Spoleto Festival

All year we have been waiting for this festival to come to town. Unfortunately we only had one day to take in the festival. We did hear a great group sing bluegrass music. Other than that the rest of the festival was dedication to visual arts and we were in the wrong section of town. If we are able to come again for the festival, we will have to plan ahead and buy tickets for a specific show. Neighbors have told us that is the way to really enjoy the festival and hear a variety of musicians.

A touch of irony

Randy and I have been laughing about all the chicken places we see around here. Yesterday, I was taking food out of the freezer and we have a Costco ton of chicken! Guess that is why we never went out for chicken around. Guess we will have to fire up the BBQ and eat chicken today and pack some in the cooler for our trip.

Strolling around the island

These last few days we have been strolling around Charleston and Daniel Island taking in the sites for the last time. We went for a stroll/ jog last night but this was after hours of walking downtown. I (Julie) could only stroll/ walk about three miles. However, Randy went on jogging for about five miles total. On his last bit he saw the mother alligator (about seven feet) and two of her babies. He said she was fat! I wondered if she was going to have more babies. Already this season there have been fourteen baby alligators spotted where Randy saw the young family.

Washington Park, Unitarian Church and Downtown

Thursday, we took a long stroll and found some angles of old buildings. We ventured through Washington Park which has a nice statue George Washington. This is found behind the City Hall where a painting of George was commissioned and now hangs in the chambers for city council. The funny story is that the artist was commissioned right after President Washington visited Charleston and the city wanted to remember him in the city. The artist painted Washington in Trenton during a battle of the American Revolution. The people of Charleston were upset with the artist and made him repaint the picture with Charleston in the background. Not happy with having to repaint the painting, the artist painted Washington's horse ridding himself of waste on Charleston. The painting with horse defecating on Charleston is the one in City Hall. The original one of him in Trenton is I think in Princeton.

After Washington Park, we strolled through the Unitarian Church graveyard which hold graves from the 1700s. The church building is round and has pretty windows and ironwork.

Funny observations

While in Charleston, we have noted several interesting things:

Chicken places are everywhere:

KFC

Kickin' Chicken

Chuck's Chicken

Zaxby's

Lickin'' Chicken

Cluckin' Chicken

Chick Fil A

Church's Chicken

Popeye's Chicken

Dodge's

Bojangle's

We thought "ABC Packing Stores" were post offices but they are really liquor stores.

Street signs are not lit up if they are there at all.

Stores might have a little sign on the road advertising where they are located, but most don't so a driver has to look at the actual store front to see the name.

Drivers don't yield for pedestrians, even in a crosswalk!

People don't honk here. They might glare at you, but they don't honk.

Many people drive everywhere in golf carts!

Everyone loves children...even the children love children.

Sabrina dropped several socks and a couple of hats while we were walking around and people, even a city bus driver, stopped to tell us she was missing a sock.

We were able to retrace the socks and hats which were usually several blocks, or miles from where we were.

Good coffee shops are hard to find, but sweet tea is everywhere!

The birds are a dream! With so many large bugs to eat, they are larger and more abundant than back home.

Sleeping or cold alligators are not a huge threat. Snakes are another story.

Isle of Palms walking lesson

This afternoon we went to Isle of Palms after running a bunch of errands. Sabrina loved the sand between her toes and was able to stand on her own. With help, she took some steps. However, it was sitting on the edge of the water and letting the waves come to her that was her favorite. The shifting sand underneath her body made her giggle.

Randy's birthday dinner

We went to our favorite restaurant, Sullivan's, to celebrate Randy's bithday.

Birthday Cupcakes

Sabrina was a real trooper on her birthday. With our big move back, we had errands to run and she sat patiently in the car seat as we sold the old car, got an oil change on the new car and got lost for an hour trying to find the service office for Honda.

We decided the best way to celebrate her birthday in this stage of life was to get some cupcakes from the local store and invite some neighbors to help us celebrate. Charlie and MaryAnn, our immediate neighbors joined in the festivities by the complex pool. A great spot considering the mess made by a one year old and a cupcake with frosting! She even smeared it on her belly. Randy planned things right. We had just been swimming, so he had her in swimsuit bottoms but had taken of the top.

