steffunny

not to gross you out but true story here............one summer in charleston there was an epidemic of black widows.......the city asked that we phone in if we saw an unusual amount of eggs/spiders in our homes/yards......well i had to make the call........there were over 300 egg sacks between myself and my neighbor...........weird natural incident.......my moms house in va had to be vaccumed out of an infestation of ladybugs........over a million of them in one lil room.......no harm came to them in the process.........of all the bugs/critters there is still nothing no better than falling asleep to the sound of crickets chirping........something i really miss......so much so that i bought a cd of their wonderful lil noices so that i could fall asleep at night.......lol........well i fly out to asheville in the morning so i can get my back home fix...........and some SUNSHINE

Englishtart

When we lived in Mount.P, there was a gator living in a small pond across the street, there was no fence or anything to keep you walking right up to the edge, in fact some houses backed onto the pond! Seems to be a pretty normal thing here, they usually have signs warning of gators at the edges of them, we even have them on both the bases! Never heard of anyone around here being bitten though and the law requires that they be removed if they reach 10ft in length

As for buying property, I really try to encourage everyone just moving here to rent for at least a year, I know it's tempting right now to buy, property prices are really good, but, there are so many nice areas close together here and so many differences in commute times, depending on where you live/work, that it really does make sense to take some time to explore the different areas before you buy. James Island is nice, but it can be a PITA getting on and off the Island at rush hour! Mount.P, is lovely and close to my fave beach, Isle of Palms, but if your hubby is commuting to Boeing every day, it can be a 40 minute (or longer) commute each way in horrible traffic! (hubby hated that commute!)

The attitudes of some people can be a bit extreme around here, I have found that the older generation, especially those that have long family histories in Charleston are the ones that are hardest to 'like'. A lot of them complain about people moving here from the North, especially NY, NJ, lots of transplants from those States here, the weather here is a big draw. I have noticed more racism here than other States I have lived, but it's not 'in your face'. As you say, there are nasty people everywhere, you just learn to avoid them.

Try doing some research on citydata.com you will get lots of info on there, there is a forum for Charleston on there, I did a lot of research on there before we moved here, got good inside info from the 'locals'

I think you will love it here, if you coped with the creepy crawly's/snakes etc in Australia, you can cope here

Just a teaser...this is Isle of Palms

Burn1911

Thanks for this, and YES we would definitely rent before we buy, as much as anything I would want to be able to view ALOT of places before buying... and as you said we need to figure out which area works best for us, and hubby's commute would be the most important journey!
Thanks for the piccies - Ohhhhhh if this happens it will be just the injection of excitement life needs right now

SarahG

I have taken LOADS of pictures since I have been in Mount Pleasant (mainly the beach) if you'd like to see them I can give you the link to my Flickr page.

paulinep

Haven't posted here in ages but wanted to add that I'm also in South Carolina - just outside Columbia, been here for 10 years or so and it's really quite a nice place to live once you get used to the weather!! The first couple of summers felt brutally hot but you adapt and learn to take walks at 7am and drink plenty water! I'm not a fan of bugs and snakes and I live in the country but our trusty cat takes care of ensuring that nothing yucky comes near the house!! Have only seen one snake around our house in the past 8 years! My biggest bug issue is fire ants......bloody awful and they always seem to find my feet
Anyway the people are lovely and friendly, you have to be careful about picking school districts as school quality can vary quite dramatically from area to area but other than that by far it's been one of my favourite places to live in the US

Englishtart

In the house we rented in Mount.P, we had a snake move into the gazebo roof, it was open wood slats and I think it was hiding from the heat, we had ivy covering it all. I was so scared of that snake, it had babies up there too, a couple fell on the patio and shriveled up! Eventually, it moved away! Yes, the fire ants are nasty and everywhere, we have a drum of 'sevens' that kills the whole nest off and keeps them away for a while.

This will be our 3rd full Summer here and I am hoping for a cooler one this year (every year) I doubt it will happen, just glad the RV has basement AC

Burn1911

O...M....G Has completely gone off the idea of moving!! *hugs WA state and all its boringness*

Englishtart

It was a rat snake apparently, non poisonous!

AmerLisa

Well a snake living in my gazebo would certainly cure any boredom I'd have!

Pulaski

I hate snakes, all of them, but the black rat/ racer snakes are good to have around as they keep copperheads away (i) by eating the critters because they are more effective hunters than copperheads, and (ii) by killing copperheads.

Burn1911

So you don't fancy coming with me

SarahG

But then you'd miss this. (Excuse my kids and some birds getting in the way)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahge...7632243353393/

Orangepants

Wow - they are beautiful photos...

AmerLisa

Sigh... When the weather is dismal and gray like this, wrestling with a snake seems doable....

AmerLisa

Barbie definitely looks like she's having a blast!