A few weeks ago Mr. Marvelous, Jr. mentioned to me that he was going to Columbia, SC again this year for his vacation. He planned to leave Birmingham Tuesday morning, drive to Columbia for Palmetto Pipes and Drums practice that evening, then go spend the rest of the week at my parents' house in the low-country. And he invited me to go with him!
I think it is very cool that my son a) chooses to spend vacation time with his Grandparents and b) invites his mother to join him.
I accepted his gracious invitation.
Last Tuesday we took off. We got to Columbia just in time for band practice. Which meant that I got to sit on the steps and listen. I should have had my happy hat for that.
After practice we drove on to my parents.
Wednesday morning we got up and decided to go to Charleston for the day. Nana decided that she would love to go to Charleston with us, so off we went.
We saw the old market.
If you buy one of the beautiful, hand-made, sweet-grass baskets from one of the talented gullah ladies, they come with a life-time guarantee. If it starts to come undone you ship it back to them and they fix it with a smile and an apology.
They have a little bit of everything at the market.
There is some fabulous architecture.
Some gardens that my gardening friends could spend hours exploring
(this is just a small taste)
My son surprised us by treating us to lunch at Hyman's Seafood Restaurant. GREAT place! The food was superb and their commitment to customer satisfaction is not just talk; everyone was wonderful.
After lunch while walking back to the car....and walking....and walking.....
We caught sight of this building
Why yes, as a matter of fact, it IS the fire station!
No, he isn't real. But he sure is cute.
This was an interesting building
With dates of wars on the gate....
...and a list of wars fought by members
And the statue of Francis Marion, one of Junior's heroes.
We ended the day with a trek to Fort Moultrie. Junior always makes a visit there when he is in the area. It has defended Charleston in every war from the Revolutionary War through World War II.
Just how big are those guns from the coastal defense during WWII you might ask?
Well, the man standing in front of them there is 6'4"!
Normally, Junior pulls out his pipes and plays for a while when he visits. However, on this date after all the walking that was done in town (remember all the walking?), he had managed to gather several blisters on the feet. So we went and "looked" at the water. NO, we did NOT wade. There are large signs that forbid wading on the beach at Fort Moultrie with threats of a fine of $1040 (odd number, right?!). We did NOT wade. We LOOKED. If the tide was coming in and the water happened to touch our toes, it would have been very cold and would have felt nice on our hot, blistered feet, but we would have RUN AWAY from the water to keep it from touching us because it is FORBIDDEN to wade there. So there.
By this time, Nana was napping in the car, so we piled in and drove back home. Thursday night we had dinner with some friends from our long-ago days in Macon, Georgia and Saturday, well, Saturday was extra special.
More about that later.
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