Sabrina and her little high chair were "hosed" off in the bathtub before bed.

Beaufort

Yesterday, we drove 70 miles down to Beaufort. Unlike Charleston, Beaufort was once held by the Spanish and then French before it became an English colony. During the Revolutionary War many of the residents were Tories and fled to Barbados and help establish Barbados as a British colony instead of Spanish.

Like Charleston, Beaufort had beautiful houses, nice shops, horse carriage rides and a "Bay Street". It also was a port town with a nice bay for trade.

We parked in front of the Episcopal

Church which dated back to the 1700s. During the Revolutionary War, the British used it as a stable and during the Civil War it was a hospital. after both conflicts the interior of the church had to be gutted and rebuilt.

In the graveyard were graves from Civil War, Revolutionary War (American and British and Confederate). The Sons of the Confederacy placed flags on the graves on Confederate Memorial Day (May 10).

Before we drove into the downtown area of Beaufort, we stopped at the National Cemetary which had veterans from all the wars from Revolutionary to present wars. Interesting is that we could see sections from the Civil War where whole platoons from Illinois or South Dakota or other states were buried. If they did not know the name the grave was marked "unknown". If the soldier was confederate it was marked "unknown" but it said CSA (we guess "Confederate States Army")

In tribute to the first all black regimate the graves from Shaw's command were buried together with a nice marker explaining who they were. (Their story is shown in the movie "Glory"). Their bodies were found in a shallow grave on the beach on James Island which overlooks Charleston.

Unknown WWI and WWII vets had smaller square markers with just numbers. These were put to mark the graves with the hope that some day the bodies would be identified. As we read some of the headstones on the veterans we saw a glimpse in to the men. "Gone Fishing", "Deep Sea Diving" "Resting in Peace" "Loved by everyone" were enscribed in stone.

1st Hair cut

Sabrina's bangs were hanging down to her nose and she would not let us clip it back so therefore, Randy gave her a bang trim. As expected, she moved and the trim was shorter than planned.

Charles Towne Landing

In tradition with how the English started forts, the original location is at the site of Charles Towne Landing. Instead of being right on the waters of Charleston Bay where the current city is, the original location was tucked inland just off the Ashley River. This was for security reasons. Early settlers wanted a walled city so they worked on building the wall before moving the city to the current location. Charleston (English) became one of three walled cities in North America. The others were St. Augustine (Spanish)in Florida and Quebec (French) in Canada.

Since the remains of the old Charles Towne Landing were burned during wars, all that remains are stone foundations for fireplaces and rebuilt buildings. The boat in the harbor is like the one used for commerce in the beginning days.

John's Island

Across the Charleston Harbor is John's Island. Close to here are where shots on Ft. Sumter were rallied. From this point, the views of Charleston, Ft. Sumter and the Atlantic are spectacular!

Angel Tree

Angel Tree is the largest living tree east of the Mississippi! It is a Virginia Oak with branches that swoop down and touch the ground to rest for support. Pictures do the tree more justice than words.

Close one

Sunday we were walking in downtown Charleston when we discovered we did not have the pink hat with us! Talk about heart stopping realization! We quickly retraced our walk... to Washington Park, down Broad Street, down Meeting street and viola! Some nice citizen had found the hat and tucked it up high in a brick wall! I love how people down here place lost socks and hats for parents to find! Yeah! We can still have pink hat adventures! (to this date we have lost and found: several socks, a denim hat and a pink hat!)

"I will do it on my own, Thank you!"

In the last two days, Sabrina has developed a real independent spirit when it comes to eating. She wants to put the food in her mouth on her own. No spoons involved, just grab and stuff. So we are having a variety of choices at meal times....cheerios, cheese, cut up avocado all make good hand food and she can feed herself those items. However, due to the fact we are living in a carpeted place, she still has to eat rice cereal and smashed yams from a spoon! I am not sure what all is in store for us, but in the last week a real "I will do it myself" attitude has emerged! We will keep you posted.......

