Some Charleston Time

I recently had the pleasure of spending three days in Charleston, SC with my best friend. We packed our days full of fun and had some amazing food while we were there. We stayed in Mount Pleasant and only had a 10-15 minutes drive into anywhere we wanted to go in Charleston. This meant we got to crossover what I now refer to as THE bridge. I was so fascinated by the architecture that I had to snap pics every time we crossed. Not sure why I took over 20 pics of the same bridge. It's not like it changed it's look every time. But it just totally had me obsessed with it. This was my favorite.

About the time we would head back to the hotel we would hit some kind of storm rolling in. We always seem to be inside a restaurant eating or heading back to the room when a storm would hit so it didn't ruin our trip, but I did get some pics of the gorgeous storm clouds. 

We just went with the wind when we decided where to eat the first night. We passed The Royal Tern. I did not know until I googled it later but a tern is a small bird related to a seagull with a forked tail.

It looked fascinating and we had no idea what kind of food they even served, but decided it looked really nice for our first night in town.

I loved the interior. There was only about four or five tables with guests. So it felt like a very exclusive fine dining experience.

My dinner companion is one of the best guys I know. He is my best friend and is always encouraging me to try new things. He didn't cut me any slack this night either.

So I did something I have never done in my entire life. I ordered fish for dinner. It was mahi mahi. You have to understand how BIG this was for me. Up until now, my idea of "eating fish" was Mrs. Paul's frozen fish sticks cooked in my oven. I like to pretend she grows it just for me in her home aquarium because I couldn't stand the thought of eating 'dirty' fish from the ocean. 

But oh my! This fish was so light and tender that I touched my fork to it and it just flaked apart. It was amazing. I was so thrilled with it being good that I ventured even more out of my comfort zone and tasted some of Aaron's swordfish. I can't remember if they called it charred or grilled or what. I just know that it was absolutely delicious as well. I can't wait to go somewhere nice to eat again so I can have fish.

For breakfast the next morning, we ate at Another Broken Egg Cafe. Just let me say I wish we had one at home. It was awesome.

Another unique interior to enjoy our meal in.

Aaron had an omelet.

And me being me, I had my favorite French toast. I don't get it very often, so I order it anytime it is on the menu. It was really good.

They had the coolest coffee cups. So I had to grab one in red for my kitchen. Of course, I use it for hot chocolate since I don't drink coffee.  

Then we headed into Charleston to take in the sights downtown and to do shopping. I just love this entire building covered in ivy. It was really cool to see.

Another alley that fascinated me was the one with the old brick buildings and the alley itself was brick. Just felt like I was looking at a part of history.

Even though it was really hot and humid, I really enjoyed walking along the waterways and just looking out at the gorgeous view. It was so relaxing.

And you can't go to Charleston and not get a picture in front of the pineapple fountain. He was such a good sport any time I wanted to take pictures. 

I love the tree lined walkways.

And the painted lady houses.

That night we found another interesting place to eat. It was called Southern Roots Smokehouse.

Once again we had some good food.  

I ordered barbecue sliders. I normally never eat barbecue out because I am such a picky eater. But this was really good. So were the baked beans. 

We spent the last day doing some more shopping before heading home. We didn't get back until that evening and I headed back to my house after one last photo. It was such an amazing trip. I don't remember the last time I felt so relaxed after my vacation was over. 

The House up the Holler

I am a country girl. Born and bred up a holler in Barboursville, WV. We had a dirt road until I was in the 8th grade and they black topped it so we could get a bus to run on our road to get to school.

That's our yard with the big hill. We played so much baseball, football and kick ball in that yard and saw many balls go over the hill and many times into the road or the creek. I loved our yard, especially in autumn when all the leaves starting falling and we would go to football games at the high school on Friday nights. 

My kids and nieces and nephews grew up loving to go to Mamaw & Papaw's house for Sunday dinners. They loved playing in that old yard as much as me and my siblings did.

One of the very rare photos of Mommy and Daddy with all us kids after we grew up. This was in '81 or '82 because Allen and I hadn't been married long and this was a sweater he got me our first Christmas. 

