March vacay (continued)

HILTON HEAD ISLAND

One of the best things about the beaches in Hilton Head are their size.....wide, flat and bike able which we took advantage of every day.

Sunset from the beach.

And sunrises

Spent a quiet Sunday afternoon in Sea Pines preservation area where I came very close to stepping on this guy!

The bee was busy on these blossoms.

We attended the local HH St. Patrick's Day parade on a warm and sunny day.

The resort was beautiful, on the beach, and featured a pond area where many turtles lived.

Ocean water was warm, pools were heated.

Nearby Sea Pines has a marina where you can take any kind of boat ride, eat at one of many restaurants or simply watch a sunset.

Our dolphin ride was very successful!

The Sea Pines light house  (Jim's photo with the setting sun in just the right place.)

                              On to Greenville, South Carolina, a beautiful city we have never visited.  Spring had arrived and there was a pretty downtown area to walk.

Lunch in this bistro.

The park we walked, blooming trees and flowers, a water fall and the longest pedestrian bridge in the US.





Best vacation, ever!

March vacay

We spent three perfect weeks in March traveling through Virginia, North and South Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, visiting Mary and Doug, Campbell U. (Kylie's school), watching Kylie play LAX and enjoying the warm, sunny weather (everyday).  I am dividing this blog into two sections as I have so many photos to share.

FLORIDA

We are posing with Gaylord, Campbell U's camel mascot.  We bought T-shirts, logos and a Campbell cap, and saw much of the campus in Buie's Creek, NC    (don't blink or you will miss the town).

Stayed over in Hinesville, GA and was excited to see blooming flowers!

Tradition is that we stop at the Florida welcome center to partake of the free cuppa OJ.

Bike week in Daytona......hearing the constant hum of motorcycles.

Our Florida Marriott resort was beautiful.  One of our favorite spots was the outdoor bar and grill and fire pits where we enjoyed steel drum music after dark. Balmy evenings were lovely after a winter of cold dark ones in front of an inside fire place!

Every morning a beautiful sun rise from our bedroom deck.

Our time with Mary and Doug were fun and they took us to one of their favorite birding areas where Jim and I enjoyed   lots to capture with our cameras.

My goal was to walk every day while we were away....lots to see!

....like pelicans

and scary-looking trees.

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Azaleas were in full bloom.

And we watched Kylie play LAX in Jacksonville on her 19th birthday!




On to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina!

Another nor'easter

Looks quiet now, but in a few hours the snow will begin falling.

 
The weather report warned of a crushing nor'easter, astrologically more damaging because of the full moon, headed our way, bringing rain, snow and high winds.  Just before hunkering down I took this picture of the dark sky and quiet ocean.

The next morning the flooding began, the power was out and we were happy for our fireplace and good supply of wood.

Jim worked for two days on his Christmas puzzle....that's sparkling cider

.

Looking out the kitchen window, the water begins to rise.....

Broccoli-cheese soup....Ree Drummond

So the cooking and baking begins as soon as the power came back on.

Chewy pretzels, decorated for Valentine's Day......Alton Brown

 I have a fool-proof recipe shared by David for home made pretzels.  Be sure the yeast is fresh.

Day 2:  Flood waters still rising and now freezing.....

 Add some overnight snow

 and ice.....

Jim's request for "goulash".  We called it "slumgullion" growing up
(Ground beef, peppers, onions, tomato paste and marinara sauce and elbow macaroni.
Sprinkle with grated cheddar)

Crepes with simmered tangerines on the side

 So, with another stranded day ahead and enough time to experiment, I tackled crepes.  Used a tip I heard to use sparkling water.  Decided that as with anything, the more crepes I made, the better they were.  Also, I have a crepe pan.

Granola muffins..King Arthur flour recipe using granola Jenni and I made  last time she was here

Added thumbprint butter cookies. The pink color comes from the addition of ONE raspberry to the mix!

Despite the frustration of spending an entire weekend inside watching flood waters rise, I was happy to have accomplished some cooking and baking, perfecting decorated pretzels and sweet crepes.

Order of the Arrow

We are so proud of Jack!  He was received into The Order of the Arrow this past weekend, entry into boy scouting following his time as a cub scout.  Ho joined twelve other scouts in the ceremony which included local dignitaries, families, and those who conducted the ceremony, dressed as Native Americans.

Jack dons his Boy Scout uniform

The procession begins

And here come the boys, blind folded

Jack's forehead has been painted

With his mom and dad, Jack receives the arrow painted on his forehead

A firm handshake for the dignitaries present who presented certificates

    

Halloween, 2015

October is a beautiful month here at the beach.  With the exception of a nor-easter in the early part of the month which stranded us for three days while high water surrounded our little house, the month has been kind with many warm days preventing us from dwelling on the coming winter.

On my birthday we went looking for a hint of Fall color and landed at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge.  We were rewarded with some color and a beautiful sunset.

Leaves beginning to change color in Prime Hook.

It is always a privilege to be present for such a sunset.

Our Bethany Beach landscapers added a "graveyard" to the holiday decorations this year.

And we added a dog to our Mr. Bones scenario in our neighborhood.

I read that Delaware's spookiest cemetery is located nearby in Frankfort, DE.  We went hunting for it with our cameras ready.

These lawn ghouls were about as scary as anything else we saw.

The cemetery is named for the Long family.

Many stones belonged to people named Long.

The cemetery is located on Catman's Road. Catman was the old cemetery care taker who reportedly looked like a cat and haunts this graveyard.  Happy to say he was not around while we were there.

Creepy, enough.

AUTUMN BLESSINGS greets people at Westwood.