Pandora's Pool

Apparently, we set a president by swimming over the weekend. Today, Sabrina ended up getting wet, really wet, in her onesie dress. It was supposed to be just a toe wading like last week, but then she sat down on the step and splashed and kicked in the water. Diaper and outfit soaked! So when in Rome... Sabrina had a blast. It wasn't until we returned home that I realized the difference between normal and swim diapers.... Regular diapers dissolve and come apart in pools. Clear gel beads were everywhere and the clean up was labor intensive. Good thing Sabrina had fun! Next time she will be wearing a swim diaper when we go out there.

You're Very Sleepy

This week Randy is on a new schedule due to some training. So, we see him in the morning instead of the evening and then late at night. Needless to say, our entire household is adjusting and walking (or crawling) in a state of sleepiness! Sabrina has been skipping her morning nap but napping longer and earlier in the afternoon. I drink too much caffeine to fall asleep in the afternoon but crawl to bed earlier than normal.

On the language front, I asked Sabrina a question and believe she said "yes"...in her own way.

Melt down

Mark your calendar! Sabrina had her first meltdown/ tantrum today and threw her sippy cup! Totally caught me off guard. I hope it was the last one for a while! Gads!

Our 1st Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was a wonderful day in the Carver household! It started with time to take a long bath while Randy and Sabrina went to get flowers and oranges. The bath was lovely and relaxing! After breakfast, we went for a little drive into the country and then stopped for coffee at Starbucks before going to Ft. Sumter. As I love boat rides, this was a perfect trip for Mother's Day! We took a ferry boat into the Charleston Bay and then had an hour to explore the fort. The museum had lots of information but we cruised through it as Sabrina needed to keep moving. Outside, the view was fantastic with clear shots of Charleston, the Ravenel Bridge, and Pickney Castle. An added bonus on the trip was the dolphin sighting of the bow of the boat! Wow! That was our first wild dolphin sighting. What a great day!

Swimming

Yesterday, Sabrina had her water dream realized. She has often crawled to the edge of the apartment pool but not been able to go in to the deep (5 feet) waters. Yesterday, she geared up with swim diapers and a onesie and had the time of her life! First, she kicked and splashed and oh, it was fun! Next her arms got into the action and Daddy moved her as she kicked and splashed! She could jump and kick and splash and giggle! What a great day!

After she got out, she did what I call the "lounge cruise" as she goes from lounge chair to lounge chair, checking out peoples' toes and nail polish! Fascinating!

An Artistic Solo

Tuesday while Randy's mom was visiting we went to the Exchange Building on East Bay Street for the dungeon tour and self guided tour of the the upstairs ballroom where George Washington had his dance with over 200 of Charleston's finest women. One tour guide on another tour suggested that this very dance almost caused a Civil War to break out once the news hit the New England papers. Dancing was not permitted in some circles and to have the President bragging about how many women he danced with was outrageous! I love the fact that we walked where he walked and in the very room where the Articles of Confederation were ratified by the South Carolinian delegates!

After lunch, we strolled down Broad Street which is famous for the art galleries. When the clouds opened and dumped rain, we would stay longer in a gallery. Two galleries stood out for the afternoon. The first had paintings that were of the area but the artist really had a way of painting light into the paintings. It would change with the lighting or natural light from the window.

The second gallery stood out not because it had cool violin sculptures, but because the gallery host was a retired member from the Minnesota Symphony and was delighted to take out his viola and play "Itsy Bitsy Spider" for Sabrina and a Sound of Music song for Joyce. Sabrina loved watching the master work his instrument and did not let one stroke of the bow go unnoticed! She danced in her Baby Bjorn to the music which was an absolute delight!

Brookgreen Gardens

Sunday while Randy's mom was visiting we treated ourselves to a wonderful day taking in gardens and the zoo at Brookgreen Gardens. The zoo had a swamp and bird sanctuaries. For an extra fee one could take in a new butterfly exhibit. We really enjoyed the vast gardens from the flowers to the oak grove! It was the best gardens we have seen! Hopefully, we will make it back to see flowers bloom in late Summer or early Fall.