The visit with Nana and Poppa at the Isle of Palms in South Carolina was wonderful! We headed out Sunday after Al finished teaching his class at church and of course after lunch at our regular Sunday lunch spot. So we left town around 1:00 pm. We needed to stop around 2 to give Alex her lunch, as she'd been too excited to eat at the restaurant earlier. She napped then for a nice long time and we arrived at the beachhouse around seven, just in time to unload the car and eat some wonderful bean soup Nana had prepared for us. While we were unloading and eating, Nana and Poppa watched over Alex, who immediately showed them all of her tricks. She stood up in the middle of the floor with nothing to pull up on and stayed standing for a loooooooooong time, bouncing on her knees and clapping, she crazy crab crawled and showed them she's sooooooooo big! They (and we) were amazed and delighted. Then we all watched The West Wing. And then we chatted and put Alex to bed and unpacked and chatted more and then we went to bed.

As is our normal custom (and so that I won't repeat myself I'll say here that we followed this same morning pattern every day we were there), we awoke Monday morning for coffee, breakfast and a nice long walk around the island. Alex loved the different scenery and we just felt good being there, away from our every day life. After the walk Alex went down for her nap and we all did our morning shower and dress routines.

Monday after all of that, we went to the Goodwill store to look for toys for Alex. Nana found her a wonderful pull-toy doggie that she LOVES. His name is Barnaby-Spot Doggie. Alex just calls him di-duh. We also got a set of toddler bedrails for Alex's first bed. They are used, but they're still in good shape and we got two rails for seven dollars. Can't beat that deal! Anyway, here's Bean with her di-duh.

After the Goodwill adventure, we went to have hotdogs at Jack's Cosmic Dogs, a local eatery that is like a step back in time with plenty of old Coke memorabilia and old fashioned, antique furnishings and the most amazing hotdogs and fries known to mankind. We always make time in our trips down to the Isle of Palms for at least one meal at Jack's. Regrettably, I forgot the camera (you will note that forgetting the camera is a theme for this entry, but I still have lots of pictures because when I did remember it, I made hearty use of it.)so you will not be seeing Jack's fine establishment nor Jack himself, who takes your order as you walk in. Nor will you see Alex enjoying her first hotdog, which she did like. I was slightly nervous about having her inside the place, as they fry their delicious fries in peanut oil, but she showed no signs of reaction which was good for her that day, and I think a great sign that her allergy to peanuts is not as severe as it is in some children. So, whew.

We stopped by the grocery store on our way back to the beach to lay in supplies for the week. After a relaxing afternoon at the beachhouse, we ventured out again for dinner at Gilligan's - a family-friendly seafood restaurant with the best hush-puppies I've ever had. Gilligan's is another place we always must visit while in town.

Each night we all collapsed in front of the television to watch whatever Nana chose for that night. There's something about sun and salt and sea air that just tires us all out, but in a good way.

Tuesday is open-air market day in Mt. Pleasant, a nearby town, so Nana and I took Alex to that. We looked over all of the merchandise, displayed in the front yard of the town's elementary school under tents that the merchants set up and decorate. We bought some beautiful fresh collard greens, scuppernongs (grapes), squash, purple hulled peas, and tomatoes. Then we came home and ate delicious homemade enchiladas.

Wednesday Al had to fly back to Atlanta for the day for a job interview, so Nana and I walked and then I finished up the quilt for Annabelle. It turned out really cute, I think. I'll put a picture in another entry because I just took one yesterday and haven't downloaded it. I also hemmed some pants and did some other little sewing projects I've been putting off until I could get to Nana's sewing machine, because mine desperately needs a tune-up and cleaning. Al was back by dinner time Wednesday and we had a huge vegetable dinner made from all of the fresh goodies we'd gotten at the market the day before.

Thursday I remembered my camera!!! We went into Charleston proper as Al had never been there, and we walked along the Battery, saw Waterfront Park, showed him a few historic landmarks, walked through the HUGE open-air market (where I priced and poured over handmade smocked dresses for Alex but didn't end up buying any - sigh) that is one of the main tourist attractions in the city, and finished up with drinks and light dinner on a great little rooftop bar!

Here is Alex by the big fountain that welcomes visitors to Waterfront Park, along the Cooper River.

From that park, you can see Fort Sumter and the brand new (just opened in April 2005) Cooper River Bridge, which is a six lane suspension bridge over the river - we had driven over it to get into Charleston from the islands, and I must say that it is quite impressive. Here are Alex and me along the riverfront, with a view of the beautiful new bridge in the distance behind us.

Waterfront Park features a lovely promenade out over the water, and along one side of this boardwalk sway a long row of porch swing after porch swing. Nana and Al and Alex and I all had a nice long swing together before Nana hopped out of the swing to take this picture:

After our visit to the Park, we walked out the other side and along the Battery, where we showed Al all of the beautiful historic homes that are still standing, occupied and gorgeous to this day. Most of these homes also feature private gardens tucked away behind them... some of the most beautiful gardens I've seen anywhere.

At the end of our walk along the battery and back into the city, we saw several of the historic old Charleston churches and then headed up to The Library, an old rooftop bar. Here are two pictures of Nana, Alex and Al enjoying themselves in the nice coolish breeze, overlooking the city, with the river over the tops of the buildings in the distance. (I don't think you can see the river in these pictures, though.)

Cheers!

We returned to the beachhouse by about 8 that night.

Friday we toured Fort Moultrie. The day was absolutely breathtaking with a beautiful light breeze and crystal clear blue skies. We started at the visitors' center where we watched a 20 minute movie about the history of this fort, which was used for every war the US has been involved in from the American Revolution through WWII. I am not that huge a history buff, but Al is and he loved it, and I thought it was interesting as well, but was more enthusiastic about how good Bean was for the 20 minutes the movie lasted. She just sat on my lap and played, watched the movie, and then stood up and waved her arms a bit toward the end, but never got fussy or seemed bored or impatient. So I was happy! Then we left the visitors' center and headed out to the fort, where you could walk through the many large underground magazines and even the officer's bunkers. My favorite part of the tour was the rolling field of green green luscious grass between the Fort itself and the ocean. Alex had a chance to get down into the grass and crawl around happily for ages as we sat and watched and soaked up the perfect weather and sunshine. I hated to leave and hated even more the fact that I'd forgotten the camera again and we have no pictures of any of that wonderful day! Ugh. Daddy and I stopped back at the restrooms on our way to the car, and Nana walked Alex out to the intercoastal waterway and sat with her, chatting. When I saw them walking out there together, Alex happily going along with Nana in her arms, pointing to things, and Nana smiling and laughing with her, it made me feel so happy inside. I'm happy their relationship is getting so comfortable. Alex is so shy of strangers, and I'm relieved to see that she doesn't seem to view Nana (or Poppa, either) as strangers anymore. They were just cute together the whole trip... Nana treats Alex like another adult, mostly, just like she did my sister and me when we were small. And Alex responds by acting more grown up, it seems.

Friday night we had dinner at Sullivan's, another local seafood joint that is on the list every trip. Al and I had an amazing seafood casserole that had shrimp, scallops, crab, bacon, pasta and a yummy cream sauce. I have to remember to get that again, because it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Saturday I awoke with a stomach virus, complete with fever and chills and general yuckiness. I was down for the day, and Al and Nana kinda lay low with me, as well. Sunday I was better and we had Alex's birthday celebration, which is the next entry!