Last December, Colleen starts talking about life on Alabama’s Gulf coast with her sister, Kathy Falls, and husband Don.
At the time, the Falls are lifelong residents of Michigan, and during the past few years, inhabitants of the state’s Upper Peninsula—‘Yoopers,’ as they’re called.
The road leading to Kathy and Don Falls’ Iron Mountain, Michigan, home reflects a scene that’s typical, not just once, but many times, throughout winter. (Photo by Kathy Falls)
That would be the same U.P. where winter is an extended affair, and wind chills of 30 to 40 degrees below zero with a foot of snow on the ground are not exactly breaking news.
After hearing and seeing pictures about the land of warm weather, sand, water, beaches, incredible sunsets (and no shoveling snow), Kathy and Don start kicking an idea around.
Maybe, they conjecture, they should ‘pull the trigger.’
Maybe they should make a huge lifestyle change, and relocate from their home in Iron Mountain, close to Michigan’s Wisconsin border.
And it’s not about just moving anywhere.
Maybe it’s time to load up and head to Alabama.
Baldwin county.
It’s not exactly a small undertaking—the drive alone is a thousand miles, to say nothing of the change in climate and surroundings.
In many families—when a conversation takes place about making a change in lifestyle this big—it’s just too easy not to take seriously.
You’d probably hear comments like, “Well, I don’t know about that. Some day. Maybe. Possibly. Not sure. Several years down the road. If then.”
Except, you don’t understand the Falls.
With talk of living on the warm Gulf coast beginning to grow, the discussion gets a boost from Iron Mountain’s weather at the time; the area’s mean temperature during January is 15.
When it came time to pack up and leave for the South, Michigan’s weather brought conditions that surprised even some Yoopers, with heavy snow and harsh cold stretching well into April. (Photo by Kathy Falls)
And that’s to say nothing of Don having to go outside to chop wood for the stove amid that bone chilling wind that feels like it’s straight out of a freezer.
And then there’s the snow.
Tomorrow night, four inches.
Later in the week, six to seven more inches with dangerous cold, the National Weather Service warns.
Barely one month after the idea first surfaces, and as people are still getting accustomed to the new year, a ‘For Sale’ sign appears in the front yard of Kathy and Don’s home.
In only a few weeks, Kathy and Don are no longer talking about maybe, possibly, conceivably, perhaps, making the big change.
They’re making it happen.
How long will it take to get their home sold?
Admittedly a tough job to undertake, Don realizes that the recliner on the covered deck at the Falls’ new Baldwin Co. home must be rigorously tested.
After all, we’re talking about finding a Buyer for a place that’s not exactly in what you’d call a major metropolitan hot spot. Iron Mountain’s population is less than 8,000—no spaghetti-like freeway interchanges or traffic jams here.
The town is barely 60 miles from Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes and site of the famous Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck which took place amid hurricane force winds and waves of over 25 feet in November, 1975.
When you’re talking about getting a place in an area that remote sold, it could take months.
Right?
Colleen shares plenty of advice with Kathy about getting their home sold.
One tidbit turns out to be worth its weight in—well—heavy, wet snow.
With Michigan winters in their rear-view mirror and life to look forward to on Alabama’s Gulf coast, the Falls are all smiles.
Be prepared, Colleen advises Kathy and Don, for the chance that they might get an Offer and go Under Contract soon.
“You might need to move a lot faster than you’re thinking,” Colleen tells Kathy.
Come on. Really?
Less than 30 days after listing, Kathy and Don’s house gets an Offer and goes Under Contract.
For these soon-to-be ex-Yoopers, a life-changing voyage begins.
Decisions, decisions.
What to take? What to get rid of?
Fishing gear? Bring it.
Tools needed for scraping snow off the roof? Not exactly a high-demand item on the Gulf coast.
Same goes for those heavy coats and other clothes designed to protect you from sub-zero temperatures (Baldwin Co. doesn’t get a lot of that).
Now it’s time to start thinking more in terms of beach bum.
The Falls’ new home is only minutes to restaurants, shopping and scores of places that make Alabama’s Gulf coast popular.
Shorts. Sandals. Short sleeve shirts.
We share the tale with the Falls about what a brutally cold winter Baldwin Co. had in early 2018. Temperatures all the way down into the 20s. And it lasts for more than a day! And, I’m telling you, that sharp, biting wind out of the north made it downright frigid! And nobody could believe it! And snow flakes were actually seen in Fairhope! And Daphne, too! Okay, okay, no accumulation, but you could still at least see snowflakes floating in the air.
Kathy and Don laugh.
An extreme cold outbreak on the Gulf coast is like kindergarten to the couple who’ve endured many continuous months of the harshest winter Mother Nature can throw at the Great Lakes.
But we do have a discussion with them about being ready for what the Gulf coast is famous for: Heat and humidity.
And the occasional hurricane or tornado.
What happened to all the snow? Even Zuzu has some ‘getting used to’ ahead….
In mid April, amid blowing snow, cold and mud that froze—apparently Nature’s way of delivering a sinister farewell message—Kathy and Don sell their home and, with their cat, Zuzu (named after a character in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life), pull out of Michigan for the last time, bound for ‘Bama.
The search ensues for a new place to call home. As they start driving the area, learning highways and cities, Kathy and Don quickly get an appreciation for the diversity of environments the Gulf coast offers.
Acreage further out, or closer to town?
Big place, or smaller?
Near a lake, bay or river? Or, more interior?
Baldwin Co. offers it all.
As an artist, musician and professional photographer, Kathy is almost overwhelmed at how much there is to see and do on the Gulf coast. The large presence of artisans and craftsmen is especially exciting.
They also find it amazing at how many people they get to know in such a short time.
“You’re going to love it here,” they hear time after time.
Wow, Kathy explains as she makes another discovery about the Gulf coast. The people here are so friendly!
Yoopers no more, Kathy and Don—having traded snow shovels for palm trees—are getting acquainted with their new surroundings as residents of Alabama’s Gulf coast.
It doesn’t take long for Kathy to find a group of musicians she can play with regularly.
After looking around, the Falls make their decision on the place they want, submit an Offer and go Under Contract.
Anxious to get into their new home as soon as possible, the Falls ask their Lender how soon they can close.
Despite typically being a 30 day or more process to get financing in place, just ten days after going Under Contract, KC Haririan with Birmingham’s First Federal Mortgage—a Lender whom, we have learned over the years, delivers results, not excuses—issues what everyone has been excitedly looking forward to hearing.
“Clear to close.”
Less than three weeks after making their initial Offer, and less than six months after the whole idea took shape, keys slide across the closing table.
The Falls become Gulf coast homeowners.
The adventure has just begun.