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*** Come on Down, South Carolina would love to have you.
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Try surfing the web on "Murrell's Inlet, SC". We are looking at the area to retire; there seems to be a lot of quilty stuff going on, several shops, and several 55+ mobile home communities..... Also, very close to a quiet beach at Huntington Beach State Park, which is part of what we want, having lived 6 hours from the coast all my life!

How about Texas, there is a place called Long Island Village across the bridge from South Padre Island and it is so beautiful . Has a 9 hole golf course, mostly retired people, some summer renters. They have a quilting club, inside swimming pool and lots of activities. My son owns a place there , I just love it.

We live in LV and there are several guilds and quilt shops around. We have a lot of Snowbirds who either own or rent here in Sun City. There is also a quilt club here in Sun City besides the guilds.

Tucson is a great area for astronomers - they have strict light ordinances! Always surprises me how dark it is when I visit my mom in Green Valley (20 minutes south of Tucson). They definitely have a lot of quilting shops, and one place I visited repaired my mom's old Singer for a reasonable price. Can't remember the name of the place, but they had classes and meetings...lots of quilters there!

Green Valley is a very nice place to snowbird - it's a small, quiet retirement community with at least 10 or 12 community centers that do everything from swimming to tennis to computers, silversmithing, and I'm sure quilting! Only a JoAnn's there, though. And yes, there are lots of old people there - but many are very active - there are bikers all over, it's a great area for hiking and birding, and it has wonderful winter weather. Not so great in the summer! Just be sure any place you rent has GVR - that's Green Valley Recreation (I think) and you need it to use the rec centers.

We plan to do the snowbird thing when my husband retires - 2-5 years from now, and will probably end up in GV.

Margaret Ford

My DD just graduated college and moved to Tucson last Thursday for her new job. We're looking forward to visiting.

I don't consider myself an old person but a I am a snowbird. 6 months in beautiful New Hampshire and 6 months in warm and sunny Florida. Love them both. I have met all sorts of people who quilt and do other types of crafts.

I live in Gaffney, SC, which is about 45 minutes north of Greenville, and about 45 minutes south of Charlotte.
I have to say that, as a native NORTH Carolinian, we are spoilt here in the Carolinas with quilt shops and shop hops.
There are three shop hops (that I know of) -one for the western part of the Carolinas, one for the central part and one for the coastal areas. Where I live, I can get to about 40 shops within 2 hours drive or less. That's not counting Mary Jo's in Gastonia, NC (a.k.a., "quilters heaven") or stores like JoAnns or HobbyLobby.
Our climate is relatively mild, with 4 distinct seasons. Last winter was one of the hardest I've seen here. Summers can get hot, but only hits triple digits a few times a year. We've been in the high 80's this past week, to give you some idea of our temps. Winters seldom get in the single digits, unless you're up in the mountains.We don't get a lot of snow - ice is our usual winter precipitation, and that varies from year to year. Last winter was just cold and wet - a little snow, a little ice, but more colder days than usual.
The Carolinas have something for everyone - small towns, big cities, mountains, beaches. With Charlotte and Raleigh being the largest cities, a "city chick" can be happy, and there is plenty of rural areas for those of us who are "Country girls".
You really can't go wrong living in the Carolinas.
(Should I try to get a job with the tourism board now? I'm sure you can tell how much I love my home state(s).)

IMHO South/southeast central Texas (we winter in the Rio Grande Valley), or South Carolina is one the list of the best places to retire (friend just moved to Taylors, SC and they love it).

I guess I would be classified as Old, and I am enjoying being old, but I truly miss having kids around.
I think kids keep us young. I always enjoy seeing kids when I am out shopping. Sometimes they are noisy but they are also so entertaining and cute.
As for a place to live and quilt, Southern California, near San Diego really has a nice climate. Most of central California is great too but can be hot in the summer. I live in the California desert, a true desert rat and I love it here. It is very hot in the summer, but I just stay indoors and sew.