Cold and Snowy

Not too much happening today. We did wake up to snow on the ground, but for the most part - it appears to be melting. And our favorite cat, Smoky, didn't show up at the back door until three this morning. Visions of bad things were in our heads - did he get into a fight, was he hit by a car, did he get lost in the bad weather? But he looks OK - maybe he just hunkered down until the rain stopped - who knows! In the morning, Bruce tried to see where his tracks led off to - but he must have walked on the street. This is the direction he usually comes from!














And I finally put the finishing touches on our Christmas tree.

It's Good to be Home (Again!).

When we were staying at the Granby Motel, I learned to live with an internet connection. Actually, our room was cozy and close to where we wanted to go! When we walked into our room, it reminded me of the 50s motel we stayed in on Route 66 in Oklahoma.

































The day before Thanksgiving was spent grocery shopping and peeling veggies with a paring knife. I don't remember how many peelers I've bought for my sister over the years - but I couldn't find even one. My mother used to use a paring knife, for goodness sakes!!!! After our 'chores' were done, we headed to the nearest pizza restaurant - it had been ages since my last bite of pizza.

Thanksgiving day, we stopped at my sister's - she made two squash pies, I put together the stuffing. Around noon, we drove to my nephew's house. Andy was roasting the turkey and I had promised him I'd peel the potatoes. His friend, Lou, had come over in the morning to prepare the turkey using his Puerto Rican sauce. Everything came together and was delicious. Friends of Andy's brought over their turkey, potatoes, stuffing and sweet potatoes - so we had more food than we could possibly eat. In all - it was a fun day - Andy did a great job.

Frank and Andy . . .








Andy's turkey. I loved his new roasting pan so much, I went out and bought an identical one.








My sister's squash pie - just like our mom used to make.








Fred, Danielle and Andy. Danielle is Andy's oldest daughter.

At the Granby Motel . . .

We had a fun day yesterday - from Washington, DC we head north to Granby. We had the address plugged into our GPS and for whatever reason, we were directed to head to New Jersey, then we picked up I95 in NYC.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We had a great tour of DC - we took the Arlington Cemetery tour, then changed buses for the Washington, DC tour. The way that tour went, the bus would drop you off and you could take as much time as needed at each stop. The buses ran every 25 minutes so it was easy to catch one to continue on to the next destination. By taking these tours, we were able to visit all the monuments we wanted without having to find our way around and then looking for a parking spot.

I have a lot of pictures, but will post those when we get home.

My internet connection is low at best so getting online has been difficult.

If I am not able to get connected again, dinner with my sister tonight - tomorrow preparing veggies, etc., for our Thanksgiving meal. And on Thanksgiving Day - dinner with my nephew Andy and family.

Another Night in Fredericksburg!

We left Myrtle Beach around eight and headed towards I95. Kind of sad to leave the area and all that warm weather - but you've got to do what you've got to do. We found Stonewall Jackson's Shrine - it was just what appeared to be a little house, but actually it was the office building from the old plantation. We were shown the bedroom with the original bed where Stonewall Jackson died.

Another Fun Day!

We decided to see what Broadway on the Beach was all about - what a fun place. We went inside the aquarium and looked at all the exhibits. Even got a few good pictures.

Today is our last day - tomorrow we head north back to Fredericksburg. We're going to stop at Stonewall Jackson's shrine which is located just south of the city.

Best Day Yet!

We even dug out the shorts. Sun is shining bright over the ocean - can't get any better than that. Not too much planned for the day. There is a shopping area that Bruce wants to check out. As far as where to go to dinner, it's Bruce's turn to pick out a place - for sure it will be a steakhouse.

End of the Day!

We had a great day in spite of the plantation tour being cancelled again. It is reschedule for tomarrow, but we aren't even going to attempt it. Instead we toured the Brookgreen Gardens - saw a lot of neat things. Of course, we took a LOT of pictures.

Instead of heading out for a later dinner, we decided to grab a late lunch instead. We ordered more food than we could possibly eat and brought about half of it back to the hotel.

The weather today was perfect - it had to be in the high 70s. I hope tomorrow is the same. I tried to create an album of our Fort Sumter day, but couldn't create one - I'll do that when we get home.

Another Day Planned!

Yesterday, we had planned to go on a plantation tour. However, when we left the hotel, it was pouring. We did head to Georgetown and the rain stopped, but when we got to the boats, there wasn't a soul around. I called and learned the tour had been cancelled and rescheduled for today - three tours are going to be combined into one. Sounds good - so we are going.

