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.