Walking on the Beach!!

Well, I'm a little late for my weekly blog update.....so I thought I better do it tonight before I am on the road again!!
Last Friday, I had my last day of writing in Lexington, South Carolina...I had set a specific goal to finish a certain portion of the book that will have a video connection and also complete an outline of the video snippets and the accompanying narration. I am happy to report that I did reach those goals. There is still quite a bit more to do in the next few months - more specific preparations for the video shoot in mid-March and several more chapters to write, but I am excited for the progress that has been made..

On Friday afternoon, my friends, Curtis and Lois Funk arrived in Lexington and we had a lovely couple days seeing the area around Columbia and visiting with a former music education student who is teaching less than an hour away. I packed and cleaned the condo and we took off for Hilton Head Island on Sunday afternoon. It was an interesting drive, as the area of South Carolina south of Columbia is referred to as the Low Country and you can feel it change - the vegetation is different - lots of Spanish moss hanging from the trees and lots of water visible in the low lying land along with more humidity in the air!

Since arriving, we have had a wonderful week! We took Monday to explore the island and walk on the beach (the Atlantic Ocean beach!) in the warm temperatures. Tuesday we took an hour boat trip to Daufuskie Island - a fascinating place. Early on, in this country's history it was made up of plantations with slaves. After the Civil War, the slaves were freed, and because the island plantation owners could not afford to pay for labor they sold their land to the freed slaves and left the island. With no bridges and little contact with the outside world, they made their living by fishing and farming. Isolation allowed them to maintain their culture and language, which is called Gullah. The Gullah people originated in Angola in West Africa and have many rich traditions and folklore. We drove around the island on a golf cart and saw lots of historical churches, schools, and cemetaries; few of the roads are paved and it is quite an undeveloped place in terms of commerce (one) or places to eat (two). It was a great day and to top it off, the whole trip was free because we sat and listened to a pitch about a timeshare company on Monday! That presentation was actually quite informative and fairly low pressured and we were able to go to Daufuskie without cost, as a result!!

Wednesday, we went to Charleston and had a great day - it was sunny and in the low 70s. We ate at a great barbeque place called Sticky Fingers - highly recommended!!! And then we walked around the old town and went on a carriage ride and heard a lot of early US History stories. Even though I was there earlier in the month, I got to see other places I didn't go to on my first visit so it was a fun day!! Today, we decided we needed a little down time so we stayed on Hilton Head, took a walk in our area and then went down to the beach and walked for over an hour - it was in the high 70's; I had sandals and capris on and walked barefoot on the sand for a while with the fairly comfortable water lapping at my toes!! I now have some color on my face to show for it! Tomorrow the plan is to go to Savannah - about an hour away - and see the old city. We leave on Sunday and head south to Florida... more later on that...

I have felt so blessed this last month - it has been a great mix of work and play and I am so grateful for this opportunity! Thank you for reading this - I hope you have some joy in your heart, as well!