Out Where The Water Is Wide

Hubs and I will celebrate an anniversary in June, and last year were given the absolute best gift, a new grandson, who arrived on the day. What that means if you're me is you need to go ahead and celebrate your wedding day a little early, because your anniversary going forward will now be all about that little man. 

We're okay with that. More than okay in fact but still, another year married should most definitely be marked. Every year is a milestone and its good to step back from all the distractions of life and take stock. Remember what you loved about this person who is somehow older yet still the boy you married. 

Honestly we were totally swayed by internet advertising in our choice of destination. When an ad popped up on hubs news feed for a Bed and Breakfast in the coastal town of Beaufort he said let's go and I said okay. We pulled out our calendars, found a window we could make work, and this past weekend off we went.

It was wonderful. Beaufort is so pretty, so seductive, we were ready to buy a house and move in. 

Let's back up to Friday which is when we left lake town and made our first stop -Savannah (Georgia). 

It happened to be Cinco de Mayo so upon arrival we went in search of a margarita. We ended up at the Savannah Tequila Company and had chips and guacamole for a non-lunch lunch. 

Afterwards we walked the riverfront, browsed shops, and meandered through the amazing collection of artifacts in the JW Marriott lobby. Worth seeing if you're in Savannah.  

We had a light dinner that evening in The Ordinary Pub, then hung out in a little place called The Rail listening to live music. It was a lot of fun. 

Saturday morning we drove just under an hour to Beaufort (South Carolina). We'd booked a mid-morning carriage tour because Beaufort is known for both her history and her fabulous homes, and the carriage tours give you a bit of both. 

The houses y'all. Seriously gorgeous!! There is water beside you and Spanish moss hanging above you and great big verandas calling your name. 

We had lunch at Plums, a small restaurant with a water view, where we shared some peel and eat shrimp and, at the recommendation of the couple dining beside us, a bowl of their gouda mac and cheese. Yum! 

After lunch we checked into our B & B-The Rhett House Inn, which lived up to it's internet advertised billing. The Inn is a 200 year old 'in town' plantation house that oozes charm and Southern hospitality. People assume the Inn's name comes from the character in Gone With The Wind, but Margaret Mitchell actually named the character after the Rhetts of Beaufort and Charleston. Thomas Smith Rhett and his wife Caroline Barnwell raised their children and lived in the house until the Civil War. 

There was champagne, flowers, and a box of chocolates in our room, our own little porch for sitting (or napping as the case may be) with an overall relaxed vibe that is very much Beaufort. 

Beaufort was Pat Conroy's town and I see why he was inspired to write here. 

After lunch we drove to nearby Parris Island because once upon a time I lived there. We actually lived in Laurel Bay, a military housing complex that sits beside the town of Beaufort. This is where new Marine recruits pass through, but my dad had been a Marine for a number of years when we moved here. My mom says out of all the many places our family lived with the Marine Corps, this was one of her favorites.  

Hubs and I went through all the ID checks and car scans needed to enter the base at Parris Island, then visited the Marine Corps Museum which is interesting and very well done. There's a short film that gives you a glimpse into what new recruits experience, and I'll go ahead and say it-Marines are tough!   

We had hoped to drive by the house I lived in some five+ decades ago, but times change, and the world gets crazier by the day, so now there's a gate and guards and you cannot just drive in and wander the neighborhood and say hey, remember when. I get it. And I'm grateful for our soldiers all around the world keeping us safe. 

Hubs and I had dinner in town Saturday night at The Saltus River Grill, which is a short easy walk from the Rhett House Inn. I recommend this one if you're in Beaufort...wonderful service and a delicious meal. 

Our B & B  at night-

Beaufort has been the setting for many a well known film including The Prince of Tides, Forrest Gump, and The Big Chill, so after Sunday morning breakfast on the huge front porch we went for a walk to see what we could see. Here's the Big Chill house-

It's gorgeous and their view is none too shabby either. 

There are beautiful homes all around the Old Point neighborhood, and the Spanish moss makes everything feel extra dreamy. 

We had some great porch time in the afternoon, then drove a couple of miles up the road to Port Royal for dinner. A friend recommended Fishcamp, and since we arrived early we sat beside the water and enjoyed the view from The Shellring Ale House right next door. 

Such a beautiful day! 

