Maremy's Blog

I know, I know! I've been a bit behind with the updates but here goes. This is part 1 of 2 entries about Day 3. I wanted to write separately about my old house we saw, since it may be a bit of a long entry ;) My apologies...

We took a drive to New Port Richey, where my grandfather and some of his children (my dad included) had a house. We would go down there, usually twice a year (Christmas and March Break). About four years after my grandfather passed away, the house was unfortunately sold. Now, the last time I saw this house in person was in 2003. I've seen it since on Google Earth street view. On Google Earth, it had appeared as though the house had been painted a baby blue colour and was no longer the white colour it had been when we owned it. Turns out Google Earth does not lie ;).

The drive to New Port Richey was great. I saw all the changes that had been along the route we took to get there once we left the I-75. The area is so much more built up, even in six years; many more shopping centres, housing developments, etc. I did, however, recognize a few things and was able to tell Jeremy about how far we were from the house.

The house was in an area called Mill Pond...an area I remember there being A LOT of older people, not many families and generally, being well-kept. I saw that the economy had taken a toll on this place. It's not trashy and decimated...it is just not the same. But I guess that's what happens when you don't see a place in nearly six years AND the economy goes into a downward spiral.

Seeing the house was not as hard for me as what I had envisioned. I felt somewhat mellow when I saw it. Also, as soon as I saw the place, I decided not to go knock on the door. Jeremy had asked if I wanted to do that and I said I would see when we got there. When I saw the outside of the house and realized the lanai was gone, I couldn't do it. The place had already changed too much for me on the outside to see what had been done to the inside. I want my memories of the inside of that place to remain as they are with the wallpaper on the walls my dad had hung up (and yes, it was nice wallpaper!) and everything else that was there as we had left it in 2003. Jeremy kept asking if I was sure but when I kept saying no, he said he understood and that he was likening it to his old house on Highway 21; he wouldn't want to see that on the inside either.

So yes, the house is a babyblue colour. It also had LOTS of Christmas decorations on the outside. We found out from the neighbors across the road (they were outside and actually stopped us to find out why we were taking pictures, which we explained) that an old lady lives there, so it isn't the owners who purchased the house from my family (they were an young couple around my age).

When we went around to the clubhouse, which my old place was right across the street, I got confirmation that yes, the lanai was gone...and so was the orange tree and grapefruit tree. This was actually the point when I said to Jeremy that we didn't need to knock on the door.

I'm not angry about the changes that were made to the house because that is what happens. Six years is a hell of a lot of time passing and I expected changes. It was good to see the old place again though. It brought back lots of good memories and I so thankful for the time I was able to spend in that house, especially with my grandparents.

I was sad to see how run-down the area had become; it was once such a place you had to keep the lawn mowed and gardens weeded or else the board would get on your case about it. We also saw a few foreclosed homes, which is pretty much what told me the economy was hitting this place hard. The shuffleboard courts were also very run-down; it looked like up keep of the place is not really a priority anymore. There are also lots more families living in the area too (not that I'm saying there is anything wrong with that!) but it shows how the area has changed demographically. I saw a lot more younger people there than I did retirees; when I was there, it was the other way around.

My apologies for such a long-winded entry! I wanted to get all my thoughts down though about seeing the house and Mill Pond again. Be sure to read part two of our Day 3 (which will be up soon...hopefully!) and have a look at the pictures! :)