Charleston, SC

After our trip to Fort Sumter we decided to head to downtown Charleston to see the sights.  We had a tourist map that we used that to navigate through the historic district and to help us find the cool buildings.

First we walked along the water and found this cool fountain.  The weather was perfect.  If I lived in Charleston I would just sit at the waterfront and people watch.  Say cheese!

Then we wandered through the streets and spotted these neat buildings.  I thought the area was lovely and would like to go back again sometime.

We had a delightful dinner and then drove home.  I'm glad we could give my parents a little taste of the south (that isn't Sumter).

Fort Sumter, SC

While my parents were visiting we decided to go to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  The fort is located on a man made sandbar in Charleston Harbor.

To get to the fort you have to ride a ferry about 30 minutes across the harbor.  We departed from Patriot's Point where the USS Yorktown is housed.  We decided not to go in and see her, but she looked pretty cool from the outside.

On our ferry ride across the harbor we saw some pretty cool birds.  You know, pelicans and the like.  Then there were these seagulls that followed the boat the whole way there (and back).  Probably they were looking for fish in the wake, but I did see a Dorrito or two tossed from one of the upper decks.  I did have a video, but I'll have to work on getting it uploaded later.

The fort itself was pretty cool.  There was all kinds of artillery, shell fragments, and historical memorabilia, like the flag.  Lots of information to take in and facts and tidbits to remember, which I'm never very good at.  Paul and I had a good time looking at the canons and imagining ourselves firing bombs at the enemy. 

A good time was had by all!

Jacksonville, FL

On our way home from Fort Walton Beach we stopped in Jacksonville to pick up my parents who were staying with my aunt and uncle.  For whatever reason I felt like the weather in Jacksonville was so much nicer than Fort Walton Beach.  So, we went down to the ocean and played Bocce Ball.  I had never played Bocce Ball before and wasn't very good at it, but it was pretty fun.  Paul and I also rolled up our pants and splashed in the water.

It was fun to visit and talk and soak up the sun on the porch.  While we were visiting we also saw Mission Impossible III at the IMAX theater.  I liked it, but it made me a little bit nauseous. 

Florida

It has been a long while since I sat down to write a blog post and many exciting things have happened in the meantime.  But let's take it slow . . . one exciting thing at a time.

First off, Paul and I spent the month of January in Florida!  Exciting, right?  I was lucky to be able to go with Paul while he did some training at Hurlburt Field in Fort Walton Beach.  I watched a lot of HGTV, The Big Bang Theory, and The Australian Open.  Let's just say the weeks went by slowly.  But we took full advantage of the ocean and the Florida sunshine on the weekends.  Our favorite activity was biking along the Gulf National Seashore near Navarre Beach.  Pretty sure we went to that spot 3 different times to explore, and it kind of made me want to buy a beach house.

Our next favorite thing to do was going to Twirl Frozen Yogurt in Destin.  We regret not getting a punch card because I'm sure we would have gotten at least 1 free cup-full.  Mmm, frozen yogurt.

We also hit up a store closing sale at Blockbuster and got 13 DVD's for about $30.00.  And since I know you're thinking, "Wow, Abby, that's a steal!  And so exciting!  Did you get any other great deals while you were there?" I will let know that we got Paul the running shoes that he wanted for half price.  AND got him a super awesome flannel shirt for like 7 bucks.  AND got me a new dress and a new skirt for less than 20 bucks total.

And that was the excitement that was Florida.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

We enjoyed another weekend adventure with our friend Tyler and his girlfriend Kendra down in Charleston.  We took our bikes and went on a little ride through the Magnolia Plantation along the Ashley River.  The plantation was founded in 1676 and boasts an intense history having survived through the Revolutionary War and the Civil War and is still owned by the same family: The Drayton's.  The nature trail was fun to ride and the day we went was the most beautiful day; even the alligators thought so!  And yes!  They are wild!

That night we had dinner with Kendra and Tyler at a local burger joint called Sesame Burgers and Beer.  We didn't have beer, and I actually ordered chicken, but even so I thought it was great.  The best part was the dessert, which we had as an appetizer (a Carr family tradition).  It was the absolute best brownie sundae anyone has ever tasted!  You must get it!

The next day we went back to the plantation and walked through the Audubon Swamp Garden.  We saw more alligators as well as a crane, otters, fish, and birds.  Swamps are just pretty cool, but they are kind of . . . icky . . . and green and kind of smelly too . . . but also awesome and nature-y.

