2015 is the year Mommy is taking time back for herself. My kids are old enough to survive without me AND my mother retired as of May. The latter being the biggest reason I can have "me time" again!
My first mommy-only adventure was to travel to Beaufort, SC to see my college roommate, Amy. I love an excuse to travel, especially when there are free accommodations on the other end. Amy has relocated quite a few times since we graduated from Shippensburg, and I can proudly say I have visited my buddy at just about every one of her places: Jacksonville, NC, Rome, GA, Beaufort, SC.
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| 2009: Rome, GA |
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| 2009: Road trip from Rome, GA to Chattanooga, TN |
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2009: Since I flew in and out of Atlanta, we spent the day
exploring downtown Atlanta. |
Amy is an awesome tour guide; she is very knowledgeable about the towns she lives in, or as I told her, she could make up stuff and I wouldn't know any different. Beaufort, SC is an island on the Inner Coastal Waterway with beautiful views and has interesting history. Amy was so sweet to put her son in day care during my visit so we had all day to explore and catch up.
Some highlights from my trip:
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| Spanish Moss |
One of the first things I noticed about the "Low Country" is all the trees are covered in this delicate, beige colored, vine looking stuff. It is called Spanish Moss, which is only found in certain areas, South Carolina's Low Country is one of them. It grows all over the trees and bushes as well as can be found in clumps on roofs and yards. God makes some fascinating things for us to enjoy.
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| Day trip to the Hunting Island State Park |
Beaufort does not sit on the Atlantic Ocean, but 20 minutes away you can put your toes in the ocean at Hunting Island State Park. It was HOT when I was there, like heat index of 100 degree plus. With a beach umbrella and a light breeze, we were able to enjoy some relaxation at the beach. The ocean water was almost too warm; it wasn't very refreshing. I found one sand dollar as a souvenir, which I managed to crack within the hour. I wasn't interested in swimming since sharks are the hot topic this summer. (A week after my trip there was a shark attack at this beach... ). The picture above shows the erosion of the beach. Instead of pumping thousands of dollars and sand into the beaches like they do in New Jersey, this state park is letting the ocean shape the landscape. Haunting and beautiful.
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| Seafood dinner at Dockside. |
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| Build your own burgers at Fat Patties |
Amy and I ate out almost every meal. That is mommy bliss, friends: to enjoy a hot meal SLOWLY. Every meal tasted like a 5 star restaurant to me. If we were hungry, we ate. If we wanted a beer at 4 PM, we found a bar. No schedule, no whining, just two moms having fun :)
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| Ice cream on the waterfront |
Speaking of doing whatever we wanted... ice cream treat after dinner? sure! We cooled down on a sizzling night with some ice cream overlooking the water. Then we went back to the house, put on comfy clothes and watched Forrest Gump. Odd movie choice, eh?
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| Look familiar? |
All the shrimping scenes were filled on the water adjacent to where we had dinner. This is where they filmed the scene where they wouldn't admit the black students to the college. It was fun to drive around town looking for places the movie was filmed. Adam, Amy's husband, grew up in Beaufort. His dad was the stand in (wrong term for it) for Gary Sinise. When the film crew was trying to set up the scene, Adam's dad stood in for Lieutenant Dan since he was the same size. Once they worked out the position for Lieutenant Dan, Sinise would step in. How cool is that?! Another tidbit- Tom Hanks loved the chocolate from The Chocolate Tree in Beaufort. Even though the famous "box of chocolates" is a Russell-Stover box lid, the chocolates inside were from The Chocolate Tree. That was my souvenir for my family back home :)
Beaufort is home to Parris Island, the base where all marines east of the Mississippi come for basic training. Adam is a medically discharge Marine, so he took us on a tour of the base. Military bases are fascinating to me; it's like this secret world. The insider tour was top notch; I could listen to Adam's stories all day. Here are the famous Yellow Foot Prints. New recruits are brought in late at night to Parris Island. They are disoriented with higher-ups screaming orders at them. Their first task is to line up on the yellow foot prints, which glow at night so they can find them. I am so thankful there are men and women who want to serve our country and go through this type of training; it is not for me.
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| Coffin Point |
Amy wanted to take me to a place that had some beautiful scenery to get pictures of the Spanish moss. She found this neat tree covered road called Coffin Point Road, which leads to Coffin Point Plantation. Of course Amy had a captivating story about Coffin Point. There was a sheriff in the town named Ed McNeer who connected with the African American people in the area using Witchcraft. True story. There is a book written about him as well as a mini series about it coming out.
Our plan was to sight see around Charleston on our way to the Charleston airport for my flight home. Thankfully God already had another plan for us as we decided the night before to sleep in (me) and relax at Amy's in the morning. We woke up to find a horrific event occurred that night in Charleston, a white man opened fire at an AME church during a prayer meeting. Horrible. Horrible. The killer was on the run, which made me very uneasy for our trip to Charleston and my flight. Thankfully he was caught and arrested before we left for Charleston.
Even though my trip ended with some anxiety filled moments relating to the recent shooting spree, my visit with Amy was fabulous. I love how our friendship picks right up where we left off. I hope Amy has found the place she will call home for a long time; she seems very happy in Beaufort and I am already thinking about what I want to do next time I visit :)
