I know I’m going to come off sounding like I got paid off by the Baxter Village HOA, but I would just like to write about how beautiful Baxter Village is.

This past weekend I drove around the Baxter Village yard sale for a few hours. My son and I went from house to house throughout all sections of Baxter. We were on the hunt for a bike for my son and a toaster for my husband’s work office.

Admittedly, about the only street I drive on at Baxter is Market Street – I go to the library, I go to Dolce Lusso to get my haircut, I splurge on ice cream for the kids at SweeTreats, and hang out at Six Pence Pub on occasion. I’ve been to Chocolat and Grapevine a handful of times. That’s about it. I’ve seen the houses on the main drag by Orchard Park Elementary but not much else as far as residential areas.

So Saturday was an enjoyable day as I explored the sections of Baxter that have been unexplored as of yet.

And let me just say – what a charming, lovely development! Sure, there is a touch of cookie cutterism with the houses near Market Street, but there are other sections where the houses are all completely different and unique. There are private circles of homes with huge swatches of green grass in the middle for the kids to run around on. The houses are all taken care of and have some quaint charm to make them stand out in their own way. Some are small bungalows on small lots, others are probably over 4,000 square feet and have huge backyards. Most have front porches that look inviting and make me wish I had one of my own on which to sit and read my book with a drink in hand while watching my children enjoy the last few rays of sunshine before nightfall.

Parks aplenty. Green space aplenty. Homeowner pride in it’s most obvious form by way of gorgeous landscaping and tasteful exteriors. And nearly all of it is within walking distance to Market Street. Imagine being able to say to your spouse, “Let’s go out to dinner,” and instead of gearing up and getting into the car, you can take a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood on a balmy evening and grab an outdoor table at Beef O’Brady’s or Liu Liu’s.

When my husband and I were considering a move to South Carolina, we toured the Baxter Village model homes and determined that, while lovely, they were out of our price range and/or too small (in some cases, smaller than what we had already). As such, we opted to buy elsewhere.

But going through there on Saturday morning made me think that maybe someday…who knows? Maybe we’ll look to simplify, and Baxter will be the way to go!