Planning retirement to Wilmington, NC area, looking at ST.James Plantation - any input would be appreciated. (Oak Island: hair salon, houses)
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My wife and I are planning to retire to Coastal NC from Massachusetts and have been looking at St. James Plantation, reason being even though we are NOT golfers, we love the idea that St.James has its own Marina, where we plan to rack-store our boat, so we don't have to trailer it to the water.
Looking for opinions, input, suggestions, comments about these topics:
1. Other 55+ communities in the Wilmington area
2. St. James community for a non-golfer
3. St. James costs of living for a non-golfer
4. Boating around St. James
5. Opinions and comments about the St. James Marina
6. Any other useful input or suggestions
We are planning to visit for the 1st time the week of Oct 8 and would like to meet other non-golfers at St. James for coffee and conversation.
Hi - I let others answer the majority of your questions. First, St. James is not a 55+ community. It is open to all ages, but its average age is about 62. There are children living there-- search the forum if you need details.
Similarly, all of the "plantations" in Brunswick County are all-ages communities, and some have more children. I'm not sure if that really matters to you.
My wife and I have lived here in St. James for close to 10 years. We are non-golfers but love the four clubhouses. We really like having the fourth fairway of Players Club in our back yard. We love the marina as well though we are not boaters either. We find plenty to do here without playing golf. I'm not sure if I would have time to play golf currently even if I wanted to. Be sure to visit the St. James beach club, it's on 72nd st, on Oak Island. Send me a private message, I think I'll be available on the 8th.
Looking for opinions, input, suggestions, comments about these topics:
1. Other 55+ communities in the Wilmington area
2. St. James community for a non-golfer
3. St. James costs of living for a non-golfer
4. Boating around St. James
5. Opinions and comments about the St. James Marina
6. Any other useful input or suggestions
We are planning to visit for the 1st time the week of Oct 8 and would like to meet other non-golfers at St. James for coffee and conversation.
St James is lovely. However, be sure to check out the distance from other activities that are important to you. If your preference is to be within a 20 minute drive to things like several grocery stores, a large variety of restaurants, bars, movie theaters, ethnic restaurants, nail and hair salons, etc., St. James may not be a good fit.
I'm not putting St. James down at all - it just depends on how you want to spend your retirement time.
I am in my early 50's and own a home in St. James. I do not have membership to the clubs, and when I golf, I pay a slightly higher fee for each round. Even without membership you can eat at the clubs, utilize the beach club and attend events. It is real easy to meet people and the plantation runs events to facilitate meeting others. I looked and evaluated my options for 2 years before building and I am very happy with St. James. Feel free to PM me. Also, hook up with CrimsonDregs, as he is very knowledgeable.
My wife and I are planning to retire to Coastal NC from Massachusetts and have been looking at St. James Plantation, reason being even though we are NOT golfers, we love the idea that St.James has its own Marina, where we plan to rack-store our boat, so we don't have to trailer it to the water.
Looking for opinions, input, suggestions, comments about these topics:
1. Other 55+ communities in the Wilmington area
2. St. James community for a non-golfer
3. St. James costs of living for a non-golfer
4. Boating around St. James
5. Opinions and comments about the St. James Marina
6. Any other useful input or suggestions
We are planning to visit for the 1st time the week of Oct 8 and would like to meet other non-golfers at St. James for coffee and conversation.
Look forward to meeting new friends,
Robert & Lise
Robert and Lisa - we loved St.James Plantation - it was our second choice - we bought a lot in Ocean Ridge Plantation. STJP is gorgeous. The only two reasons we picked ORP is because:
1. STJP is its 'own town' and I was concerned about taxes, fire dept. which they have their own, could escalate in prices more so than other plantations
2. Area on Route 211. We wanted to be nearer to route 17 for evaculation purposes - and we thought Rt. 211 is more in the 'sticks' than the plantations that are near route 17. ORP is halfway between both Wilmington as well as Myrtle Beach for the larger stores such as Trader Joes, Target, Whole Foods, etc. We have friends who showed us their lot last year in STJP and we clocked that it took 20 minutes to get from the gate to their lot - its a huge huge plantation. BUT a gorgeous place. We love that marina, too, and when we move to ORP, we will be going there to enjoy the restaurants, etc. ourselves. Good luck, and yes, you can private message me anytime, we took about 1.5 of trips down there to finally make our decision. We saw TONS OF PLANTATIONS!! PS - we are from South Jersey.
Hey there, not to jump on someone else thread, but we are in a similar position - from S. Jersey looking for a Plantation in southern NC. Just wondering how which plantations are closest to the beach. Pools are great, but we are really beach bums so would love to have the option of a walk to a beach, or maybe a 10 minute drive. Anything more than that would depress me...thanks! Melissa
In my estimation the closest to the "beach" would be Sea Trail (1 mile). After that Sandpiper Bay (3 miles), Ocean Ridge (5 miles), St James (7 miles) and Winding River (12 miles). Once again my estimates.
Hey there, not to jump on someone else thread, but we are in a similar position - from S. Jersey looking for a Plantation in southern NC. Just wondering how which plantations are closest to the beach. Pools are great, but we are really beach bums so would love to have the option of a walk to a beach, or maybe a 10 minute drive. Anything more than that would depress me...thanks! Melissa
Ocean Ridge Plantation to Sunset Beach is about 10 minutes. They have their own 'beach house there' - as does Winding River Plantation - as well as SJP - one is on HOlden Beach, and not sure where the other one is located.
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