My Home

We've been spending our time gravitating between tourists and people who are just so insane from staying the house that they need to get out and go, somewhere, anywhere, any place that we can explore in our new surroundings.

This past weekend wasn't any different. We checked out a local dive bar on Friday night. To mine and Steve's chagrin, it ended up being a bar that served, not a restaurant with a bar, like we had orginally thought. So essentially, our dinner plans were ruined, a bit. I guess you live and learn on that one.

We spent Satruday with the comic relief that is my family. They really need their own TV show because just the act of going to the Air Force Base to buy a new washer and dryer, since the old one completely crapped out on them, was enough for a sitcom. My dad grumbled about the price and reserved the right to grumble the rest of the day. Steve bolstered his grumblings by pointing the much cheaper and much less frills edition sitting right next to it. My mother spent twenty minutes convincing my dad of the quality of this fancy washer & dryer set (it's the Whirlpool Duet for any of you housewife mavens who know the glory of these appliances) when she really didn't need to because at this point, she had already twisted his arm, or had already decided to do it anyway and once she decides to do something, well, there's no turning back. There was then another thirty minutes or so of loading them into the back of a friends pickup then getting them home and fitting them in the utility room after the old ones had been moved out.

Sadly, I missed that spectacle as Steve and I headed our own way and wandered around downtown, checking out the sights. I took quite a few pictures and hopefully, will have them posted sometime soon. This town is a goldmine for photographs and I plan to exploit it for all its worth.

That evening, we met back up with my parents at Boone Hall Plantation for an evening picnic and fireworks all backed by the strains of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. There was wine and beer and cheese and crackers and dinner and picnic baskets and blankets. And the sunset was silhouetted behind the old oak trees draped with Spanish moss and kids ran around and played and flung glow bracelets in the air. Everyone was there and it was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable Saturday nights I've had in awhile.

But it wasn't until Sunday that it struck me. We went to the 19th Annual Blessing of the Fleet over by Shem Creek, where they have a seafood festival and bless each of the shrimp boats for a prosperous season as they float past the banks. After that we headed to the beach and came across the kite festival, with a good dozen or so colorful kites floating through the air. Then we walked along the beach for about an hour with the surf lapping at our feet.

And as we drove back home, the wind blew my hair because we were in the Jeep with the top off. The sun sparkled and we crossed the bridge and on either side of me was palm trees and the marsh. And in the distance I could see the new bridges that have a become a NEW symbol or Charleston and I grinned at Steve and said I was happy here. And we stopped at stop sign then headed over the other bridge. And with the wind blowing and the all to familair strains of Skynard so appropriately floating out of the radio, I finally felt at HOME.

Side note: I'm liking The Rising Tied by Fort Minor. I'm anticipating hearing Goodbye Alice in Wonderland by Jewel. And I seriously cannot wait for the new Dixie Chicks album, Taking the Long Way. I also think Lisa Lampanelli is hysterical along with Lynne Koplitz. I'm in love with Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, CSI and ER. Audiobooks are a great new find, particularly Smashed by Koran Zalinkas. I have Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman waiting on me.

And my iPod is my best friend!