January Trip

At the beginning of January, Mark and I took a trip to Hilton Head, SC.  We actually flew in to Charlotte, NC where we rented a car and stayed overnight with our daughter and her family.  The next day, we drove the four hours to Hilton Head, sometimes in a driving rain storm.  There is nothing quite like an east coast rain!

Our days were spent sight-seeing in parts of South Carolina and Georgia.  Allison and her family joined us mid-week.

Hilton Head, SC

It was very cold and even the people who lived there said it was unusually cold for South Carolina.  We drove around the island and visited the lighthouse and the dock area.

Mark reluctantly consenting to have his picture taken.

On a warm summer day, this must be a lovely place to sit!

Parris Island, SC

We drove to Parris Island.  Parris Island is a military facility used to train newly enlisted Marines.  All male recruits who live east of the Mississippi and all female recruits receive their initial training at Parris Island.

 The firing range.

 The parade grounds.

Replica of the famous statue.

Fort Pulaski, SC

What, you haven't heard of Fort Pulaski?  Neither had we, but apparently it was involved in one battle during the civil war and that battle only lasted a day.  But it was a cool fort, complete with moat and drawbridge.

 It seemed to be built in a similar style to Fort Sumter.  We were told that the five sided fort was most effective for the reach of the guns.  There was no dead space.  I asked if the Pentagon was built in that shape as an homage to the many forts along the coast built with five sides.  The National Parks ranger said he had never been asked that question and didn't know.

Wormsloe Plantation (near Savannah)

There isn't an actual house that you can visit at Wormsloe (what a name!) because the family still lives on the property.  This large estate was established by Noble Jones, one of Georgia's colonial founders.  The entrance has a 1.5 mile oak avenue.  The first house they built was of tabby, which is a mixture of oyster shells, lime, sand and water.  It is in ruins now, but I took a close-up to show the tabby.

 Tabby

When Allison's family arrived, it was going to be the coldest day of the week.  It was in the 30's and we found a children's museum to visit so we could stay warm!

 Emaline is intently playing at a sand table.

 Patrick loves trains!

Annabelle give her best pirate scowl.

It was really windy besides being cold, but we braved it and went to the beach to catch the sunset.

Savannah, GA

When you think of Savannah, you may be like me and think plantation homes.  I was incorrect in that thinking!  Most of the mansions and historic homes are in the city and therefore not on huge plots of land.  Savannah is thick with trees, many more than we are used to out west.  Spanish moss hangs on all of the trees.  The city is laid out very thoughtfully, with squares (small parks) every so often.  One can imagine the citizens of Savannah taking a stroll around one of the squares on a Sunday afternoon.

 One of the many squares in the city, this one used to have the bench that was in the movie "Forrest Gump."  It is now in a museum.

 This is an unusual downspout!

 One of the buildings for the Savannah College of Art and Design - notice the Spanish moss on an otherwise leaf-less tree.

 Because of all of the trees, it was a challenge to get a clear shot of many of the homes.

 Some cute row houses.

The most exciting thing that happened while we were walking around Savannah, at least according to Patrick, was a tow truck hooking up a broken down school bus.  He was in large-vehicle heaven!

 Armstrong House (now law offices).

 Forsyth Park - a beautiful park of 30 acres in the middle of Savannah with a children's play area, walking paths, and tennis and basketball courts.

 This 17,550 square foot mansion was built in 1888 as a private residence for the Lewis Kayton family and is now a restaurant.

 Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

 The interior was beautiful!

 One way to see the city, but we used the hop on, hop off bus instead.  Much warmer!

Kehoe House, built in 1893 to accommodate William & Annie Kehoe and their 10 children.  William was the owner of a successful iron foundry.  He used cast iron for all the exterior trim.

St Johns Episcopal Church

Beaufort, SC

Beaufort has more antebellum (pre-civil war) homes than Charleston and Savannah put together!  It seems like there was just street after street of historic homes.  I have LOTS of pictures of houses, but will narrow it down to just a few.

On the waterfront.

 Emaline in front of a house with some repairs in progress.

 Tabernacle Baptist Church

Beaufort Baptist Church was built in 1840, perhaps on the site of a praise house built before 1832.  Rev. Soloman Peck organized Tabernacle Baptist Church in 1863 and acquired this location for its congregation of 500 African-Americans.  A memorial to Robert Smalls is also located there.  Robert Smalls was born into slavery.  In 1862, while working as part of the slave crew on a Confederate steamer, Smalls managed to capture the ship and turn it over to Union forces.  After the war, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives (1868-1870) and Senate (1870-1875), as well as four terms in the US House of Representatives.  We found this particularly interesting given the recent movie "Selma".  How was it that the South was progressive enough to have an African-American Congressman in the late 1800's and regress so much to the point where they were in the 1950's?

 Can't see the houses for the trees!  This one was built in 1860.

 They used this house in the movie "The Big Chill."

 A beautiful veranda wrapping around this home.

 Tybee Island Lighthouse

 Patrick and Mark were having fun running down to the water.  Can you tell that it was freezing cold?

 While I was using the restroom, someone played with my camera!

Columbia, SC

On our way back to Charlotte, we stopped briefly in Columbia to see the LDS temple:

And the state capitol building:

It was a fun and memorable trip!  I am hoping the next time that I am in North Carolina, it won't be cold and windy (like it has been the last two times) and I'll be able to take some decent pictures of the Whitley family!