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I am new to this forum. I am not new to Charleston. I have lived here for many years. Just a quick overview. I am over 50. I am in very good shape and like activities that are not sedentary in nature. Prior to this time in my life, I was busy raising my children and all that that entails. They are now out of the house. I was in a 6 year relationship that ended about a year ago. This leaves me with a little more spare time on my hands than I have had in previous years.
So for the social situation and trying to meet others as friends and possibly infrequent dating. Not to knock anything about Charleston, that is not my intent. For someone who does not desire the bar scene, I attend church very infrequently (by which I am not going to use the church as a tool for which I believe it is unintended), I go to the gym to exercise and have excluded this as a social arena, I have limited options, in my opinion to choose from. I moved here approximately 13 years ago, and as mentioned earlier was busy, very busy raising my children and working. This left no time for socializing. Being in a relationship also limited my time. So needless to say I have gotten myself into this situation and am ready to try to make more time for myself to do things and get out. I love to hike, there is only one operating hiking club in Charleston and the surrounding 2 hour radius that I am aware of. I have hiked with them once, and was fun but I move at a much higher pace. So I have virtually excluded this option. The hiking activities at the State and National Parks in WV are minimal, which is sad because there is so much beauty in the state. There are minimal Meet up groups in the area and most cater to moms with children and other realms which are outside my area of interest. I have looked at all the clubs and organizations in the area and most also lie outside my area of interest and are sedentary in nature. I could volunteer this is an option I know. I tried the online dating (limited to the ones that were free or less expensive, big mistake by my being so naive) and what a terror. I happened upon the worse of the worse and would be petrified to try that again. So I tried E-harmony which is maybe a little bit more upscale, not really but compared to the others. Based on my strict preferences, I get a match maybe once a month. So that option for the relationship aspect is null. There is a group in Charleston, Speak Easy Singles, for which I am very grateful that has social activities that I am slowly trying to involve myself in. Other than that, there is nothing else available to my knowledge.
So to conclude my dissertation, if anyone has any suggestions for me I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you ahead of time.
I am new to this forum. I am not new to Charleston. I have lived here for many years. Just a quick overview. I am over 50. I am in very good shape and like activities that are not sedentary in nature. Prior to this time in my life, I was busy raising my children and all that that entails. They are now out of the house. I was in a 6 year relationship that ended about a year ago. This leaves me with a little more spare time on my hands than I have had in previous years.
So for the social situation and trying to meet others as friends and possibly infrequent dating. Not to knock anything about Charleston, that is not my intent. For someone who does not desire the bar scene, I attend church very infrequently (by which I am not going to use the church as a tool for which I believe it is unintended), I go to the gym to exercise and have excluded this as a social arena, I have limited options, in my opinion to choose from. I moved here approximately 13 years ago, and as mentioned earlier was busy, very busy raising my children and working. This left no time for socializing. Being in a relationship also limited my time. So needless to say I have gotten myself into this situation and am ready to try to make more time for myself to do things and get out. I love to hike, there is only one operating hiking club in Charleston and the surrounding 2 hour radius that I am aware of. I have hiked with them once, and was fun but I move at a much higher pace. So I have virtually excluded this option. The hiking activities at the State and National Parks in WV are minimal, which is sad because there is so much beauty in the state. There are minimal Meet up groups in the area and most cater to moms with children and other realms which are outside my area of interest. I have looked at all the clubs and organizations in the area and most also lie outside my area of interest and are sedentary in nature. I could volunteer this is an option I know. I tried the online dating (limited to the ones that were free or less expensive, big mistake by my being so naive) and what a terror. I happened upon the worse of the worse and would be petrified to try that again. So I tried E-harmony which is maybe a little bit more upscale, not really but compared to the others. Based on my strict preferences, I get a match maybe once a month. So that option for the relationship aspect is null. There is a group in Charleston, Speak Easy Singles, for which I am very grateful that has social activities that I am slowly trying to involve myself in. Other than that, there is nothing else available to my knowledge.
So to conclude my dissertation, if anyone has any suggestions for me I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you ahead of time.
