What are some pros and cons?? Looks like this is the billett we are gonna take!! Already heard a few things from few guys here who where there before....plus I like the fact that we are a 6 hour drive form home....but what are some of the things you like or dislike about it?? TIA

Hi :hi I lived in downtown Charleston for a year while I was going to the College of Charleston down there and all my family lives in Charleston so I know a good bit about downtown and the islands and stuff but not a whole lot about Goose Creek. Charleston is gorgeous and very historical so there are always interesting restaurants and places to visit. Folly Beach and Isle of Palms are both great family beaches because there are never too many tourists and the weather is very temperate. Hmm...other than good places to eat and hang out I don't know what else to tell ya, lol. I live in Columbia SC now going to USC and a friend there was an instructor at the school in Goose Creek and that was his absolute favorite duty station. Well I hope this helped a little maybe. Any ? about Charleston just let me know and I might be able to help :)

Ooo I hate to be the one to tell you this but......WE HATE IT HERE!!!! Goose Creek is basically the ghetto of Charleston. It is NOT Charleston at all!!!! It's about 20 minutes away from actual downtown Charleston. Yes, Charleston can be nice, but we're sick of it by now and it's lost it's charm. The Naval Weapons Station is by far one of the worst bases! It's very hot and humid, ugly, old, the people cannot drive here, and the whole freakin state of SC sucks! I told my husband that as soon as we move, I will never spend another night in this pathetic state again! I'm sorry but there really isn't anything positive about this place.:mad

We like Goose Creek, and not for the mere fact that it's shore duty LOL. If you have specific questions PM me and I'll answer them. This isn't going to turn into another Jackson Park debaucle. It's not the ghetto by any means. The worst thing is the weather, the humidity blows and you can't go anywhere without waiting for a train. On the upside there's a mall 5 minutes away and Charleston is 15 miles up the road. There is also a county park 5 minutes away, they have a water park there that we have season passes to.

There are positive things to say and fun things to do. Like I said, if you have specific questions PM me. ;)

I have a sneaking suspicion that Absinthegreen's DH is a student?? :giggle

We like Goose Creek, and not for the mere fact that it's shore duty LOL. If you have specific questions PM me and I'll answer them. This isn't going to turn into another Jackson Park debaucle. It's not the ghetto by any means. The worst thing is the weather, the humidity blows and you can't go anywhere without waiting for a train. On the upside there's a mall 5 minutes away and Charleston is 15 miles up the road. There is also a county park 5 minutes away, they have a water park there that we have season passes to.

There are positive things to say and fun things to do. Like I said, if you have specific questions PM me. ;)

I have a sneaking suspicion that Absinthegreen's DH is a student?? :giggle


Yes, he is a student! Is that a problem or something?!?!

No it's not a problem, calm down and relax. I only said that because it's difficult enough to be a student, let alone a student's wife. They spend all day in school, and then are expected to visit the NDI as well. If your DH is prototype, then you have no consistency to your lives with his shift work, and it totally sucks. The point I was trying to make is that student SO's are more miserable for the most part then those who's DH's are instructors, and rightly so.

No it's not a problem, calm down and relax. I only said that because it's difficult enough to be a student, let alone a student's wife. They spend all day in school, and then are expected to visit the NDI as well. If your DH is prototype, then you have no consistency to your lives with his shift work, and it totally sucks. The point I was trying to make is that student SO's are more miserable for the most part then those who's DH's are instructors, and rightly so.


Okay, sorry. I really didn't mean to jump down your throat.:oops

Yeah, he's currently prototype. It's just our personal opinion that Goose Creek sucks. It's just not for us.:(

I guess the positives are that there are wonderful restaurants downtown and we're close to our family in GA. Isle of Palms beach is nice and Mt. Pleasant is a great place to shop.

It's ok, I understand. Prototype sucks, no question. One of my friends and her family is leaving Goose Creek a year early, her hubby is a prototype instructor. They're going back to a sea command because the shift work so shitty.

Isle of Palms is nice, yes. Do you usually park in all the parking that is metered and jampacked?? Because I know a little IOP secret if you'd like to go somewhere a little less crowded ;)

Oh yeah, when you do move here you must try 39 Rue de Jean. It's my favorite restaurant in Charleston because I love love love french food!:D Also, Hyman's Seafood is great and so is Fleet Landing. All downtown.