After striking out with the plantation tour, Bruce headed towards Charleston. Since out last attempt at a visit to Fort Sumter a few years ago didn't materialize, I suggested the tour again. Bruce was all for it.

We got there just in time - took the ferry out to the island (man made island at that) and toured the fort. From what the tour guide said, you can only see about 1/3 of the fort - the rest had been filled in with dirt and sand. He did mention maybe one day the rest of it would be excavated. I'll post pictures in an album later since I've had a problem trying to upload pictures in the hotel.

Later, we stopped at Crabby Mike's for dinner. What a buffet they have. Of course we had to sample everything. And the dessert table was awesome - I just wished I had more room in my stomach to try everything.

Today is the plantation tour - looking forward to that.

Pictures that I Couldn't Upload Yesterday!

Bruce captured an awesome sun rise.








Bruce enjoying the view from our room.








Pier at one end of the beach.








This lady was doing some serious metal detecting.








My favorite photographer.








That's me, of course!








We decided to go Italian for dinner, so I picked out a restaurant recommended by many on Tripadvisor - Villa Romana. They just had their Christmas tree put up - it is gorgeous.

Another Day at the Beach!

This morning, we had the oil changed in the truck and got it washed. From there, we had breakfast at Friendly's and did a little shopping - both clothes and grocery. Since it was a beautiful day, we headed to the beach to take some pictures - in all, it was a beautiful day.

We didn't know exactly where we were going to go for dinner - in my mind, it was either going to be Italian or seafood. The Italian won out and we went to Villa Romana and had an excellent meal.

I was going to upload some pictures, but for some reason the system won't let me - so I'm giving up. So far at the hotel, WI-FI has been pretty consistent. Will give it another try tomorrow.

Starting the Day!

Beautiful sunrise, no hot water. I got stuck in the shower half way through my shower - Bruce decided to wait until the afternoon to take his.

Ocean is Awesome!

Yes, we made it - arrive around 2:30. Weather couldn't be better. As far as our trip today from Fredericksburg - Bruce made the comment that traveling the interstate was pretty boring compared to where we were the past two days. We stopped at Shoney's for lunch so that we wouldn't be starving by the time we arrived at the hotel. But definitely tomorrow, I need to stock the fridge with some ice cream.

Leaving Harrisburg and on to Fredericksburg!

We were out of the motel and heading south around eight. We decided to head to Antietam since we had never stopped there before. We have been to Gettysburg twice in the past seven years and since then, Bruce and I have become interested in learning about the American Civil War. At Antietam, there were 100,000 soldiers fighting in a 12 hour battle - September 17, 1862. The fighting stopped about 6:00pm with 23,000 killed or missing. At that time, General Lee crossed the Potomac and headed back to Virginia and the Union Army held the field.

























We also stopped at the Battle of Chancellorsville and found the spot where General Stonewall Jackson was shot and a few days later died of pneumonia.

Just to Let You Know . . .

I'm using my netbook which is an Acer with an 8-1/2 inch screen. The delete, enter and backspace buttons are all in a different place, so I keep hitting the wrong keys and my fingernails keep getting stuck in between the keys - but I love it! It is so light-weight and easy to carry, not like my old Dell laptop.

Just getting up to start the day - looks like it's going to be a nice one.

First Day of Vacation!

I woke up just before five in the morning, the bed was so comfy it was hard to think about getting up. I waited until it was exactly five, then I threw back the covers. Just when I was finished getting ready, I heard Bruce stir and Smoky start to meow wanting to go outside. By the time we were ready and the truck loaded, it was almost 5:45. We stopped at Tim's for coffee and something to eat for breakfast then headed out of town. It was after seven before the sun started to peek over the horizon.

We pulled into the border duty free store just before eight. Bruce bought rum, I grabbed a couple of Canada t-shirts and a chocolate bar - I'm always attracted to those darn bars when heading out on vacation.

The US Custom Agent was friendly, asked us if we had any citrus - that was strange - I thought we weren't supposed to bring any vegetables or fruit into the United States. He was friendly and after checking our passports and looking in the back of the truck, he let us through.

Further down the road, we stopped at Arby's for an early lunch - weather was overcast with a few sprinkles here and there. We drove a little farther than planned on our first day, but after 400 miles - it was too early to stop. Finally around three and nearing Harrisburg, PA, we found a motel just off the highway and got a room. And fortunate for me - they had WI-FI. Next door, which was also convenient, was a Chinese restaurant.

After a long day, I thought I'd enjoy some TV - so we crawled into bed. DARN! The remote didn't work. That's OK - I'd rather get some sleep.