After the swamp we wandered the garden paths, around the old house, over bridges and through the woods.  We climbed the wildlife observation tower and found our way through a rather difficult horticultural maze.  More pretty pictures:

 Doesn't it make you want to come to South Carolina?  It really is beautiful!

It's Dollars to Donuts

Well, we went to yet another state fair.  We just can't resist.

As we had plans to scour the Sumter County Flea Market in the morning and barbeque with some friends in the afternoon, we didn't get out to the fair until around 6:30, just in time to snag tickets ($10!) to see Styx.  STYX!

Paul and I have never actually been to a legitimate concert together; this is about as close as we've gotten.  Of course, none of the band members were the originals (well there was maybe one, maybe) but it was still pretty rockin'.

We chose seats at the top of the bleachers so we could dance and sing like crazies and no one could bug us about it.  Also because the seats that we were assigned were in an awful spot on the side.  yuck.

Please watch the first 5 seconds of the first video and watch for the dancer behind Paul.  He was into it!  And watch the second video of "Come Sail Away", if you want. :)

For the encore we ran down to the front to get a better look.

After the concert we roamed the midway taking in all of the lights and sounds.  And smells.  We saw this intricate sand sculpture (yet to be finished) of the capitol building, and got our hands on some deep fried Reese's which were dangerously delicious.

And we plan on returning to the fair before it shuts down on Halloween so we can see the exhibits, and the animals, and any other shows they might be having, and also to maybe try deep fried cookie dough, maybe, because, well, fairs are awesome.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Last weekend we drove to Myrtle beach.  Both Paul and I were still a little sick with colds so we thought it would be nice to just relax on the beach and soak up the sun. 

We got an awesome parking spot on 79th street (a little north of where the parties happen) and picked a spot on the sand.  Then, because the beach is sooooo long, we decided to walk along it, to see what we could see. 

The beach is lined with hotels and vacation homes; the sand is busy near the hotels and quiet near the homes.  We got a kick out of people-watching, got a little wet in the unexpectedly chilly water, and mostly just kept walking and talking.  We picked up some shells then we walked some more.  And some more.  And then we stopped to watch a sand volleyball tournament.  And then we sat down because we were tired and then we walked some more. 

We ended up walking 40 blocks down the beach and then 40 blocks back up.  80 blocks?  Yes.  It was awesome.  By the time we got back to our spot we were too thirsty to just sit and relax so we got back in the car and drove down the boulevard to see what we could see.  More hotels, lots of shops, tons of people, restaurants, and some live concert.  Looks like loads of fun!

We will definitely be going back to Myrtle beach sometime to check out all the places we missed but it was fun to explore a good length of the beach on foot.

Waxhaw, NC

Paul and I spent the weekend in Waxhaw with Paul's aunt Karla and her family.  It's so nice to have some family within driving distance and we had a lot of fun visiting.

On Saturday we went to this place called Aw Shucks.  There was a pumpkin patch, hay ride, corn maze, petting zoo, games, and all kinds of wonderful fall things.

We pretended that Paul was stationed "Fort Shucks".  He doesn't look too happy about it either!  (Better than Kyrgyzstan, I say, which, by the way, was a real threat that we luckily deflected, thank goodness).  We petted the ponies and goats and wandered through the far too easy corn maze.  We also went on a hay ride.  Yee Haw!

The proud owners of Aw Shucks would put your name in a drawing to win $100 if you could get a football through a tire 3-times in a row.  Here's Paul trying it out.  He got the first one in but you'll have to watch to see if he got the rest.  (Don't turn your sound up too high; I'm cheering quite enthusiastically).

We all had a grand time, even though we didn't get $100.  On the way back we stopped to take some pictures in someone's cotton.

Next we went to a friend of Karla's place to have authentic Chinese food.  It was very delicious, and I even recognized a few dishes, but there was so. much. food.  To give you an idea here's half of it:

We started eating at 4:00 and kept eating until we left at 10:30.  !!!  We counted 18 dishes, but I am sure we missed a couple.  There were dumplings, pork, duck, coca-cola chicken, pan-fried potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed eggplant, tomato and egg, sweet and sour pork, dragon-fruit chicken dish (in the picture), tofu, more pork, more chicken, fried rice, pudding, and cake, and I know I'm still forgetting some.  Alex and Dimitri even when to a soccer game and came back and we were still eating. and eating. and eating!  It was crazy.

The rest of the weekend was very relaxing.  We watched some conference and then drove home.  Thank you Karla and Alex for putting us up!  It was a lot of fun, and great to see them.