Daddy and Mommy didn't drive. So we walked everywhere. Daddy loved taking walks about the time the grandsons had a ball game or practice and he would always manage to stop by and watch them a while.

Town has changed and grown a lot since I was little. We never had a red light in town until several years ago. And the old buildings that held the Corner Grill and the Red Front Cafe got facelifts or as we called it "citified".

We grew up our whole life on well water. The well was only about 50 feet deep so Daddy ran electric to it and had a light that would come on.Whenever we would run bathwater or Mommy would run water to wash clothes, we had to watch the well house for the light to come on. That meant the pump was running to fill back up and we had to wait for the light to go off before we could resume running water. I remember after I got married, they got city water up the holler and Mom and Dad signed up for it. Once they got it, Daddy decided to tear down the well house. I begged him not to and cried when they sent me this picture. Just way too many memories tied up with that old well and I didn't want to see it go.

Growing up in that holler was some of the best times of my life. Catching lightning bugs at night, listening to the crickets and frogs through the window on summer nights. Waking up early to the smell of bacon frying ever day. I am so attached to my roots. We lived there from the time I was 9 months old till I moved out and got married. It will always be home to me. My brother still lives there. So yes, I get a little emotional about the old homeplace. I wish I could take you for a stroll back in time to my life back them up that old country road.

Things I learned from "The Rona"

My daughter always calls these four months of dealing with Covid-19 "The Rona".  I can tell you this, whatever you call it, there has been an affect on everybody's lifestyle....one way or another. Despite having what should have been lots of free time on my hands, I feel like I have been on a merry-go-round for 4 months and nobody thought to stop it so I can get off. The first two months, I worked hard on my house. Redecorating rooms and catching up on craft projects.

Then they said we could leave the house but just practice social distancing. I was like a kid in a candy store. I stayed my 6' away, but at the same time I started visiting with friends I hadn't seen in way too long. I was able to finally go antiquing with my best friend. I was glad to find that despite "The Rona", my friendships were still in tact with all the people who matter to me.

Went to a gathering at another friends house who has the most precious daughter. Fell in love with this little girl first time I met her. 

Finally got to get cuddle time with Baby E. who belongs to another set of friends. Baby E is only two months old and I'm just now getting to meet her thanks to "The Rona". 

And one of my first outside meals was catching back up with these two friends that mean so much to me.

One of my first girls night out was with one of my best girlfriends, Mendi, to celebrate her birthday.

I learned that I could survive staying at home alone ... A LOT! But I also learned that I didn't always like my own company. Lots of lonely days and even lonelier nights. I learned that if you decided to binge watch Chicago Fire you would look for Severide and Casey in every fire truck you passed and that your "heading to bed at 11:00" nights turned out being up to 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. to watch "just one more episode."

I learned that my grandchildren hold such a big piece of my heart (as if I didn't already know that). Nothing was as hard during "The Rona" as not getting to see The Grands or to keep them overnight. The two oldest boys work and are busy with their lives so I don't get to see them much at all, but the three youngest still love coming to see me. I learned how exciting it is to get to see them after that long of an absence.

I learned that women of a "certain age" can still walk down paths to wade in the river. I also learned just because they can do it doesn't mean they should. I also learned how hard those big river rocks are when you lose your footing and land on your hip and how painful that can be. I also learned how thankful I was for all the milk I have drank in my lifetime that I didn't break any bones all though I had a doozie of a bruise for weeks. 

I learned that  if I take a chance and order a bracelet off Etsy, it will soon become my favorite bracelet ever. The symbols are Celtic for Anam Cara which translates into Soul Friend. And has a very special meaning between me and my best friend.

I also learned that I could drink tea and love it....as long it was mixed with lemonade. But I also loved Green Tea with honey and ginseng. But plain old sweet tea is never going to be something I like.

I learned that I love baking even if I wasn't working and having people to feed. Of course, I also learned that if I bake and DON'T give it away, I will eat it. So obviously a lot of friends got free desserts throughout "The Rona".

