We're on the waiting list for Okatie Pines Retirement Community. We had a grand tour and lunch with them three weeks ago. That's only four miles down the road from where we presently live, which means we don't have to change doctors or any of our normal routines. And we were very impressed with the whole facility. It's fairly new, and the people we talked to went out of their way to tell us that they had been there a while and they were very happy with it. That kind of feedback helps as well. But we liked what we saw. We liked the size of the apartments. That was one thing that gave them the leg up. That and they had three meals a day available. They have a movie theater that seats 150 people, and they have movies every night. And they're our age, vintage news/movies instead of some of the new things that we wouldn't care as much for. They have a treadmill, and that kind of equipment for physical activity in one room, and repairs and everything are taken care of by their in-house man. They tell me that you even call if you need a light bulb changed. It just seemed as though it had everything we could want. We did have lunch. It was a nice meal. One of the things I'm impressed with is that they have a soup and salad bar, and the soups are homemade every day. We met with Jim who is the salesman. I don't remember exactly what his title was. He was charming and interested in seeing what kind of things made us a fit for them. We met the head of the dining room who was fairly new. They have housekeeping once a week. They come in, clean your apartment, and change your bed linens, which is very nice to know. I know they have a garden club because I'm a gardener, so that was appealing to me. It was generally a nice situation, at least we felt we fit well with them and they with us.

The tour we had of Okatie Pines Retirement Community was very good. It's independent living, and I think they were caring. The rooms were spacious for that type of facility. I thought the staff was very good. The food was excellent too. It was very good. They had a variety of foods available, all of which you can pick. I picked mixed vegetables and salmon. We saw the common areas, and we also looked at the room that we are going to have.

Okatie Pines is very nice. I think what we like the most is the way they do the dining. People can sit wherever they want; they're not assigned anywhere. They go where they want; it's very flexible. It's nice because it's all independent -- it's not assisted living -- and those two need to really be separate because people are very different in the independent versus the assisted. I don't think we should ever put those two together. The staff has been excellent. They really have done a good job. The menu is very good, they can choose different things, and they have a salad bar. They listen to the residents if they just want a little bit on their plate. They're just very careful to consider the residents' feelings. The place is beautiful. They have a very good movie theater, they have different activities, and I know my mom does participate in some of the activities there. It's a smaller facility, though, so it doesn't have quite as much as some of the others might have. She plays bingo and cards. All these places are expensive, but I think the value is good.