Irresistible Lake Living
The number of people choosing to retire or relocate to homes near the water seems to be growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. Areas like Smith Mountain Lake are becoming more popular for a variety of good reasons. Perhaps you will enjoy hearing a few stories from real people just like yourself. We like the interviews of Aida Rogers, a South Carolina native and Managing Editor of Sandlapper, The Magazine of South Carolina.
There must be something about lake living that keeps the mind clear. People who’ve found contentment in freshwater seem supremely certain they’ve chosen just the right place for them.
“We found exactly what we wanted and we have no intention of leaving,” declares Mike O’Shea, who lives with his wife Diane at Grand Harbor on Lake Greenwood, in the western midsection of South Carolina. After 11 years in Savannah and 10 on Hilton Head Island, the O’Sheas are reveling in the slower pace of a rural, non-resort area. Lake Greenwood provides a spiritual refreshment they haven’t experienced since their childhood on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania.
Ditto for Sue and Bob Johnson. The native New Yorkers reared four daughters in Massachusetts before retiring and joining one of them in the heart of South Carolina. The south shore of Lake Murray is where they call home, in the Harbour Watch community in Leesville. “We love it,” Mrs. Johnson says, describing how Sienna, their “granddog,” loves to ride in their pontoon. Mr. Johnson goes boating year-round. “I take pride in getting out at least once in January and February,” he says, adding, “That never happened in New England.”