I learned that my friend didn't mind if I picked mysef some roses from his rose bush and I realized how nice it was to have fresh flowers on the counter.

I remembered how much I love going to my youngest grandson's ball games.

I learned how it felt to stay there from the first game until the last game to see Colby's team play in the final game of the tournament. They played their hearts out and went home with 2nd place medals. Was so proud of these boys.

I learned how much fun I could have on a Charleston vacation with my best friend. Don't worry, I have Charleston pics to share another day.

I learned how much fun it was to go out on the 4th of July to a cookout at a friend's house and get to watch a bunch of fireworks with a lot of my friends and to get to make new friends.

I learned that the little purple flowers I have always called purple flowers are actually called Thistle which is a horrible name for such cute little flowers.

I learned my neighbor can go out of town for long periods and never touch his flower garden and it still thrives. 

I learned how to become a farmer. Well, ok a tomato farmer. Well actually it's one plant so I guess I'm not any kind of farmer. I will just be happy if I don't kill it whether I get tomatoes off it or not.

But basically, the main things I learned through "The Rona" is that family is always family and will always love you even when they can't see you. And that true friends are always true friends, no matter how much or how little time you get to spend together. And most of all "The Rona" taught me that I am a survivor. That I don't have to overthink everything. Life is gonna be whatever it is gonna be. And for me, these past four months have been good, despite "The Rona".

Weekend wrap up

Friday I cleaned house and did laundry so I could enjoy my three day weekend. Which was ridiculous that I called it a three day weekend when I have been laid off from work for 22 weeks. But I did have a good weekend. Saturday morning my daughter came and picked me up and we went to Turkey Creek to do some shopping. We ate at Red Robin and the food was delicious. I had onion rings for an appetizer so they aren't in the picture. But they are one of my favorite things there.

I did make a few new purchases. I love my new lemon mug.

I needed new tennis shoes. After trying on just about every brand they had, I found a pair I fell in love with. Just simple, plain canvas Keds. I feel like I'm in 8th grade again.

But my best purchase was my Tommy Hilfiger flip flops. This makes me a total of four pairs of Tommy's. By far, the best flip flop for my little flat feet.

I had to pop into Dollar Tree and this little dishtowel caught my eye. I have roosters in my kitchen so I had to have this. 

Friday night, one of my friends had an older TV that he never used. So him and his family brought by and gave it to me for my bedroom. My one from my bedroom died a long time ago and I never replaced it. It was and LCD Emerson and not a smart TV. But me, being me, did some research so I could "educate" it and make it smart. I found everything I needed at Walmart for just $57 (included tax). Since the TV was free, I didn't mind making the investment at all. 

And it was fantastic to lay in bed and flip through all my Roku and streaming channels to find something to watch. I slept better that night than I have in a long time.

Sunday we had church for the first time in about 2 1/2 months. It was just morning worship and every other row was roped off. We didn't shake hands or have choir. But the worship team sang and we sang along with them. The sermon was awesome and we had one saved and one family joing the church. My granddaughter, Shelby, (left) and her friend Megan, were thrilled to pieces to get to come back to church and beyond excited to see each other. They didn't quit smiling all morning.

Monday was a lazy day. I mean a really, lazy day. I watered flowered and that was it. Later in the day, I did decide to fix a meal. Instead of the usual holiday fare of hot dogs or hamburgers, I decided I wanted hamburger macaroni and cheese with fried potatoes. But in honor of the holiday, I did use my patriotic 

S & P shakers and placemat. The meal was delicious.

 After supper, I went out and sat on my front porch. There was a cool breeze blowing so I just sat and enjoyed my hydrangea plant and relaxed.

I know I didn't do anything spectacular, but I did have a good 3 day weekend. 

Remembering Memorial Day

I have friends who have lost family. Friends who have served and lost their friends while they were both serving in wore torn countries. I never like saying Happy Memorial Day because the reason for the day is an emotional thank you to all those who have given their life for me, for you, for all of us. So I just wanted my post to remember all those who have served. 

Sunday's songs