I’d like to take credit for the choice of where to make my home, but it was more luck than careful consideration. And great luck took me to Hampstead, NC, a wide spot in the road on US-17, sandwiched in between the beaches of Topsail Island, the Holly Shelter Wildlife Management area, and the NE Cape Fear River.

I had worked in IBM’s Sales & Marketing Division in Raleigh. Times were tough, competition was fierce, and as the Branch Manager often said, all the low-hanging fruit had been picked, and now there were too many hands going after the remaining high-hanging fruit. “How’d you like to retire early?” I was asked, ‘or else’ was only implied. I jumped at the offer, and decided if I was gonna’ be poor, I’d rather to be poor at the beach. It turned out to be one of the smartest decisions I would ever make.

bill@coastalsenc.com