I grew up on the East Coast, in a tiny town 30 minutes inland, surrounded by towering pine trees and spreading oaks. It was hot and sultry, yet we never lacked for shade.
For two glorious years after college I lived on the oceanfront (yes! on the oceanfront, the very edge of the continent!) in a ramshackle house which ultimately fell into the ocean during an especially violent hurricane. Many was a morning I got up in the dark and sat on the sofa watching the sun kaleidoscope from the east over the relentent waves. No shade here, and truth be known burning sun is desired on the beachfront. No biggie.
It was only when I moved to Charlotte that I experienced the setting sun. Dun dun DUUNNN!
Oh my lord! The pain. The agony. There aren't any happy summer cookouts in a westward facing backyard. No amount of shades and draperies and blinds can protect your living room if it has a southwest exposure.
I took to warning friends who had moved from the North or from California 'make sure your entertainment areas face east!' And when it came to buying my own dreamhouse, I spent 18 months composing a list of Must Haves and Nice To Haves -- with Eastward Exposure at the top of the list.
And so, when I started planning my Retirement Exploratory Expedition (hereafter to be known as REE), I knew I wanted to target areas where I might have some sort of water view facing east.
