The first thing we did to the exterior was to paint that front door “Chinese Red”. I just could not take the vast expanse of white. When the sun hit it just right, it was eye-killing.
Peep that crazy sidewalk that had been covered in asphalt by the city to “repair” holes. Seriously people? Yeah, that would be an ongoing issue which would eventually be resolved in 2004 after numerous letters and phone calls. Apparently since it had been “recently repaired” it wasn’t a high priority.
This could be anywhere from June 2002 to June 2004. The car is a 2002 PT cruiser that was purchased in April of 2002 and since my oldest was born in June, I know I wouldn’t have had a car seat in the car before then. I know it’s before June 2004 because that tree in the foreground was ripped out and dropped across the street by Hurricane Charley in late August 2004 and the sidewalk was installed that summer before hurricane season.
For reference, I’m standing in the street at our far property line facing diagonally across both our parcels. I had to threaten the city with a lawsuit over the sidewalk, actually. As I think about it, this picture could be from winter 2003 because I recall my last communication to the city was to tell them that if I, a pregnant woman, or my aging grandmother fell and any of us were injured on that sidewalk, the city would be sued for damages. The sidewalk was installed pretty quickly after that.
A lot has changed in our fair city since those days. The “good ol’ boy” network has largely been replaced with more forward thinking folks who are commited to making our little town a world class destination while still retaining the “bedroom commuinity” and vintage feel.