The Cliffs Valley
Q. Where are you from and how did you meet?
A. Julie: I grew up in Kansas City, and Dave is from Hutchinson, Kansas.
Dave: We met in a bar. We were both going to Kansas State University.
Julie: It was our sophomore year, and a gal that Dave went to high school with was my sorority sister. She introduced us.
Q. Where did you go from there?
A. Dave: After graduation, I started working for a company out of Wichita. Two years later, we were married in Kansas City and then moved to Chicago with my job. We were there for eight years and then were transferred back to Wichita for six years. I changed jobs, and we transferred to Connecticut for four years. Most recently, we lived in West Palm Beach for fifteen years. Kansas will always be home, but our kids grew up in Florida.
Q. Tell me about your kids!
A. Julie: We have two kids. Our daughter, Jenn, lives in Nashville and is a private chef. Our son, Mike, is in North Palm Beach and has a consulting company specializing in financial analysis. Both are married. No kids yet. Lots of granddogs!
Q. How did you find The Cliffs?
A. Julie: Kind of dumb luck, actually! We took our son to a basketball camp at Duke University for a week. We saw an ad for The Cliffs and thought we’d check it out. We were not planning on buying anything, and we initially looked in The Mountain Region. But they put us up on the lake at The Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards, and we just loved the lake. So we ended up buying a homesite at Keowee Falls! The plan was to wait ten years, but of course, we built a house the next year. We just fell in love with everything about it.
Q. That is the house you live in now?
A. Julie: No! When Dave retired in 2016, we sold our home in Florida. We built that first house as a summer lake house, not for retirement. So we bought this homesite and built this house! It was finished in 2019.
Q. Why do you think you settled here?
A. Dave: The lake, the golf courses, the outdoors. We are very active, and there is so much to do here. I don’t particularly like crowds and cities, so this is very comfortable for us.
Julie: And the people. We have made great friends here. We didn’t know one person when we bought our homesite! And when Dave retired, I threw a party for him and sixty friends came—all from The Cliffs!
Q. How would you describe the community?
A. Julie: I think it started as a big golf community, but now there is so much going on. There are hiking groups, book clubs, charity organizations, Bunco and Mahjong, dinner clubs, and of course, the wellness center with tennis and pickleball. We are really into golf.
Q. Do you compete against each other?
A. Dave: We definitely compete. I said when Julie first started learning that if my wife ever beats me in golf, I’ll quit. I’ve had to change that—if she ever beats me from the same tees, then I have to quit. And I’m not dumb enough to play the same tees as her!
Q. What do you think is so special about The Cliffs?
A. Julie: The club is great, very friendly and family-oriented. And they take care of people. When someone is sick or loses a spouse, the community really pulls together and helps out. The staff does a terrific job of getting to know the members and providing a great experience for everyone.
This story was featured in Cliffs Living magazine. To see more stories like this one and learn more about The Cliffs, subscribe here.
