Visiting the Charmery

Tonight the girls and I went to Hampden and get some dinner and ice-cream.  A new place cropped up named the Charmery and it is pretty exciting.  

They have the typical flavors such as vanilla and chocolate but they also have....

 OLD BAY AND CARMEL ICE-CREAM.  To the non Baltimoreans who read this blog, old bay is a spice that goes on everything.  Crabs, fries, eggs, and now ice-cream.  This was wonderful. 

I will have to make this a tradition and go there often.  Yummo.

Love Always,

Meg

Seamus the Frog

Quite honestly after my last post, I had every intention of curling up on the coach and watching a little TV.  But then this little frog came into my life.  I named him Seamus.

He is a frog of great character and not the least bit skittish.He is also quite inquisitive.  

But before long Seamus set his sights on greater things.

 Until we meet again Seamus.

I also made friends with a little gecko, I named him Rusty.

Love Always,

Meg

Hilton Head Day 3

This is my last full day in Hilton Head and the first thing I saw when I woke up was this ibis sitting on the grate out back.  I spent about an hour taking pictures of it.  

I laughed hysterically when he scratched his chin like a dog. 

Every so often he would try to dry out his feathers by extending his wings.

"No more pictures please." hahahahah

Finally he started preening his back, contorting into what looked like an extremely uncomfortable position.  

Once all the excitement died down at home, my mother and I made our way to Harbor Town.

I love this lighthouse, I think it is because it has such nostalgic memories from when I was a child.  Every summer, my family would come to Hilton Head at least once to visit my grandparents.

That being said, I had never actually climbed to the top.  I saw the most amazing view.  I tried to get a good picture of the flag billowing in the wind in each of my pictures.

I have no idea what this boat is for, but it looks pretty cool. 

And finally, the manditory spanish moss pictures. 

Today was a much more relaxing day, stayed close to home and still got some amazing pictures.

Love Always,

Meg

Hilton Head day 2

I woke up this morning up with no plans what so ever, that changed quickly.

Two blue herons showed up this morning, which was good after we had a total no show yesterday.

I suddenly had the urge to travel and take pictures.  My blessed mother was up for the challenge so we packed up the van and made our way around Beaufort and the surrounding areas.

My favorite part of the carolinas, is the smell.  There is a strong scent of jasmine that hits you, as soon as you leave the house.  And as shown yesterday, my love of spanish moss.  We had to pull over as we passed this tree. 

Next on the list was the old sheldon church ruins.  This church was burnt down twice, and I found the ruins to be absolutely stunning.  

This is one of my first attempts at a panoramic photo that has been successful. The red brick really pops.  The green and the red is wonderful. 

The spanish moss is visible in the background, and I love how the red brick shines through the pale concrete. This church just has a ton of character.

I left the bricks a little more sedate in this picture, I really wanted the trees to be the focal point.  Whether or not it works, is neither here nor there.  I love it.

This is my mother standing against the pillars, the cobalt blue contrasts nicely with the brick.

Then we made our way to the Chapel of Ease.  I guess the theme of the day was historic churches which had burned down over a century ago.

When we drove up to this church, I was just as impressed, even without the stark red bricks.

The trees looked greener, the bark stood out more, and the windows are magnificent.

My favorite picture  :  )

The next destination that we went to, was the avenue of the oaks.  Which was in the boonies.  I have never been in such a rural area and we had the most difficult time finding the place.  But once we got there, the line of trees were to die for.

The final place that we went was the Hunting Island lighthouse.  This lighthouse wasn't even on my radar, I had never heard of it until today.  Like everything else to day, we got completely lost trying to get there.  But it was worth the wait.  I scaled all the way to the top and saw the great view. 

The lighthouse hasn't always been here, it was moved piece by piece to be more inland.  The water was receeding back and the lighthouse would have been ruined if the move had not taken place.  This little periscope has the outline of the lighthouse printed into it.  If you look through, then you can see the lighthouse where it originally was.  Pretty cool.

There were a ton of stairs, but the hike was well worth it.  All in all, I had an extremely successful day.

Love Always,

Meg

HIlton Head day 1

Totally surprised that it is cooler in South Carolina, then it is in B-More.  

My mother and I went to visit the Crazy Crab again and I indulged in a day time Margarita.

The Food is always delicious, but the view of the Marsh was my reason for going.  I don't know who Miss Pugsy is, or if she likes said nick name, but the boat is beautiful. 

I think my favorite part is the dilapidated dock in the back ground. Couldn't have asked for a better day.

Now, one might chose to laugh at this ridiculous sign.  But I seem to remember reading a news article a few years back.  A couple of grad students, driving to their school in Australia, followed the GPS directions, which led them directly into a huge body of water.  Their car was partially submerged.  So I look at the sign in the same way I look at coffee cups which say, "Warning this may be hot."

Now I saw this amazing marsh land on the side of the road, with a dock that led out from a restaurant.  The warning sign simply said that it was prohibited to dock a boat or fish off this dock, and because I intended to do neither of those things, I decided to take a few pictures.

A beautiful Egret landing on some raised grass and mud.

And finally the purpose of us stopping our car, these beautiful sunken ships. 

Love it.

Our final stop of the day was to Shelter Cove Harbour.

Which is home to more Spanish moss, I happen to love Spanish moss. 

Also, we happened across the worlds largest figurative sundial.  How often does that happen...oh yeah...probably only once  :  )

That was enough of an adventure for the day, but tomorrow should be filled with more exciting adventures.  Big Bertha, my beloved camera, will no doubt be in tow.

Love Always,

Meg