Memorial Day at the Lake 2010

The start of another great season at the lake. We met my parents, Carrie and all of her family at the lake for a great 3 day weekend. We had a blast. The weather was great. The water was plenty warm enough to swim and the boating was awesome. We has fun tubing, wakeboarding and eating. That pretty much summed up the weekend. Our neighbors had their annual pig cookout and it was great to see all the neighbors again. We are so blessed to have such great family. We just love being with them.

10 Wonderful Years

On April 29th we celebrated 10 fantastic years of wedded bliss. Well, maybe not bliss, but at least very happy years. We started our celebration by going out to dinner at one of our favorite places in Midlothian, Crab Louie's Seafood Tavern. Great food, great service, and a perfect way to celebrate the day.

Our celebration continued with a great trip to Charleston, SC. On Sat, May 22, we packed up and traveled south. We arrived at our hotel, The Mills House Inn, around 4:30 and spent the evening exploring. We walked a few blocks in each direction from our hotel and settled on The Noisy Oyster for dinner. A very cute place with large windows that opened to the street so you could enjoy the outside while inside.

Sunday was a day to get our bearings. We started with a stroll through The City Market. A very large farmers type market, but without the fruits and vegetables. Merchants lined their jewelry, crafts, food, trinkets, and sweetgrass baskets on tables. This went on for about 4 blocks. A lot of stuff. Kathleen was in heaven. We grabbed a pastry and juice at one of the vendors and then headed a few blocks east to Waterfront Park. A real treasure. This beautiful park, located right along the Cooper River was a great place to rest and enjoy the view out to Ft Sumter. Next we went on a Carriage ride through the city. The best way to learn your way around. The 2 mules pulled the cart at a great pace while the guide gave us even more info than we could take in. What a great way to see Charleston up close. We left our mule team and headed to lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. We looked everywhere for Tom Hanks but only saw him on the TV's and posters on the wall. But the meal was delicious. We headed back to the room, freshened up and went to the 1st floor terrace and had drinks on the patio and read. What a great time to relax in the beautiful weather we enjoyed. After some more relaxing in our room, we went to dinner at Hyman's Seafood. What a place. It must have been almost a whole block long and 2 stories. The food was awesome and the people were so nice. Nothing fancy about it, but you just felt good to be there. This was a great ending to day one.

Monday we got up and went and had breakfast at Toast. A home style, diner type of restaurant. The food was good and the service was fast. We then hiked south to White Point Gardens Park at The Battery. This is the far southern end of the city where the mansions are. The homes are beautiful and the view out in the harbor are spectacular. We then head back north and toured the Calhoun Mansion. A beautiful home that has been restored. The present owner is a art collector and has filled this home with all of his pieces. The home and gardens were a treat to see. We had lunch at Poogan's Porch, which was right next door to our hotel. In fact our room looked out over this restaurant. We enjoyed a low country meal of She Crab soup and Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries. A real southern treat. To walk off some of our lunch we walked west to Colonial Lake Park. Not quite as pretty as The Waterfront Park, but the walk back to the hotel along Broad St was amazing. The homes and churches were incredible. Even the woodwork in the US Post Office was amazing. We cleaned up and then went to visit Ernie's Aunt Deannie who lives about 30 minutes outside the city. What an awesome lady and great visit. Another great day.

On Tues, it was another trip to Toast for breakfast and then off to Ft. Sumter. We drove just a few miles north to the dock where the boat would take us to the Fort. What a great tour. The boat ride was informative and the scenery beautiful. Once we got to the Fort, we got a brief history and then we had about an hour to explore. What a neat piece of history. The ride back included more information about the city and harbor. What a great way to spend the afternoon. We went back to the room and dressed up a little for dinner. We decided to splurge and go to a very nice restaurant called Magnolia's. What a place. The food was spectacular. After dinner, we walked down to Waterfront Park and watched the sunset while swinging on a huge porch swing by the river. What a wonderful evening.

Wednesday was our last full day. We decided to take a tour of Magnolia Garden Plantation. But first, our favorite breakfast place, Toast. Around 11 am we boarded the tour bus to go to the plantation. What a beautiful place. We got to tour the house, the gardens, and most of the estate. The plantation was a former rice plantation and the former rice fields were now natural havens for birds, ducks, and alligators. And we got to see plenty of alligators. Really neat. What a nice tour. Back in the city, it was time for dinner. We ate at Jesteen's Kitchen. A real hole in the wall that cooks some fantastic food. After dinner we took a stroll to Washington Park and then back to our hotel to eat our dessert we got to go.

Thursday was the day to leave. But our vacation was not over. It was north to Wilmington, NC to tour the Battleship USS North Carolina. The ship was huge, but the inside was cramped. I gained a ton of respect for the Navy folks. I am short, and I bumped my head half a dozen times. I don't know how they lived on it. The tour was fantastic. You got to go in every part of the ship. And the signs explained how everything worked. Very interesting. We had a late lunch and then continued north to home. It was a fantastic trip. A great adventure and a joy to spend with my wonderful wife.