Backyard Paradise

After we returned from Charleston I was missing my afternoons poolside, relaxing in the sun.  In an attempt to recapture some of that vacation bliss I headed out to our own deck.  Although we are lacking a pool, I discovered, or rather, appreciated for the first time, that our deck is not so shabby and has a lovely view itself.  It is also quite hot (which I like), no matter what the temperature is for the day, and if I sit in one of our old comfy Walmart chairs and close my eyes, it totally seems like I'm still on vacation.  For awhile that is just what I did.  Every afternoon I would sneak out to my backyard resort and just sit, pretending I was still on vacation.  Unfortunately, after awhile my conscience got the best of me and I decided I couldn't stay on vacation forever.  So now everyday I go out to my backyard paradise and...

...fold laundry in my sundress!

My kids kinda think I'm nuts, but

laundry and I have never had a better relationship!

Happy summer!

Charleston Trip in Pictures

Thought I would share a bit of the beauty and charm of Charleston, SC:

The Battery

Battery Park is on the left, the harbor would be on the right.

 Beautiful homes, such as this one, line Battery Street!

It was a wet and windy walk!

 Carriage tour...hoping to do this next time.

Another example of the beautiful homes.  Imagine the wealthy sitting on their porches watching the fireworks of the first shots of the Civil War.

 Granite curbs

Several of the Catholic Churches

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, on Broad Street.  Bishop John England, and his sister are buried here.

 The pews.

Touching my necklace to the first class relic of St. Catherine of Sienna.

 The outside.

St. Mary of the Annunciation, the First Catholic Church in the Carolinas and Georgia

89 Hasell Street.

The exterior.

Interior

The cemetery next to the church.

Stella Maris, on Sullivan's Island, right across the street from, and built from, the bricks of Ft. Moultrie 

 The interior

 Statue of the Blessed Mother

Ft. Moultrie on Sullivan's Island

That's Ft. Sumter in the distance.

 Notice the steeple of Stella Maris in the background.

Boone Hall Plantation

The Avenue of Oaks

Horses

Monarch in the Butterfly Garden

The grave of the Boone who planted the oaks for the Avenue of Oaks.

 Slave quarters

Walking to the dock where goods would be picked up for shipping.

The home

 Gullah presentation

The French Quarter and Rainbow Row

In addition to street signs, the streets are also marked in the sidewalk.

Carriage tour on Rainbow Row

 Rainbow Row

 Not a great city for women in heels!

I couldn't get enough of the beautiful streets!

More!

 And the sidewalks too!

Real lanterns!

 Breathtakingly beautiful!

 East Bay Street

 The boys liked this one!

 Full view!

Market Street

The Market

 End of the Market

Shot of the bridge!

Waterfront Park and the View

The ultimate sign of welcome on the waterfront...Pineapple Fountain!

 USS Yorktown

 Castle Pinckney

 The new bridge, a cargo ship, and a sailboat in the harbor.

Why We Love VRBO

The House

House from the pool deck.  One regular porch on the middle level, a rooftop patio, and a screened in porch (not pictured) to the right of the windows!

Tree house with no way to climb in (much to my relief)!  The boys (and men) were disappointed though)!

The view from the rooftop deck!

 View of the pool area and cabana from rooftop deck!

Sullivan's Island

Cargo ship leaving the harbor.

 View of Charleston from Sullivan's Island

 Walking the path to the beach!

 Shrimping boats at Shem Creek

Our Trip to Morris Island with Charleston Adventure Tours

 The tour boat was parked RIGHT next to the U.S.S. Yorktown (upper left corner of pic.) and this other ship.

On the other side of the boat was this submarine.  We did get a chance to walk through it.  It kind of freaked me out.

 The weather was bad so while we waited to see if it was going to clear, Capt. Howie taught us all how to tie different knots.

Harlow, the beautiful and very friendly dog of Miss Marnie (our shell guide) went along for the trip.  We all loved her!

 Ft. Sumter

Morris Island

Cargo Ship

Some friends we met along the way!

 Up close!

 Morris Island

What's that I see?  Good find, Uncle Mike!

Part of our loot at the end of the morning!  Check out all the shark teeth!

Isle of Palms Beach

Flowers on the path, and they smelled heavenly!

 More flowers!

 Sunrise!

 Playing in the sand!

Looking for the perfect spot to hit the waves!

 Playing in the warmth of the tide pools!

Houses along the beach!

 The boogie boarding crew!

Heading out!

The pier where we got engaged!

We were all kind of sad to come home, but look what was waiting for us when we got there...a full rainbow!  It was so complete that we could not even fit the entire thing in any of the pictures we took!  This picture does not even show a fraction of how beautiful it was.  Apparently, God wanted to remind us that beauty resides in ALL of His creation, no matter where you are on the globe!