goin' to Carolina in my mind
Just before heading to Italy, I went to Souch Carolina for a short trip. One of the main reasons was that my mother's family has gotten together at Pinestraw Mills (my immediate family's lakehouse) on the July 4th weekend over the last several years and I didn't want to miss out on that.
Dad, Mom, Dulche, and me
Mom with her brothers and sisters
Although all of my cousins are my favorite, two of my favoritist are sitting at the picnic table here. C on the left is headed into the Marines. Although, that isn't a choice I personally could make, I really respect his decision and his reasons behind it, not the least of which is that he wants a college education and he can't really afford it any other way. He also wants to get out and "see more than my small town in Alabama." A, on the right, is a fireball and I think she's great. My Dad and I always have a good time with her. My Dad kept teasing her all weekend that the design on her shirt looked like a porkchop. She kept trying to tell us it was an apostrophe.
It also turns out that I was wrong about my Mother having Van Gogh prints in our living room. She had CROSS-STITCHED the Van Gogh paintings and they're now decorations in the lakehouse. Here they are presented next to the originals.
Irises
Sunflowers
The other reason that I went to South Carolina was to visit with my good friend, bluelotusgrrl. She flew into the Charleston airport, and we stayed a night in a 5-star hotel known as the Wentworth Mansion. It was a pretty incredible experience. The service there was spectacular, and our room and the hotel itself were huge and incredible. Here's just one side of our room.
I actually went to Governor's School just down the street and stayed in the Wentworth dorms. At that time in SC, Governor's School was a 6 week summer program collecting upcoming highschool seniors from all over the state for summer studies. That experience completely changed my life and was my first true experience of embracing my inner geek. I was surrounded by some of the most intelligent and geekiest kids from the different areas of SC, and we had an awesome time geeking out.
I met some of my best friends from high school times there, and went back to visit them a bunch. A couple of them lived nearby on Sullivan's Island, so I got to know that place pretty well. It turns out that my father lived there when he was very young as well.
So, here's what the beach looks like at Sullivan's Island when there are ominous clouds coming in.
And they've built a new bridge going out to Mt Pleasant (which eventually leads to Sullivan's Island).
Aside from eating ridiculous amounts of seafood, we walked around and saw this hotel (which bluelotusgrrl had thought about staying in).
bluelotusgrrl and I went riding around my home town of Sumter just a bit and went out to eat with my folks at a pretty nice Italian restaurant. I guess I was getting prepared for the upcoming workshop.
Finally, we had a nice rock in the chairs at the airport before leaving. We had a great time reconnecting.
Dad, Mom, Dulche, and me
Mom with her brothers and sisters
Although all of my cousins are my favorite, two of my favoritist are sitting at the picnic table here. C on the left is headed into the Marines. Although, that isn't a choice I personally could make, I really respect his decision and his reasons behind it, not the least of which is that he wants a college education and he can't really afford it any other way. He also wants to get out and "see more than my small town in Alabama." A, on the right, is a fireball and I think she's great. My Dad and I always have a good time with her. My Dad kept teasing her all weekend that the design on her shirt looked like a porkchop. She kept trying to tell us it was an apostrophe.
It also turns out that I was wrong about my Mother having Van Gogh prints in our living room. She had CROSS-STITCHED the Van Gogh paintings and they're now decorations in the lakehouse. Here they are presented next to the originals.
Irises
Sunflowers
The other reason that I went to South Carolina was to visit with my good friend, bluelotusgrrl. She flew into the Charleston airport, and we stayed a night in a 5-star hotel known as the Wentworth Mansion. It was a pretty incredible experience. The service there was spectacular, and our room and the hotel itself were huge and incredible. Here's just one side of our room.
I actually went to Governor's School just down the street and stayed in the Wentworth dorms. At that time in SC, Governor's School was a 6 week summer program collecting upcoming highschool seniors from all over the state for summer studies. That experience completely changed my life and was my first true experience of embracing my inner geek. I was surrounded by some of the most intelligent and geekiest kids from the different areas of SC, and we had an awesome time geeking out.
I met some of my best friends from high school times there, and went back to visit them a bunch. A couple of them lived nearby on Sullivan's Island, so I got to know that place pretty well. It turns out that my father lived there when he was very young as well.
So, here's what the beach looks like at Sullivan's Island when there are ominous clouds coming in.
And they've built a new bridge going out to Mt Pleasant (which eventually leads to Sullivan's Island).
Aside from eating ridiculous amounts of seafood, we walked around and saw this hotel (which bluelotusgrrl had thought about staying in).
bluelotusgrrl and I went riding around my home town of Sumter just a bit and went out to eat with my folks at a pretty nice Italian restaurant. I guess I was getting prepared for the upcoming workshop.
Finally, we had a nice rock in the chairs at the airport before leaving. We had a great time reconnecting.