We're Home!

I'm on vacation! Here's a shot of me taken on the porch of the first placed we stayed, the Ashley Inn, in Charleston...


We got a kick out of LaVerne (on the left), who took good care of us at the Ashley Inn in Charleston. She had many a story to tell....


Getting ready for the Battle of Charleston...

Old graveyard next to a church in Summerville, near Charleston

Typical houses in Charleston....

Our friend, the gator. She's a big girl, huh? Thought she might have me for lunch.

Walking in the "low country."

Breakfast at the "Rhett House Inn" in Beaufort

Me and my buddy, Paula Deen, y'all.

The place we stayed in Savannah - The Ziegler House Inn.

Well, we had a wonderful vacation in Charleston, Beaufort and Savannah, and made it home last night a little after midnight. So much to tell - we experienced so much, it seems like we've been gone forever! You know how it is when you're on vacation, time seems to be suspended, and even though we were only gone a little over a week, it seems like more, even though at the same time, the time flew by! Let me start by saying that the weather was picture perfect every single day - 75 to 80 degrees and sunny without fail. That alone made the trip seem like a vacation. Our drive down and back went very well, too, so that was nice.

We started in Charleston, which is really our favorite place of all. It's like stepping back in time to the late 1700's, early 1800's every place you turn in the downtown area, as the entire town is listed on the National Historic Register. Most of the houses look like they did 200 years ago, and the dates when they were built are on little gold plaques attached to the house. There are moss-draped trees everywhere, and the original cobblestone streets are still intact - really the only way you know you're in modern times is by the cars parked on the streets. Gas lanterns line the streets and light the houses, even during the daytime. Horse-drawn carriages are always around, as this is one way to tour the town. We enjoyed doing that last time we were here, but this time we just walked around. There also happened to be a Civil War battle re-enactment going on last Sunday outside of town, so we took that in - very interesting, with soldiers in their gray and blue, cannons, horses, the whole thing. We stayed in the Charleston area for about 3 days, and then on to Beaufort, a tiny town between Charleston and Savannah.

Beaufort is beautiful in its own right. They call the whole area down there "low country" and that's exactly what it is. Lots of little islands off the coast, with lots of swampy, marshy area to drive through. On the way there we drove through a place called "The Botany Bay Plantation", which used to be a cotton and rice plantation back in the day. Old slave quarters and the ruins of the plantation were still intact. (Actually, there are several plantations in the area that are completely restored, but we didn't stop at any of those on this trip.) Our girls will understand when I say that we went on "one of dad's little nature trips", which is what we used to do a lot of when they were growing up - exploring little out of the way places in nature. The place we stayed at in Beaufort looked a bit like something out of "Gone with the Wind" - it was a lovely old historic home with a wraparound porch, where we ate breakfast. Far and away the most memorable part of our trip to Beaufort took place on one of our "nature trips." Scott saw some white birds (egrets, I think) that he wanted to take a picture of, so we stopped along the road. I stayed in the car; all of a sudden he ran back and said, "you've got to see this!" As he was taking pictures of the birds, all of a sudden he looked down, and about 10 feet away was this 6-7 foot alligator, along with two little baby ones! Yikes! We were standing a couple of feet above her on the road, and she was in the marsh below, standing like a statue looking at us. She never moved a muscle for like 10 minutes; I kind of felt like she might charge us at any moment, but we were confident we could get to the car in time. It was exciting!

On to Savannah - another lovely old historic place - a lot like Charleston, only smaller. My favorite part about it is that the town was laid out like a grid and every two blocks they have what are called "squares" - little parks with fountains, statues and such, including plenty of old oak trees. Good thing to be able to get some shade, because it was blistering hot there - in the 90's, even though it's only April. We took a trolley ride there, to see the sights, and we ate at the "Lady & Sons" restaurant, which is Paula Deen's restaurant, where she serves lots of southern dishes liked fried chicken, grits, collard greens, etc. The eating was great everywhere we went, and of course I gained back a few of the pounds I had lost, but back on the Medifast diet today. I wouldn't have passed up those pecan pralines and all the great food for anything! It was worth it.

We relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but of course it's true what they say - "there's no place like home." We are happy to be back, and glad to see that Spring has Sprung in Holland, too!