mostly my photos, some of my life

It happened again. One minute I’m sailing down the highway with my mom as co-pilot in a car full of suitcases, bound for Hilton Head. The next minute we’re pulling into our driveway, with loads of dirty laundry and many happy memories. A few weeks ago I was stressing over which T-shirts to pack – now I’m stressing over which turkey to stuff. I’d much rather be debating T-shirts.

Another vacation flies by and I’ve got the photos to prove it (although you’d better grab your favorite beverage and a comfy chair because there’s a beachload of photos comin’ up)…

When two women travel together, it’s a sure bet they don’t get out of Ohio without making a pit stop – and a rather pretty one, at that!

Rest Stop #3 – The Tamarack Crafts Center in Beckley, WV. This place is loaded with local artisans’ stuff from artwork to T-shirts to beautiful quilts to candy and ice cream – great place to stretch your legs!

Our only real “traffic jam” was on I-77 South, approaching the first of two mountain tunnels. This is the East River Mountain Tunnel – it made my hands sweat driving through it:

I won’t bore you with the other 365 miles through Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. We arrived on HH Island about 2:30pm and drove straight to our condo. Here’s a little tour of the place (Marriott’s Barony Beach Club):

Rooms with a view (out the patio door window = huge pine trees and out the living room window = the heated outdoor pool). We had requested an oceanfront unit but it seems they are reserved only for owners instead of “exchangers” like us. We did receive an “upgraded” unit, about a two-minute walk to the beach – sweet!

Later that evening, the weather turned a little gray and chilly but it still didn’t keep us from checking things out…

The next morning, bright blue skies, sunshine and 70 degrees – my idea of heaven!

This year, I decided to “go green” and stop collecting stuff (you know…shells, rocks, sea glass, driftwood) every time I set foot on a beach. I took pictures instead…

This particular resort is on the “heel” end of the island, away from the more heavily-congested Sea Pines area along the “toes.” I specifically requested this property so we would have some peace and quiet (you see, a funny thing happens when you get older…as much as you love kids, after yours are grown up and gone, you start appreciating “normal” voice tones again. In fact, you start planning your vacations around when the little darlings are back in school).

Here’s Mom, enjoying a virgin Strawberry Creamsicle Daiquiri. I had to cut her off after the first one.

I love flamingos in any color…these are actually made of metal and move in the breeze.

One of many little nature preserves on the island. This one happened to be decked out with some low-country Halloween decorations:

And the Spanish moss is so fun to photograph (it hangs on just about every tree down in the South).

Well, we didn’t saddle up but we did enjoy watching the animals and horses at the Sea Pines riding stables…

This was a full-moon night but I thought the cloud cover was the most interesting part of this photo:

The next morning, we woke up to our only other cloudy, chilly day but that didn’t stop us from gettin’ out there! We stumbled upon this veterans memorial that sat right next to a beautiful pond and marshland.

My dad was in WWII – he was a Navy Man.

More Spanish Moss – really, it’s everywhere.

Next stop, Baynard Ruins – the remains of a uniquely-constructed plantation home dating from the late 1700’s that is still standing today (just barely standing, I might add). We were blown away from the fact that the foundation of the home was built from tabby – no, not kitty cats. Tabby contains millions of oyster shells and you’ll see them clearly in a few of these shots.

Love the ferns growing right out of the walls…

More moss and other vegetation:

We then took a very scenic drive to Harbor Town, where million dollar yachts, deep-sea fishing vessels and sailboats sit in the water next to the famous lighthouse.

This one happened to be from, yep… Columbus, OH!

Our next adventure was a day trip to Savannah, GA and a ride around town on the Green Trolley line. Mark (or “Big Daddy” as everyone calls him) was our tour guide for the majority of the tour, until we got off at City Market for some shopping and a bite to eat. Unfortunately, I couldn’t capture full images of many of the antebellum homes from my seat on the trolley so I’ve highlighted some of the very historical and ornate windows:

Stop #8 on the trolley tour – this beautiful church…

If I had a baby-blue convertible and a gray Wiemeranier, I’d tool around town together, too!

City Market – shopping and eating!

Back to the condo and a “family photo” before packing up and heading home. Good times, great food, beautiful beach, and wonderful weather. “Ah, Mom, can’t we stay another day?”