Almost 6 years from the last post. If you read the last one you could probably guess where our lives were headed. Not so much that we would end up where we started in the gritty city of Philadelphia, but that disenchantment with specifically LBI was coming, first slowly but then fast and furiously.

The hole left by our friends and neighbors wasn’t fillable. Each sweet wooden house that went down was being replaced with generic materials and designs that made no sense other than to fill every square inch. The vibe around the neighborhood became all about who could have more, more coverage, more bathrooms, more “suites” and how large a pool could be installed on a postage stamp sized lawn only feet away from the most majestic pool in the world. Oh and lawns, forget about it, grass and mature trees were being ripped out and filled in with low maintenance alternatives – everywhere.

But all was not lost – actually we gained a ridiculous amount in the value of our property. And thats where the “freedom” comes in. Here we were in a very old home that needed a lot of work (new roof, some foundation issues, leaky windows, peeling paint etc) and we were at an age of slowing down and dwindling income. Enter “rich people” who made us an offer that gave us the opportunity we needed to start to make some choices to ease our later in life challenges.”