Recently, my Mom treated Beach Baby and I to a very fine vacation in South Carolina. The weather was gorgeous, and we had a really nice place to stay.


The beach in South Carolina is beautiful. The sand is just the right shade of beige...not too dark, not too rocky. When the waves came in and stirred up the sand, the water sparkled around our feet like pixie dust.




We immediately noticed that there were lots of jelly fish washed up on shore. I've never seen anything like it. We watched every step so that we were careful not to squish their mushy jelly bodies between our toes. I for one, Beach Baby for another, assumed that they can still sting the heck out of you even when they are beached, but I did see a lady poking one with her foot. One of us is really dumb.

I had to be on constant watch for those brainless jelly fish in the water too. There were several instances that we had to evacuate the area because of jelly fish. Beach Baby loves the water, so in a few minutes we would return......she to mindless wave jumping and I to jelly fish patrol.


A big highlight of the trip was our visit to Hunting Island State Park. The beach on Hunting Island is full of beautiful shells and fallen trees. There were very few people there when we visited, which in my book is a great thing. Don't get me wrong, I like people, but I prefer my walks along the beach quite.

We walked for a while collecting shells in bags and McDonald's cups. We found 2 crab legs, which Beach Baby and I chose to keep. Because of the eternal stench, one has a new home in a garbage can in northeast Alabama.


During the vacation, I was very slack in regards to Beach Baby's bedtime, so when had walked far enough to reach the lighthouse on Hunting Island, she had an involuntary melt down. We decided that we'd walk along the black top back to the car, since we thought it'd be quicker. It was not. Beach Baby couldn't take anymore steps on her own and wanted to be carried the entire way. Fortunately, her Granna is very fit and was willing to split the hauling time with me. When we added her 55 lb. weight to our backs, the road beneath us felt like nails jabbing into our feet. Out went the the restorative pedicure powers of the sandy beach.


When we began our walk it was dangerously close to dark-30. Walking beneath the canopy of thick jungle like growth made it seem even darker, and at one point we imagined we were following the yellow brick road into the Wicked Witch's property. I also began to wonder about the alligator population. I remembered how I could barely spot them in a glassed in alligator tank at Noccalula Falls and was curious to know how many were watching us from the shadows. About that time, we heard something in the woods and turned quickly to find two large deer leaping away from us. I didn't expect that. When we reached our car and drove out of the State Park, we saw 3 fawns in the woods as well! It was a nice treat. The fawns didn't scamper out of the area like the others and we were able to stop the car and watch them for a few minutes until another car drove up behind us and spoiled it. Dang people, who didn't do anything wrong, and who had no idea...dang people.

I was imagining vacationing there in a cabin when Mom reminded me that the chances of us returning were slim to none since, I will soon be moving halfway around the world. Good 'ol Mom. She'll bring you back to reality in a New York minute and snatch your vacationing dreams right out of your head.

There is something wild about South Carolina. Surprisingly, I didn't find Hilton Head to be overly manicured either. The stores are set back off the highway behind a row of palm trees and other vegetation. When traveling outside of Hilton Head, there seemed to be more marsh than dry land and it occurred to me that South Carolina would be a really good place to dump a body. I majored in criminal justice with a forensics concentration so forgive me for my morbid thoughts. I-do-not plan-to-dump-a-body-anywhere. But, if one was looking for a previously dumped body, South Carolina could be a good place to start. I'm just sayin'.



And I know it probably annoys my Mom, but seeing this giant Earth (pictured below) was one of my favorite parts of Savannah. I am firm believer that there should be more strangely large, oddly placed things along life's way.



The following day we returned to Alabama after an 8 hour drive and I've been consumed with leasing the house ever since. More on that in a later post. Thanks for tuning in!

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I hadn't wanted to post the details of the house we have for sale since giving away my address seemed like a bad idea, but now that I am staying with my mom and step-dad excuse me while I shamelessly advertise the heck out of it. This house is the thing that is keeping my unit from being together. Please tell your friends!

5665 Rita Street, Southside, AL (off Leota)
This brick and vinyl home is only 5 years old and has been
well maintained. This home has 3 large bedrooms, 2 baths, large
family room with hardwood flooring, trey ceiling and gas log
fireplace. The foyer, hallway and dining room also have hardwood flooring. Great home in great location.

Relocating sellers + tax credits make this a MUST SEE HOME! Priced to Sell @ $149,700. Judy Hamil 546-1001 Bone Realty

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Today Mom, Bit-O-Honey, and I visited another spring festival in the Community of Mt. Laurel. We had a great time.

We ended our leisurely Saturday by introducing The Wizard of Oz to Bit-O-Honey. Since she tends to scare more easily than most her age, I was a anxious to see how she would like it. Her first and foremost concern was that mean ol' Almira Gulch would succeed in taking sweet, little, Toto away from Dorothy. Mom and I had to talk her through the tears that were welling up in her eyes during that scene. Her only other concerns were that we might actually see the scarecrow get his brain and that the Oz would scare us with a ball of fire. On the flip side, I was shocked to hear her refer to one of those horrifying monkeys as “cute”! In the end, she absolutely loved the movie. As a follow up, Mom awarded Bit-O-Honey her very own Badge of Courage. Bit-O-Honey was honored but definitely not humbled.

More ice fishing for Chuck today. He ran into the same Native American women who were so generous last weekend. Today, they gave him a bucket of their favorite bait. Since I forgot to ask if the bait information is top secret, I won’t post it here. I wouldn’t want to spoil the favor he has with the locals.

Chuck met a man named Crusher yesterday. He was a 70 year old Delta Junctionian who offered to show Chuck why they called him Crusher. This sounded like a demonstration I would decline, but Chuck accepted Crusher’s hand and, well allowed him to crush it. Yeah. Chuck said he is a real nice man who was a regular there at restaurant where they met. He is the type of guy people tend to congregate around. The strength in his hands came from years of tower climbing. I am not sure what type of towers he climbed, but I do know that he had to hold on tight and move fast, lest his hands freeze to the metal.

A follow up.... Remember that strange animal that Chuck saw in Delta Junction? That animal that was 1/3 sloth, 1/3 porcupine, and 1/3 beaver? It was a porcupine. Yep. A porcupine. When Chuck told me he had figured it out, I said, “Chuck aren’t you ashamed?” Without hesitation, he replied, “No. I’ve never seen a porcupine the size of a Great Dane crawling around on its belly.”

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