Yes, I'm Still Here

I have been noticeably absent and perhaps you are wondering what's going on. Well, I think you will be surprised to learn what I - er, I should say we - have been up to.

Last Wednesday morning, DH and I packed our bags and took to the highways for a very impromptu long weekend vacation to South Carolina. We are not typically given to such fits of spontaneity, so this was quite out of the ordinary for us.

I had just one commitment to cancel (sorry about that, book club friends!) and Kevin had two. We made our apologies, booked some rooms, packed very lightly and off we went. We had a long day of driving on Wednesday, but took frequent stops and took our time. We arrived at our destination just in time to catch the end of the Cavs first win over the Celtics.

Our first day, Thursday, was devoted to touring around Charleston. Neither of us had been there before, so we had lots to learn and see. While we walked around the historic waterfront area, we saw a sign for boat tours of the harbor; since this was the only way to get a good look at Fort Sumter, we hopped on board. More spontaneity!

Here are some pictures of our excursion around Charleston Harbor and the historic waterfront.

Ravenel Bridge

Our Excursion Boat

Ft. Sumter

US Custom House

Random Stately Mansion

White Point Park

Our hotel was in Georgetown, SC, a town I'd visited previously while on vacation with several girlfriends and my mother and sister. We absolutely loved a boat tour we took called Cap'n Rod's Lowcountry Tour. I knew Kevin would love it, too, so we booked it and took that tour on Friday. I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few highlights.

Gorgeous Blue Sky and Water

Lighthouse

We checked out of our hotel on Friday and turned around to head back home in the afternoon. Our next stop was about halfway home - in the little town of Mt. Airy, NC, the birthplace of Andy Griffith. That little town has capitalized on the idea of Mayberry, the fictional town where the tv show was set. It is a quaint little town, and everything is geared toward celebrating Andy and Opie and all the cast - Aunt Bea, Barney, Floyd, Goober and so on.

Boyhood home of Andy Griffith

We hopped a tour in the police cruiser and toured around town hearing all the local lore and tidbits of the history on Andy and connections to places around town. The folks are just so friendly; they really are proud of their hometown hero.

Instead of taking a lot of interstates on this trip, we opted for less traffic and a slower pace, and nothing says slower pace than 100 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The speed limit is 45 mph, so we enjoyed the views, the wildlife and the flowers we saw along the way. We ran into some pretty heavy thunderstorms near the end of this ride, but for the most part it was quite pleasant.

Once back in Ohio, we finished off our trip with a visit to Kevin's dad; we stayed the night there, and arrived back to home sweet home last evening. All in all, a wonderful trip.

And I didn't take a stitch the whole time. Normally, I would have packed some handwork, but we did this so spontaneously that I didn't even have time to grab something. Oh, well, I don't know when I would have done it anyway. We were on the go the whole time.

I did take it slow, though, as I am still recovering; Kevin carried all the heavy luggage, and made sure to walk slow when we were out and about.

Here is what awaits me as I ponder my next move in the sewing room.

These three baby quilts need to be quilted. They've been hanging on this door all month as a reminder that finishing is absolutely essential as soon as possible. I do believe I am recovered to the point where I can tackle these this week.

This gorgeous stack of fabric is what I'm using for those hexies that are supposed to look like water. I have several of them glue-basted, but many more need to be made. I will likely do that tomorrow.

I have stuff to get busy on, so I need to end here for now.

I have linked up with Monday Making, even though I haven'r really made a thing - except a lot of excellent South Carolina memories!

Happy Quilting, Friends!