November 12, 2019 – Tuesday
35.9943° N, 79.9353° W
Those coordinates might not mean anything to anyone else … but to me they (hopefully) will mean HOME.
FINALLY! As in FINE-ALL-Y!
Yes!!!! After 9 years … umpteen “research” trips … thousands of towns … so many gross breakfasts … way too many charges on my credit cards and a million stories (including the crazy old lady and the frog in her basement) that will someday be in a book entitled Searching for Utopia While Living in the State of Confusion … I have found … IT!
35.9943° N, 79.9353° W … Jamestown, North Carolina
It is NOT the Jamestown of the first settlers who on May 14, 1607 (then known as the Virginia Company of England) established a settlement named Jamestown (Virginia) after sailing off and yonder. It’s importance is noted because it was the first successful, permanent colony in the New World by the British. This is not the same as the landing site of the Mayflower which landed thirteen years later, in Massachusetts, with my ancestors aboard.
It is NOT the Jamestown of the famous flood in Pennsylvania in 1889 that wiped out the entire town in less than 10 minutes killing 2209 people and countless cows and other livestock. That was Johnstown.
It is NOT the Jamestown where in 1978 more than 900 members of an American cult “drank the Kool-Aid” and perished in a mass suicide-murder in Guyana. That was Jonestown. And fyi – it was Flavor Aid not Kool-Aid that they drank.
So … what is so special about this place? This Jamestown? I can’t tell you … not exactly. I drove through on my last morning, on my way to the airport, and as I came upon this little town … I just knew. You know when people say that about their significant other … “I just knew.” … well, I just knew. It felt good. After so many places that felt wrong … this felt right.
It’s cute. It’s quaint. It’s 12-20 minutes from anything I’d ever need. 90 minutes from 2 airports and bigger cities. Perfectly located. Large lake. Beautiful parks. Tons of trees. Pastoral. Lovely. Affordable. It was GOOD.
https://www.jamestown-nc.gov/town-services/history
More to come … but the ball is rolling … and I’m very hopeful. And if I’m not to find a home at 35.9943° N, 79.9353° W … it’ll be pretty darn close! I’ll keep you posted!