In North Charleston on Rivers Avenue, about 5 minutes away from base, there is a place called Yokosa. It's a Japanese steakhouse. Wonderful!!!

Can you tell I like to eat? :lol :mrgreen

There's also Kobe on Ashley Phosphate. Have you been there? We saw Yokosa, it's over by Texas Roadhouse right? I love a good Japanese steakhouse!!! :D

There's also a FABULOUS little place in Charleston called "Sunfire grill and bistro". It's expensive but WOW is it good!! They have a website if you want to check out their menu. I love it!!

It's ok, I understand. Prototype sucks, no question. One of my friends and her family is leaving Goose Creek a year early, her hubby is a prototype instructor. They're going back to a sea command because the shift work so shitty.

Isle of Palms is nice, yes. Do you usually park in all the parking that is metered and jampacked?? Because I know a little IOP secret if you'd like to go somewhere a little less crowded ;)

Oh yeah! That's usually where I park. :neutral

There's also Kobe on Ashley Phosphate. Have you been there? We saw Yokosa, it's over by Texas Roadhouse right? I love a good Japanese steakhouse!!! :D

We've been wanting to try Kobe. :)

Yes, Yokosa is over by Kmart and Texas Road House.

I PM'd you about the IOP thing. I hope I didn't confuse you. Kobe is great, we've been there twice. I always have the Scallops and steak :giggle

Well...it is starting to sound more and more like Richmond, VA to me...just on a snmaller scale!! Sounds like I could be happy there!! Once we get our move date I will Pm'ng you guys so I know what ot expect for the time of year and such!!
Oh...thanks for the heads up on the humidity...can't be any worse than Richmond or here in Texas for that matter...getting a little to used to it now....just as long as I have 4 seasons, then I am happy...LOL
Oh..what is daycare like down there if you use it?? Will definitely need that!!!LOL And do you get a lot of bad storms especially during hurrican season?
Thanks for the all the info guys!!!

Judy I gave you my opintion on this duty station and like I said the housing on base was nice to be as old as it was.
And I told you about the water park that Becca is talking about. The historical stuff is nice too but not child friendly.
I really hope that you guys enjoy it. We just prefer a Bigger city and a better command. It was Shore duty for us too but it was way worse than Sea duty any day.

Judy we went through 2 hurricanes while we were there for 3 years.
Child care while I was there was just over 100 per child and that was with a multi kid discount cause we had all 3 of them in there.
Oh and they don't evacuate you there like they did here

Don't mind the evacuatrion thing...if it looks like it will hit I will head to Josh's aunt and uncles in NC or to VA!!
Thanks for all your info to Breezy....I am sure that there will be things we don't like there, just as long as its better than here...LOL...just the fact of being on the east coast and that close to my son helps a lot though!!!
Thanks, you really have been a big help!!

oh and I agree with Becca that it isn't in the Ghetto. It isn't the Ritz Carlton but it isn't the scum of the earth either.
And part of our needing a big city was cause we had just left San Diego can't get any bigger than that

Oh it is better than here :D

Well....I'm not used to real big cities..so thats good...and I am used to driving a little to get to places, that is pretty much how it is in VA, so I don't mind any of that...just as long as there is a park, great restraunts, a nice area to walk around in and beaches within a hour or two I will be happy!!!

Oh..what is daycare like down there if you use it?? Will definitely need that!!!LOL And do you get a lot of bad storms especially during hurrican season?


I am blessed to be a SAHM so the only daycare we use is at my gym. My neighbors use one of the recommended inhome providers and it's really worked out great for them, their daughter is two months older than mine.

The storms haven't been so bad yet, but this is only our second summer here. Nothing major last year, almost got brushed by one but it missed us. Breezy is the hurricane expert I guess LOL. We did have a hell of a storm earlier this year that took out one of our trees in the back yard. I posted about it in the photo album, here's a link if you want to read it http://forum.militarysos.com/showthread.php?t=14209&highlight=hammock .

