We had been visiting Suzanne’s parents each Christmas for years.  Their home is located just south of Orlando, Florida.  As we began discussing plans for retirement with the objective of Al retiring on 2008, we began looking at properties around the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina. Suzanne didn’t want to go as far south as South Carolina. 

Since we owned a 30 foot sailboat that we purchased in 2002, we wanted to have property on the water as well as a golfing community.  Our search began by visiting various advertised communities close to the Inter-coastal Waterway (ICW) including the Albermarle Sound area, Wilmington-Wrightsville Beach area, Southport down to the Calabash area.

Next, we visited the Eastern Shores of Virginia and Maryland and were impressed by a new start-up called Bay Creek Resort in Cape Charles, Virginia at the southern tip of the Eastern Shore just north of the Bay Bridge Tunnel. We also toured the western shore of Maryland down to St. Mary’s County and Solomon’s Island areas up to Annapolis.

On the July 4th holiday of 2003, we decided to spend the holiday in New Bern, North Carolina.  On our way home on Sunday morning, Suzanne saw a sign for Cypress Landing.  She was driving and followed the sign.  About two miles later, we found the entrance to Cypress Landing.  Al was instantly impressed with the landscaping and the maintenance of all properties.  After driving through the development and stopping at the marina and golf club, we decided to make arrangements to return. 

Two weeks later, we spent a Saturday with a real estate agent in the morning and a couple who lived there, plays golf and owned a sailboat. We were impressed by the hospitality and friendliness of everyone in addition to the development’s amenities. 

In the spring of 2004, we decided to return to Cypress Landing.  That Memorial Day weekend, we signed a contract to purchase a vacant lot on the 17th fairway of the golf course. In late June, we also identified a boat slip and closed on the lot and slip in July.

In 2005, we spent some time at Cypress Landing enjoying the swimming pool and golfing. We even attended a formal Christmas Gala put on by the Yacht Club in early December.  While there, we met with some builders and identified one that we wanted to build our new retirement home.  We worked on house plans for the next six months until we had most details worked out.  Muriel Moore builders finalized a contract proposal which we received the first of September in 2006. 

Al asked Suzanne if she were willing to begin the building process.  It would take about a year to finish the house and furnish it. That’s when Al was surprised by the answer.  She said that we would be happy there but that it would be just another of our many moves over the years.  She asked Al, “Wouldn’t you like to do something exciting while we still have our health? I could live on a boat.” 

We had been going to sailboat shows for a few years.  The previous year, Al took Suzanne to her first powerboat show to look at trawlers.  She did not pressure him.  His answer was an immediate, “yes”.  We decided to keep the Cypress Landing property for a while.  But once we decided that the boat we would live on would be a trawler, we knew it would not fit in our Cypress Landing Slip.  Al put the slip up for sale.  The next day it was sold and we began our hunt for our future “condo on the water”. We would begin looking seriously for our new boat the following year, 2007.