Maybe get involved in an organization like the Union Mission, Charleston Area Alliance, etc... or better yet start your own group (hiking, helping people, community service, etc...). Getting involved with a non-profit or voulenteer group is one wa to connect with people, stay busy, as well as help the community.
Speak Easy Singles has been about it since the '80s, I think. Consider relocating, is what I'd recommend. Charleston is bound to decline in intellectualism and income levels since it lost the chemical industry, the big paychecks from C&P phone, and Columbia Gas.
Charleston is weird. Like, people don't even use Craigslist much there, for anything. You're right that there are not many meetups.
If you don't want to relocate, I'd try grad school. Or the adult ed classes that Garnet used to offer. Or the Powderpuff Mechanics class that was at one of those votechs there. Or get a 2nd or 3rd job. If you can't have fun, might as well be making more money. hehe
I've been gone a good number of years, so I don't know what the current offerings are in Charleston & Huntington. Charleston seems to be insular and family oriented. That kind of environment is almost hostile to a single female who doesn't have her own kids to goe do things with. And I get the impression that it's also becoming sort of a retirement community. I don't think there's much attractive employment to hold either the young or the hard-driving nowadays. The people who go into ed and med tend to be a lot of sit-home church and family types. Personally, I hate hanging around with "family people." I worked in the chemical industry, where the people were not so much into large families, or religion, or sitting around doing nothing. Charleston's location is isolated, in that it's nestled in mountains (sort of) and is the largest city for miles around. You'd probably find more doing on in larger cities that have better access to colleges and universities.
I have pretty much the same no-social-life" situation where I am living now (NW PA), because the recession has cut the legs out from under all the manufacturing and tech that was ramping up and bringing back college grads and engineering/tech people. And the people here are small town, stupid, and either all church or all bar. Definitely lacking intellectual curiosity and interesting hobbies. I am single, female, and totally opposed to doing anything church or homemaker, DONE with family life and childrearing forever. But it's very gender-segregated here, the men all run around with other men, leave women at home with the kids and the drudgework, and the women are all Catholic homemakers who seem to think that God made women to be eternally servants who can be used and abused. I can't find anyone here to do things with, either. I can only stand about 5 seconds of these boring hicks! They keep trying to teach me how to be a good lil' slop-cleaning housewife, and I have gotten to the point that when they lecture me about what they think I should be doing, I just tell them I've been through with that for 10 years and they can stick their religion and family life right up their bumpkins. lol
I'm not in the same market (in nearly all aspects you note) but I am amazed at the number of people I meet and talk to just being. I enjoy taking pictures. Simply walking around taking pictures I meet all sorts of people. People I would further my conversation with if I was interested in getting better acquainted with them.
I met my wife online but this was 16 years ago when it was even more of a crap shoot but they were nearly all free then. At least for the first few months. You only had to change your email address to start a new account at that. LOL. Yes, it was very hit and miss but so is everything.
People who know me say that I'm not a real outgoing people person but even at that I've had no problem meeting people just out walking taking pictures. I get exercise, (granted not so much in the winter), enjoy my hobby and meet new people all the time.
hek55, are you still here? I have several suggestions for you. Not knowing where you live, I can only offer some generalities. There ARE organizations doing things in Charleston. The East End Association is busy with community events all year long. They organize the East End Yard Sale, the St. Pats pub crawl, the Halloween haunted house, and lots more. A group of volunteers built the AIDS memorial garden. The West Side group is working to revitalize that side of town as well, and it is really looking good. There are free concerts at Haddad Riverfront Park every Friday evening all summer long. They have a variety of music and are well attended. There is a volunteer group of people that support the Kanawha-Charleston Animal Shelter too. They have pretty much turned it into a no-kill shelter. I'd recommend you look for some of these groups on Facebook and begin to connect with some you find interesting.
BTW, SOME people in Charleston use Craig's List. My son posts an apartment for rent occasionally and gets a LIST of potential tenants within 2-3 days. Every time he has an apartment available. I don't know anybody that would recommend Craig's List to look for a date, though.
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