Nov and Dec 2008 Pictures

Captions

1 Charleston, SC

2-4 Brookgreen Gardens SC

Trip Update PA to SC Nov & Dec 2008

Captions

Pelican school

View from Myrtle Beach condo

Pat on Myrtle Beach

Family at Christmas

PA to SC Nov-Dec 2009

We used our time off the road to get new tires, shocks and other PM work done on the RV. We celebrated my father’s 86th birthday with my family and Pat’s sister had a birthday party for their father’s 81st. Both are doing well and are quite active. We spent a few very cold days in the Poconos. In nearby Columbia, NJ, we visited the Lakota Wolf Sanctuary. They had 24 wolves of various types which had been rescued from private owners who finally realized wolves don’t make good pets. This facility saved these wolves from death because once a wolf has been raised by humans, it is illegal to return them to the wild. A few red foxes and bobcats were also cared for there.

After leaving the Poconos we drove to NJ and had lunch with Yanjin. He told us his parents will be coming over from China to see the latest addition to his family, a baby girl. We crossed the Delaware, and visited Pat’s niece, Jenn, at Temple University’s Ambler, PA campus. She lives in a “dry” coed dorm. (How times have changed - during my dorm years in a Catholic college, liquor was in every room, but females were forbidden). We met her dorm mates and went out for pizza. Later that night we met Floyd and Lauren and spent the night with them. Lauren works at a nearby land trust and we hiked this unique property located just outside Philadelphia.

Connie (Pat’s sister- in- law) prepared a great Thanksgiving dinner that we enjoyed. After Thanksgiving we drove to Hilton Head for a cool and sometimes rainy week. We took a Gullah Heritage Tour which focused on the slaves imported from Angola who worked the plantations on Hilton Head. The descendants of the early Gullah people still live in Hilton Head. We feasted on Gullah food after the tour. We also saw a production of “South Pacific” at the Art Center. The next night we saw a high school production of “Footloose”. A word to the wise - never go to a very amateur production (the kind only a mother could love) the night after an excellent professional production!

We left Hilton Head and headed north to Charleston, SC. We wanted to take the highly recommended Gullah tour there but it was sold out. We settled for an hour and a half van tour of the old city and waterfront. We headed up to beautiful Brookgreen Gardens for their Night of a 1000 Candles event. In addition to the gardens, fountains and statues which were decorated with holiday lights, they had entertainers putting on shows throughout the garden. The best of these was a one man show doing all the voices in the “Christmas Carol.”

While in Myrtle Beach we went to see ‘The Magical Spirit of Ireland’ which combined Two Irish Tenors with Irish dancers. It was a pretty good show. Later in the week, we went to see Le Grand Cirque which was entertaining, especially when I was called on stage to dance (maybe a second career for me)! Before we left, we had one good day on the beach.

Back in Maryland we attended a Christmas party at Carol & Cordale’s. We slept around a lot, and enjoyed the hospitality of Kevin &Liz and Eldon & Lois. The rest of the time we were grateful we could stay at Tom and Julie’s or Pat’s father house. Christmas Day was spent with Pat’s family and we had my family up to York, PA for dinner on the 26th. Pat’s family got together for glow bowling on New Year’s Eve. I stink at bowling and Pat’s not much better!