Magnolia Plantation

We continued out historical tour of the Charleston area by touring through Magnolia Plantation today. The gardens were HUGE and the it had great hiking and bike trails as well. There is a mile or so long boardwalk that goes through a cypress swamp and old rice field that had lots of birds, such as ibis, many ducks, great blue herons, and egrets. There was even an alligator! And our happy little group was joined by 3 more folks (Dave, Nuhht, and Corky).

Charles Towne Landing

Today we spent most of the day at Charles Towne Landing. This was the site of the original Charles Towne colony, which eventually moved to the current site of the city of Charleston. It is the oldest settlement in South Carolina.


The park has a nice wild animal part, a reconstruction of the old palisades, a few buildings, a merchant ship, and other such things from the 1670 settlement. The museum was also very good at the main visitor's center. There was quite a bit of walking involved, but the three hours or so that we spent there was a lot of fun.

James Island - Festival of Lights

We made it to Charleston today and set up camp at James Island County Park. By the time we got camp set up, it was about dark, so we fixed a quick bite to eat and then set out to explore the park. They have a driving loop that have a couple miles of holiday light displays that are quite nice. There is also an area that you can walk around in, with a train ride and snacks.


Here are a couple of the images that I snapped, including the Three Amigos....Ron, Bonnie, and me. The top on is looking across a lake at a rather large model of the two main bridges in Charleston.


Tomorrow...actually, today, as that I see it is now past midnight...we are going to drive into Charleston to explore the area a bit more. Or we may hold on on the old dowtown area and do some of the historical stuff in the area instead. As always, we are rather unpredictable and do not always have much of a plan. But that what makes traveling with us so much fun!


Tune back in and see where we end up!

On the road again

We are on the road again. This time, we are headed to Charleston, South Carolina for a week of photography, sightseeing, and goofing off. The campground that we are staying at is supposed to have wi-fi available, so hopefully, I will be able to post a few photos.

Every year, just after Christmas, the three musketeers (Ron, Bonnie, and I) take off for a new destination to explore. Sometimes it is just the three of us, and sometimes, more friends come. This year, it looks like there will 8 of us!






Here are some of our previous trips:

2007 Cumberland Island
2006 St. Joseph's Peninsula
2005 Torreya
2004 Paddling Central Florida Rivers

Merry Christmas!

Enjoy this most non-traditional, but fabulous version of the Christmas classic

The Gift

Where to I begin?

The gift exchange said to bring something from home that you no longer use or need. Someone took that to heart, as they brought some of their old false teeth to the party. They were neatly wrapped in a festive box that did nothing to cast hints about the dental contents within.

So here is my gift that I picked at random: a partial bridge from someone's collection of unneeded items.

Ewww! GROSS!

And this little piggie went Wii Wii, all the way home.

My parents were busy at work over this holiday, spoiling the grandkids. They bought two Wii game consoles...one for each home. Brooke, Steven, and Danielle will really enjoy them I am sure. Or at least they will enjoy them whenever their parents are not playing the games.

It was a really nice early Christmas party at my aunt and uncle's house, followed by a sleepover, gift exchange, and big breakfast at Mom and Dad's yesterday. With the distances to drive and the complications of several different get togethers, it turned out easier to have Christmas with the family a couple of days early this year.

As a tease for an upcoming photo....it is something that I got as a gift from my aunt and uncle's party. It is something that probably not too many would ever think about getting. And it is completely useless to me...or to most anyone, except for the person who gave it. Give up? Wait and see! You won't believe your eyes. The photo will be coming in a day or so.

Heavy's BBQ

We ate lunch at Heavy's BBQ near Crawfordville, GA on Sunday. A very interesting place filled with antiques, fishing photos, and taxidermy projects. And special for the holiday season, all of the stuffed animals had on their Christmas bow ties! Despite the "rustic" charm and oddball collection of items on display, the BBQ was excellent! Click on the small photos to see it a little bigger.

quack

Pecans

Just a quick update to the post from earlier today (below).....I spent most of the day shelling pecans and ended up with eleven quarts picked and cleaned. So 32 pounds of nuts from the tree, ended up making 11 quart freezer bags completely full. The top shelf of my freezer is quickly filling with pecans!

The Christmas Cat

Callie has really enjoyed the Christmas Tree being up this year. She has sniffed it, scratched on it, chewed on the lights, pulled down the ribbon bows, swatted low hanging ornaments, and enjoyed hiding under it. The only thing that she hasn't done so far is turn it over.....but she still has a few weeks before Christmas to do that. I am sure that she will get around to it.

This afternoon's plan is to shell more pecans. Lots of work, but worth it in the end. I probably will put up about a gallon or two zip lock bag fulls by the end of the day. Yesterday, I took over 30 pounds over to the Farmer's Market and had them crack them, so the hard part is over with. I already have a bunch in the freeze from a week ago, and I haven't even picked them up in the back yard yet!

Tomorrow, a group from GWS is heading over to a nearby state park for a hike.

King Tut

Tomorrow morning, I am heading up to Atlanta with some friends to see the new King Tut exhibit.

Atlanta is one of only four cities for this tour. It will feature some 50 items from the royal tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, plus over 100 other items from ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed at the exhibit, so only memories will be kept.

Of course, my favorite King Tut moment was the classic video of Steve Martin from Saturday Night Live.

Click on the play triangle below and enjoy the silliness!

Have a great day!

Mingus Mill

I stopped by the Mingus Mill, near Cherokee, on my way home. It was the last day of 2008 that the mill would be open and running. This mill was built in the 1886, replacing an earlier one from the 1790's that was built by the Mingus Family. I love to visit old historic sites, such as this one.


It was cold and wet on the day of my visit, so I didn't fiddle around outside getting the shot that I really wanted...but you get the idea. On the upside, I had the place to myself.