to do.  What mattered was what you’re up to now, whether you were 30, 60 or 90 years old.  We found retirees fully engaged in civic matters and in volunteer organizations. In writing, teaching, learning, cooking, dancing, woodworking, painting.  In music groups, book clubs, sports teams, nature events, cultural celebrations, heritage recognition.  Walking and bicycling and partying.

Exploring.

Creating.

Helping others enjoy this place.

And even taking on new lines of work.

We think much of this is because so many of the people here came from somewhere else.  Though, on average, people here are older than in many other areas of the United States, they are relatively new to Hilton Head – and Hilton Head is relatively new as a developed community.  Retirees here know what’s worth preserving, but in coming here they also see the attraction of a fresh start.  Contrary to the old-folks stereotype, they’re open to new friendships.

So, with all that in mind, and without looking anywhere else, we bought a Hilton Head house.

Hello, neighbor.  What kind of fools do you think we are?