A Happy Birthday in Charleston

The Friday of our trip was my birthday.  We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the beach.  Sullivan Beach this time.

Me (Sherie), Kayli, and Derek
Birthday at the beach.

First we spent time jumping waves -- slowly easing ourselves into the ocean.  The weather was perfect and the ocean was only chilly as you got in.  Eventually I had to get out and take a break because my lower back was aching from all of the vigorous wave jumping?  Perhaps my body isn't 100 percent recovered from all of the medical stuff I was dealing with this year.  After a while I got back in and Kayli and I headed into deeper water.  It turns out that being out there was more relaxing and less taxing. 

Best of all, we saw some fins.  Triangle fins.  Thankfully not attached to sharks.  There were a few porpoises swimming and jumping nearby!  I decided that seeing porpoises on my birthday must mean this is going to be a good year.  We'll just run with that idea.  There were also what I called "flippin' fish"  They would swim along the shore line in big schools and when the waves receded they would, in unison, flip their way down the sand into the water.  We also saw a large bird -- I think it might have been a pelican.  It flew by not very far from us and was fun to watch.

After the beach it was time for lunch and I chose the fancy restaurant of Wendy's.  I was really in the mood for a frosty and fries and so that is what I had (along with a bacon cheeseburger of the small variety).

Next we headed to a plantation.  Middleton Place.  All of the plantations around there seem to close at 5 and I don't think we got there until 3.  Plantations are huge!  Apparently this one was originally 7000 acres!  Now it's "only" 150.  I don't think they'd be able to find us to kick us out if we weren't done by 5.  It was really hot and muggy as we walked around the extensive grounds.  My glasses kept sliding down my nose.  That was annoying, but I enjoyed our time there anyway.  There were a LOT of Alligators.  They were over where slaves used to work in the rice fields.  We wondered how they dealt with alligators.  We assume they were there back then too.

The Alligators were well behaved and stayed in the water.
There were fish in this same pond / lake that would jump really high and splash back into the water.
I was waiting for an alligator to eat one of those fish for a snack.  But they didn't.

Here are some of the other things we saw:

This is Kayli and Derek by a brick wall near where we entered.

Derek and I on one of the pathways.

Derek giving Kayli the rock.

The big live oak tree in this picture is the one Kayli and I are hugging in the next picture.

This tree is thought to be between 900 and 1000 year old!  We loved the tree.

Derek and I and a whole bunch of live oaks.

This was the house on the property.  The original house was burned down by Union soldiers, and an earthquake finished it off.  This was built from salvaged brick.

The pig knows to take a nap in the hot of the day.  Lying in some mud in the shade must have been comfortable.

We pet this horse.  He was shedding.  I know one of the horses was Joe, but I don't think it was this one.
One of the people taking care of horses was giving us a suggestion of where to go eat.
Naturally, he suggested a sea food place, but Kayli and I don't like seafood and so that is not where we went.

There were big spiders here and there.  We probably sent a picture of this to Tia.
She does not like spiders at all.  I'm sure she was glad she was with Mike instead :-)

I just took a picture of this because I liked it.  There were a few here and there.

I liked the giant grasses.  I love Derek and Kayli!

Isn't this a pretty spot?

Derek with some bamboo.

This made us think of the bayou.  It sure was not tempting to jump in!

Kayli and I.  We look like we got a bit of sun that morning!

I was trying to capture a good picture of the suspension bridge we were crossing.  This was the best I got.
This was after Folly beach and before the store.

After the plantation we dropped Kayli off at Folly beach.  The third beach of the trip.  She wanted as much time on the beach as possible.  Derek and I also went to Folly beach, just down the road a ways by the pier.  We walked around some and then went and got Kayli -- about an hour after dropping her off.

I took a picture of this grocery store and sent it to Travis (my son-in-law).
I'd never heard of this store before.  I got macaroni and cheese for my birthday dinner.
It wasn't nearly as good as the homemade macaroni and cheese I used to have my Mom make for my birthday!
I also had pumpkin pie.  It was better than the Mac and Cheese!

Once dinner was over I read my book and went to sleep happy.  It was a happy birthday in Charleston!