Author: Robert Byrne

I'm Robert Byrne. I'm originally from Austin, Texas, but lived in Northern Virginia and South Central Pennsylvania for a long time before moving to the Gulf Coast of Florida. I'm retired, both from working as a Federal Government employee and as an Army National Guardsman. I love playing golf, but am not a "serious" golfer. My wife has turned me into a world traveler and that is one of the things that this blog will highlight - where I've been.

One Year Anniversary of Moving Into Our Newly Renovated House

It has been a year since we moved into our newly renovated house here in Bradenton, FL. We moved in, but we had to “live” on the guest side of the house until the Master Bathroom was finished.

We accomplished many small upgrades ourselves during the year. A new pool pump motor was installed. A water softener and reverse osmosis drinking water tap was installed. The hot water heater was replaced. Gutters were installed on the house where they were needed, and the Air Conditioning system, along with all of the duct work, was replaced.

October 2017

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

This month was very busy.  We had to make decisions about the:

  • Paint colors for every room in the house
  • Floor tile (the same wood look tile throughout the house)
  • Kitchen, baths and laundry room cabinets (style, color, drawer & cabinet pulls)
  • Kitchen, baths and laundry room counter tops
  • Kitchen, baths and laundry room sinks
  • Kitchen, baths and laundry room back splash tiles
  • Tile for the guest bathroom and powder room walls
  • Master bathroom shower installation
  • Mirrors for all baths
  • Lights for every room in the house
  • Door knobs for all doors (moving from round to lever)
  • Security System installation
  • Blinds for windows and sliding doors

In other words, we started over on the inside of the house.  The only remaining items are the walls and the fireplace.

Keeping Fit

When we weren’t making a design decision, we tried to keep our lives full of exercise by walking over the causeway bridge to  St. Armands island or walking along the Siesta Key Beach. This beach is, according to the signs, the “Number 1 beach in the USA,”.

Helping Karen’s Sister

Karen took a week off from the work that we were doing to help her sister Karol drive from Virginia back to her home in Portland, OR.  Robert spent his evenings while she was away at the movies or attending performances at the Ringling Museum.

Settlement on the House

When Karen returned we settled on the house and the real work began.

September 2017

Saying Goodbye

After selling our house in Carlisle and enjoying a “doing Carlisle” going away party, we began moving to Sarasota, FL by visiting our very good friends Frank & Dotty H. in Virginia

Moving to Sarasota, FL

Our permanent change of home started with a trip to Lorton, VA and putting ourselves and our cars on the Auto Train.  The train left Lorton at 4:00 pm and arrived in Sanford, FL at around 9:00 am the next day.  After our cars were unloaded we traveled to Sarasota, FL and moved our stuff into the house that we had rented.

Danger!

Two days after arriving in Sarasota Hurricane Irma began threatening the west cost of FL.  (We had picked this coast for our future home because of the lack of hurricanes affecting the area – we were surprised!) Not wanting to ride out the storm, we decided that it would be a great time for a road trip to visit relatives in Baton Rouge, LA.

In Baton Rouge

Scott and Melissa K welcomed us with open arms.  They are much more familiar with hurricaines than we were.  Non-stop Weather Channel watching was the favorite activity and based on the reporting we didn’t have much hope that Sarasota would still be there after the storm. 

Scott and I went to the LSU vs. Chattanooga home opener football game.  It was the first college I’ve seen in person since I left Texas.  

Back to Sarasota

After the hurricane moved past Sarasota, we decided to head back to the rental house to see what damage had occurred.  Taking our time, we stopped in Pensacola, FL, where we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum and the very pretty beach.  Next we stopped in Port Saint Joe, FL to see what our friends Mike and Carol M. like about the place.  Now we know.

While on the road our rental agent let us know that the power was back on in the rental house. 

We finished up the trip back to Sarasota and got ready to do some serious house hunting.

House Hunting

Karen used the Internet after arriving in Sarasota to search for housing possibilities for us.  She had some very specific criteria. Our real estate agent Josh F. took us to see the houses that she picked out and provided his sage advice on them.  (Josh is both a real estate agent and a house renovation expert.)  We found a house that seemed ideal.  It is a 3 bedroom 2 and a half bath ranch style house with a den, a screened in lanai and pool, a 2-car garage and it is on the eighth tee of the Peridia Golf & Country Club golf course. 

We put a deposit down on the house,  arranged for financing and began looking for a General Contractor to do the renovations that Karen wanted done.  We settled on the company Royal Palms.