Scorching Hot South Carolina

We arrived in SC late on May 22nd.  In spite of that, Libbie picked us up, got us home and settled in and was up before dawn the next morning to teach her fitness class.  She runs home after class to take Sadie and Xander to school and usually teaches another class right after dropping them off.

Jeff takes Benson to early morning seminary, drops off Benson to catch a bus and feeds everyone breakfast, makes lunches etc. before heading to campus to teach himself.  Their schedule is impeccably timed and they seem to function like a well-oiled machine. That was one of our challenges in timing a visit as we didn't want to be a huge interruption.

On this particular day, we rode with Libbie to drop the kids at school.  Then she had an unusual break so we joined her at her favorite running shoe store to get some replacements.  Kristen ended up buying a nice pair of walking shoes also.

We weren't too far from the beach, so we picked up a healthy smoothie and spent a few minutes enjoying the beach scenery.   You know me, I had to walk in the sand barefooted!

We tagged along on errands and bought some fabric so I could sew a new cover for their beloved massager.  When the kids got home from school, we gave them their new Case caps and coaxed this photo out of them.

Benson was running for a class office, so this was the photo they took for his posters.  It was slick how quickly Jeff designed them and printed them off to be posted the next day at school.  He was a winner.

The alligator signs were new since our last visit.  There ARE alligators in their ponds now.

Friday afternoon we picked up Liberty at the fitness studio as she finished her work, and headed SW to an Airbnb we had booked for the Memorial Weekend.  About dark, we arrived at our little house on the golf course on Callawassie Island.  It was good to leave the heat of MB and the biker groups that congregate on this particular weekend.

Savannah, Georgia is about 1 SE of our Airbnb so it was planned that we would drive there and explore.  In the background you can see the bridge connecting SC to GA at Savannah.

River Street is a popular shopping and restaurant area in Savannah where old buildings have been restored to accommodate tourists.  Of course the original cobblestone streets and buildings are charming.

There was a Saturday festival along the river with lots of booths selling their wares.

We thought this WWII Memorial was very interesting and unique.

There were a couple of old-fashioned candy stores in the area and of course, we had to check them out.

We eventually succumbed to the temptation to purchase a carmel chocolate covered apple cut in 8 pieces so we could each have a taste.

We watched as this employee made salt water taffy the same way they have been making it for 100 years.  Liberty said not to waste our money because SC Saltwater taffy isn't nearly as good as Sweets in SLC.  We heeded her advice.

We walked to a nearby park where we could shared our special apple treat.

While we were there, Steve got a call from his sister Kathy telling him his cousin Parley's wife, Marla, had passed away.  They held the funeral while we were still in SC so we were unable to attend.

After we left the River Street area, Jeff drove us to Forsyth Park, a much larger park with a small farmer's market in one corner, memorial statues and large fountains.  It was beautiful, but we tried to stay in the shade as it had also become unusually hot and muggy especially for this time of year. 

Liberty had discovered an intersection in the city where the street Liberty intersected with the street Price.  Of course, we had to drive there and take photos.  A few blocks away was an intersection for Taylor and Price.

Next we went to the Old Pirate's House for some lunch.  It has been a tavern, eating establishment for over 250 years.

We were fortunate to be seated in a room that was the original Herb House dating back to 1734.  There are lots of ghost stories about this little "house."

We enjoyed our delicious food and hearing the stories from the staff.  It is told that many a drunk sailer was wrapped in a blanket and smuggled down through this tunnel to a ship on the port.  He would wake up and find himself as a member of a crew at sea.  He was "shanghaied."

After lunch, we went back to our airbnb so the kids should do a little tennis, golf, swimming and driving around in the golf cart.  It was still hot but more tolerable especially around the pool.

This wasn't the house we stayed in.  Ours was older and smaller, but we liked this one we saw on our walk.

The boys loved watching the Bucks/Raptors playoff games.  It was fun when the Raptors came from 18 points behind to win the final game.

We attended sacrament meeting in nearby Beaufort on Sunday morning.  It was a nice meeting.

After church, we changed clothes and went to explore some of the local sites.

Our first stop was the Original Gulla Festival at the park in Beaufort.  It was colorful and interesting.

Then we went to Hunting State Park with its nature center, picnic areas, lighthouse and beaches.

The beach we stopped at had huge driftwood deposits all along one section of the beach.

Benson was bored with this stop and figured out a way to rest in the shade.

Xander loves the beach and was excited to find a jellyfish.

Benson and Sadie were interested in touring the lighthouse with us.  However, there was a 2 hour wait so we opted for the photo opportunities they gave us.

Back on Callawassie Island, Sadie joined us on one of our evening walks.

Sunset over the causeway.  We loved the beauty of this island.

For our last breakfast before leaving our Airbnb, Jeff made crepes.  Yummy!

We checked out and drove to Charleston.  We ended up stopping for lunch at the kids' handsdown favorite Chick-fil-A.  They are abundant in SC.

We drove on into Charleston to stop at one of Liberty's favorite ice cream places, Jeni's. She is an ice cream snob so we don't stop for junk stuff.  It was delicious.  They are famous for interesting combinations and for making their own waffle cones fresh while you wait.

We went to their neighborhood pool to find respite from the heat.  The water was refreshing.

I took these next couple of photos from their pool deck.  They live in a beautiful place.

As we pulled the plug on the blow up mattress, we discovered this quilt made by Steve's sister, Kathy for the Cases' wedding gift.

We took Jeff and Libbie to lunch at one of their favorite fresh Mex places near Liberty's studio to celebrate her birthday a couple of days early.

She really works hard at Char's studio helping people to improve their physical health and mental well-being.  She challenges her students and makes the process a lot of fun.  I was able to join in two workout classes and it was delightful.  Her students love her!!!

It was hard to say goodbye to our beloved grandkids, daughter and son-in-law.  I always get emotional when we leave.  We loved our SC visit.  In spite of the heat, it was delightful!