Don't get your hopes up about seasons...there's no such thing as winter around here :giggle I remember Christmas 2004 I was 7.5 months pregnant decorating the Christmas tree and crying because I had the air conditioning on and it was nearly 80 degrees outside. It just felt so wrong! That was warmer than normal though, I remember hearing that on the news.

I remember a few Christmases like that....I guess you can't expect too much cold being that close to the water and being in the south though....just as long as I get a spring and a fall then I am happy!!!!
And those are the storms that I'm used to....LOL...the ones where it actually rains a lot too!!LOL

Oh and we actually got as much snow in Charleston as we did in VA. but they were fluks so it comes and goes. One was on April Fools :giggle
Compared to here you definately get cold lol BUT not "cold" :D

Definately go to Myrtle Judy, we personally didn't like the beaches there, they are alot like here though :dunno except you can't drive on them there

Myrtle beach is a LONG drive though - IOP is only 30 minutes...so it depends on if you want to make a day of it, or just a couple of hours. We can go to IOP for the afternoon on those days when dh gets home right after lunch.

True Becca we just aren't "beach" people so we didn't like them cause the "beach" was all there was to do lol
You can make it to Myrtle in 2 hours though atleast we did :hehe

Brandon is in schooling in the nuke prgram down there and he likes it for the most part...he says its starting to get old and that hes ready to get out...and I'm not there with hiim so it sticks UGH

i have been to myrtle beach and we have driven thru south carolina. it didnt seem all that bad either. My hubby did say though to make sure you have insect repellant LOL. his family lived in Charleston when his dad was in the Navy. I know its changed alot since he has been there. thats good that you think you will like it Judy.

Well the fact that we were there for 3.5 years that is alot longer than most students so that makes a difference too. And we had lots of family who thought it was "fabulous" to come visit BUT they didn't live there. We are the type of people who can only stay somewhere a couple of years and then it is time to go :P
I would still say though between Norfolk, Charleston and Corpus we like Norfolk the best and that is saying a lot cause we didn't like it either :P and Corpus we like the least.
But so Far SD has been the all time favorite of our duty stations

well i know we dont want to end up in San Diego only because its to expensive. But the flip side of going there is that the job market is huge and there are lots of awesome SD ladies on here that I would love to meet in person too. not to mention checking out the 2 story exchange and a big commissary. the cost of living sucks out there, but thats the only thing.

my take on goose creek...it's small, not teeny tiny, but not big...it's marshy here and it feels like country living to me...Charleston seems like it would be more city living but it takes us about 30 mins to get there so it's not worth the gas to commute...my husband has been lucky enough to get great hours for shore duty so that's always a plus...the base offers a good bit of free or discounted things to do like baseball tickets and other stuff you can do as a family or as a couple but the isn't a big base and the housing is old looking from the outside, i don't think you would have a problem getting housing though as alot of it seems empty...the houseing market off base is becoming more costly but still reasonable...it's SC so I feel the schools stink but others i'm sure have different feelings....i do agree with whom ever said people can't drive here, the speed limit will be 45 & i always get stuck behind someone Driving Miss Daisy ang going way under the limit...the air base isn't too far and they have a vet clinic if you have animals, it can be difficult at times to get your pet in due to the vets schedule but they're nice...we haven't went to myrtle beach so i can't comment on that but we have been to isle of palms and folly beach here and i prefer folly, there's lots of shells and the beach is wider so you don't have continue to move backwards if the tide is coming in, although my husband like isle of palms better because they have a little place for you to use the bathroom & changing rooms & a couple picnic tables with a little playground for the kids. like becca said if you have specific questions you can ask me also but there's a little of my thoughts

Reading this thread, I can't be any more excited. I'm totally looking forward to pcs-ing to SC at the end of the year! Woohoo! :)

Oooh, Becca, looks like you're going to be my new BFF... lol We're just waiting on "orders in hand" They told DH could have his choice of schools to teach at down there, but the more I hear about Prototype, the less I want him to take it (that's what he wants b/c he thinks he'll like it more) I looked at their housing and it looks so archaic, so I'm looking at apartments in GC, N.Chas & Summerville. Any thoughts on those areas? (DH lived in NChas last time he was stationed there) I can't seem to find any 4 BR apts, though... I guess they're not popular down there... So, I'm settling for a 3BR... any advice on Apt complexes that are nice or Not so nice... ? Also, we're taking a HUGE pay cut to go there, so I'm going to have to go back to work... Are there any big corporate offices down there or any place that's really family friendly? I'm thinking of going back to Admin. Asst. work., So I, too, will have to put the babies in daycare :( I guess that's all I can think of to ask right now...
And as far as the weather, I guess I'll get initiated into the seasons real quick, since we're due to move their in AUGUST!!

