Five years ago, June 2021, I wrote a blog about our search for a cottage on Lake Erie[1]. We were one year into the COVID pandemic and like many people, my husband and I were eager to find a place far away from the big city where we once worked.
We began to look in earnest for a small house on the water, not far from where I spent my summers as a child near Point Breeze. As I wrote back then: Is it any wonder, at this stage of my life, with the kids grown and a new appreciation for spending time with extended family, that I would long to return to Lake Erie, this time in my own cottage with a view of my beloved lake? Alas, it is not to be. At least for now.
Little did we know when we began searching for that little cottage the housing market was on fire. Mortgage rates were very low, more people were working remotely, Millennials were out in numbers trying to buy first homes, and stimulus packages meant more people had disposable income and were able to make down payments. We made a few offers on cottages that looked reasonably priced, only to find ourselves outbid—in one case by over $100k. So we gave up, and I wrote sad blogs[2].
What a difference half a decade makes! At the end of last summer, when we had pretty much given up on our dream, my sister told me about a place that had been on the market for over a year. A cottage still for sale at the end of summer in Buffalo pretty much means it will stay on the market for another year, since no one with any sense ventures close to Lake Erie once the “November gales” begin. So we made an offer and they accepted.
As anyone who has ever bought real estate in New York knows, the process works exceedingly slow. It was Halloween before we were able to close on the house, despite the best efforts of both real estate agents. Although we braved a few nights there during the winter—just so we could experience the awesome spectacle of a frozen Lake Erie—we have yet to move in. That happens in two weeks, just in time to spend our first summer there.
I’m looking forward to inviting family and friends to our new lake house, becoming reacquainted with old friends and favorite haunts, and getting to know a “new, more vibrant” Buffalo than the one I left in my twenties. I have a new book coming out this summer and have been invited to join the Western New York Authors’ Alliance. And I’m excited about the book launches, book signings, lectures and events that will take place in the wonderful city—Buffalo—my books talk about.
Author Thomas Wolfe once famously wrote, “You can’t go home again.” With all due respect to Mr. Wolfe, I hope to prove him wrong.
Are you one of the native Buffalonians who left and came back home again? If so, I would love to hear your story in the comments below.
Moxie Gardiner is a writer, gardener, and traveler who grew up on the West Side of Buffalo, NY. In a previous life she was a journalist, magazine editor, speech writer, and policy wonk. Back in the day she made three solo parachute jumps, flew in an F-15 fighter jet, and crawled through mud pits at the Jungle Operations Training Course in Panama. She now meditates, grows tomatoes, and enjoys a good online Zumba routine at home on winter evenings. Virgin Snow is her first novel, and as of this writing, she is getting ready to publish Book Two in the Buffalo trilogy.
[1] It’s interesting to look back and read some of the statistics regarding the housing market back then. https://moxiegardiner.com/2021/06/30/dreaming-of-a-view-of-lake-erie/
[2] A couple of other Lake Erie blogs for your reading pleasure, https://moxiegardiner.com/2018/11/24/it-bit-me-on-the-rocks-of-lake-erie/ and https://moxiegardiner.com/2025/05/31/finding-inspiration-on-the-shores-of-lake-erie/