Sunday, July 3, 2011

Spring Break In Georgia (and South Carolina!)

For spring break again this year we went to Georgia to visit this cute kid (and his parents, of course.)

He has grown so much and changed a lot since we saw him at Christmas time. He has a new hair cut, which makes him look lots older. He is still only two, but seems older because he talks so much and so plainly. We flew in to Atlanta and took a shuttle to Holli and John's place. We immediately loaded up their car and took off for Charleston, South Carolina. We decided to spend a few days there seeing the sights. The first thing Holli did was buy a hat. I decided a while back that I would never sunburn my head again, so she decided she didn't want to either.

We had such a great time there. Charleston is a fun place to visit. There's lots to see and do. Rhys loved this water pad at Charleston Harbor.



This bridge was absolutely beautiful.

We went on a fun carriage ride through Charleston and saw all these wonderful, grand old southern homes. It was totally fun, and we had a good tour guide who told us lots of tidbits about each one.
Here are just a few of my favorites. There were lots more!



Okay, I'll stop now, though I could show you much more. I love these beautiful old homes! We wanted to do a ghost tour while we were there, but Rhys was too young for some of them. We decided to do the tour of the old city jail. It was pretty awesome, but at the same time a little gruesome..........none of us enjoyed the tales of brutality to the prisoners. It was a very old jail dating back to the civil war, so prisoners were not treated well there. Still, it was kind of fun when the lady doing the tour (who, by the way, was PERFECT for the job with her gravelly voice and scary demeanor) told some of the ghost stories of the place. Rhys seemed to enjoy himself and even laughed right in the middle of one of her stories! Here we are in front of the jail.

It really was a spooky old place!
All in all, a pretty weird tour, but I'm glad we did it. One has to do a ghost tour in Charleston!

The next day we went to Patriot's Point to tour the Yorktown Aircraft Carrier. Jeff loves this stuff, so he was in hog heaven.
Lots of steep, narrow stair ways.
Rhys sitting in the on board dentist chair. It was a pretty interesting tour, to see how the sailors lived on board a ship.


We only got half way through the tour of the Yorktown, when it was time to take the ferry over to Fort Sumter. Disaster struck here, and Rhys decided he had had enough of tours, and he threw a major tantrum (or several) at Fort Sumter. Hence, there are almost no pictures of Rhys at the fort.



After Fort Sumter, Holli and John decided to take Rhys back to the motel for some much needed down time (and maybe even a nap, if they were lucky) while Jeff and I finished touring the Yorktown. Out of all of us, I'm sure Jeff enjoyed this day the most.

Next day it was on to Boone Plantation, and this gorgeous and famous live oak lined drive. I loved it! This lane has been in many movies, including The Notebook and Last Song most recently.
This is the original slave quarters. Pretty small and grim. As many as 16 people lived in these appalling single rooms.
Rhys pretty much wallowed in the fireplace and got covered with cobwebs and moss.
We toured the plantation home and gardens. This isn't the original home, but was built in the 1930's, I believe.

The gardens were really beautiful.
Then it was off to Isle of Palms Beach. Had we known how much Rhys was going to love the beach, we would have saved more time for it, and we would have put our suits on. We all thought the ocean would be cold like it is in California, or even colder, since it was a cloudy day. But it wasn't. It was actually quite pleasant.

Rhys was so cute at the beach and loved it so much.
A fun day for Rhys, but sadly he fell asleep after the beach and didn't get his promised ice cream!
The next day we headed back to Georgia for a few days. Rhys is sporting his Handy Manny/Movie Star look.

I don't remember which morning it was, but one day Jeff accidentally slid down the stairs in a funky way and broke two toes, so we spent the morning in urgent care. He was a trouper for the rest of the vacation and hobbled along wherever we went, even though he was in pain and his foot was bruised and swelling. (After we got home he ended up having to have surgery on the toes, and pins inserted to hold them in place. Major mess.)
Went to this cute little town called Washington for an Easter picnic. It was such a fun day, and such a picturesque place. Holli and I in front of the town courthouse.
Out in front of the Robert Toombs home, which we toured. These old homes are quite interesting to tour. And since I LOVE old things, I always enjoy seeing how they lived and the things they used in their lives.
A cute little church we saw on our walking tour of the town. It was such a quaint little place. Holl and I both wanted to move there.
We had a picnic in the park and then headed for home.
I should apologize for such a long post, but we just had such a great time and saw so many things and places that I couldn't leave anything out. This will be our last trip to Georgia, since Holli and John will be moving to Chicago soon. We have loved the trips we have made there to visit them, and are excited to visit them Chicago in the future. We had so much fun, even with Jeff breaking his toes. Obviously that wasn't a fun part of the trip, but in spite of it, we had a great time. My most favorite moment of the trip was when I put Rhys to bed one night and as I lay next to him he grabbed me around the neck and snuggled up to me and fell asleep. So sweet. Thanks Holli, John and Rhys for having us, and making it so fun!

7 comments:

holli jo said...

Thanks for coming! We had so much fun, and Rhys loved it. Can't wait for your visit to Chicago.

hillari said...

That looks so fun! I love touring old buildings too. Glad you guys posted this, since we know Holl Jo and John John never would...super pretty and lots of fun!

cassidy said...

I loved seeing all of your pics, even though I've already seen them a couple of times! Charleston looks so cool! It looks like such a fun trip.

You and Holl Jo look so cute in your hats, by the way. And I love your jacket you wore on the first day.

Lexi said...

what a fun trip! you guys did lots of fun stuff. it kind of makes me sad that i wont get to visit georgia again before holli, john, and rhys move.

scipiosal said...

What a fun post I wouldn't have guessed there was so much to do. Rhys is so cute, & you're right his haircut makes him look like he's 5. It was fun to see some of the sights of a place we will probably never visit. Love you guys...Shelley

Super Coopers said...

Loved seeing the pictures in this post. Makes me homesick even though I haven't lived there in years. Looks like you guys had such a fun trip except for the nasty toe experience.

Lana Hardy said...

Looks like you are having a great summer. Lots of fun pictures.
http://hardy-life.blogspot.com/
Lana