Thanks,
Nicki
:)

if you live off base live in north charleston. its not bad there. dh went to school there--for a-school power school and prototype. north charleston isn't bad goose creek is disgusting

dh was in atlantic palms

my advice: Summerville is a good place to live. N charleston isn't bad either. I live on base though in goose creek so yea. If we could afford it we would live off base but unfortunately we can't due to having a toddler and my husband is not a Nuke.

Oooh, Becca, looks like you're going to be my new BFF... lol We're just waiting on "orders in hand" They told DH could have his choice of schools to teach at down there, but the more I hear about Prototype, the less I want him to take it (that's what he wants b/c he thinks he'll like it more) I looked at their housing and it looks so archaic, so I'm looking at apartments in GC, N.Chas & Summerville. Any thoughts on those areas? (DH lived in NChas last time he was stationed there) I can't seem to find any 4 BR apts, though... I guess they're not popular down there... So, I'm settling for a 3BR... any advice on Apt complexes that are nice or Not so nice... ? Also, we're taking a HUGE pay cut to go there, so I'm going to have to go back to work... Are there any big corporate offices down there or any place that's really family friendly? I'm thinking of going back to Admin. Asst. work., So I, too, will have to put the babies in daycare :( I guess that's all I can think of to ask right now...
And as far as the weather, I guess I'll get initiated into the seasons real quick, since we're due to move their in AUGUST!!

Thanks,
Nicki
:)

Nicki I didn't even see this when you posted it, sorry I didn't reply!! Yeah if you can stay away from prototype I would - shift work stinks and it takes awhile to get into a day staff position, if at all.

I don't know much about the job market down here, I'm a SAHM, but as far as corporate offices, I know there's a verizon call center in North Charleston, and Google is building a call center down here but it won't be ready for at least a year or two.

We live in the Liberty Hall housing development, it's 5 minutes from base and it's perfect, we love it. I know you mentioned apartments, but there are houses for rent in the development, as well as houses on the market if you had any inclination to buy.

http://www.centexhomes.com/Charleston/M21511D1120.asp?QuadrantID=129

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help wherever I can.

http://forum.cinchouse.com/groupee_common/platform_images/blank.gif (http://forum.cinchouse.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6111060231/m/4941007211?r=4941007211#4941007211)document.write(''+ myTimeZone('Thu, 03 May 2007 21:05:44 GMT-0700', 'May 03, 2007 09:05 PM')+'');Hi all,
I just posted on another SOS board about our move, too, but... we finally got our orders... Prototype :( I wanted to live in Sville, but DH says it's too far. I have never had to move since we've been together and now hubby is deployed- no comm. Anyway, I set everything up online for the move for mid July, but I have been to Chas. once when I was 10, so I'm kind of flying blind here. I found a bunch of apartments, but was able to narrow it down by using apartmentratings.com. Does anyone know anything about North Bluff Apartments? It's near the mall http://forum.cinchouse.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif I've only heard good things about it, but if someone's heard yucky stuff about it, or know of any other great apartments that aren't far from base, I'd love to hear about it.

Becca, I'm going to try to PM you with some questions, soon... I hope you don't mind :) I'm just recuperating from surgery right now, so I'm not doing much... uugh...

More soon,
nicki
:)

I live in Marion, SC. About 45 minutes from Myrtle Beach and 2 hours from Charleston. I'm planning on going to CofC this August and my boyfriend will hopefully be there after he gets out of bootcamp for schooling or training one. I've lived here all my life and could pretty much tell you anything about the south, but not much about Charleston yet. But at least you'll have friends from SOS there!