We keep full calendars and live busy lives. We are on the go a lot, we have company a lot, we volunteer, have hobbies and a home and grandchildren and all sorts of things that constantly pull at our time and attention.

It was so special to have a few days away to catch our breath and relax. To hold hands, laugh, take long walks, eat fresh seafood, and say cheers to choosing love 39 years ago and all the days since. 

Weekend In The Mountains

It's been a sunshiny day here in the Upstate which feels appropriate for the first day of May. The temperature hasn't quite gotten the message yet, but I'll take the sunshine. We've had so much rain this spring and today's blue sky feels like a real gift. 

Hubs and I drove through what felt like a monsoon Thursday morning, but managed to make it safely to our weekend destination-the North Georgia mountains. Specifically the little town of Ellijay, where we'd rented a house with three other couples we've known since college. 

Which was a decade or four ago, but whatever. 

These boys were all fraternity brothers and we've remained close now for let's just say a long long time. 

We're all married, we all have grandchildren, we all have various aches and pains related to the fact that we're not 20 anymore, except when we're together we kind of still feel 20. 

That's the beauty of old friends. The ones who knew you when you were still trying to figure out exactly who you wanted to be. 

You can be bare faced and bare souled and real and hilarious and honest and grateful. 

We had dinner down the mountain on Thursday night, then stayed up late (not late for 20 year old us, but late for 60+ year old us) talking, laughing, and playing Mexican Train Dominoes at the big kitchen table. 

The skies cleared mid-morning Friday and we loaded up the cars to make a short hop one town over, to the little town of Blue Ridge. I'd never been before, and it's a popular tourist and retirement destination both, so I was glad to see what the buzz was all about. 

Blue Ridge is cute with lots of great little shops and restaurants and you can park your car and walk at your leisure. The sidewalks were busy, but not overly so, and we were glad we opted for a Friday visit as we discovered there was some kind of fish festival happening in town Saturday. We stopped in a little wine bar early afternoon for a light lunch and beverage then headed back up the mountain to relax and have a later dinner at home. 

We had a view y'all. 

We spent a lot of time sitting on the covered deck and everyone brought their own steak for grilling that evening so it was simple, delicious, and low key. We had also been assigned 'parts' in a murder mystery and everyone had some little bit of costume they'd brought from home, and it was a hoot. Took a little bit of time to really get into, but once in we were all in.

 
I was not the murderer in case you're wondering. 

Saturday was a gorgeous day, with warmer temps and bright blue cloudless skies. We trekked back down the mountain to visit a couple of the wineries on the other side of Ellijay. When I say trekked up and down the mountain it sounds like a million miles, but it wasn't. It was a somewhat steep, winding road getting to and from the house, that we all agreed would be tricky in the winter months. 

Our first stop was Chateau Meichtry which is in a very pretty location. We had a tasting there before moving a couple of miles down the road to Buckley, also very pretty and the wines were more to our liking. 

This is us-

This is also us-

We're still us. 

We headed back up the mountain late afternoon so we'd be there when our chef arrived. We'd hired a chef to cook dinner at the house, and it was so much fun. 

We selected the menu based on what she suggested and had a lovely charcuterie board as a starter, then it was a green salad with paella made in a huge paella pan on the deck. She put noodles in her paella instead of rice and we all agreed we liked that better.

Hubs will own one of these set ups before summer is over. Just sayin'. 

Dessert was a seriously scrumptious tres leches cake, and our chef cooked, served, and cleaned up, so easy peasy.  

We headed home on Sunday and all agreed we should do this more often. The thing about old friends is it matters not how long ago you were together because in your head you are always together. In your heart too. 

Still it is really fun to actually be together.

Feels Like Christmas

Some years our hearts are bursting with Christmas spirit and some years it all feels a bit more elusive. I've been on the hunt for mine this season, which is partly how we ended up in a little town called Dahlonaga.

I read Southern Living Magazine and for several years now around Christmas time they've mentioned this small Georgia town, telling readers they should see it if they get the chance.

We got the chance.

While making plans a couple of weekends ago to see friends near Atlanta, I googled Dahlonaga and discovered it was less than an hour from our weekend destination. Hubs and I decided to go a day early and spend the night before moving on to our friends house Friday afternoon.

The charming little town of Dahlonaga sits in the mountains of northwest Georgia.  The area has loads of wineries, some of which are quite good, and the little town of Dahlonaga is built around a village square.

Let's just say they know how to do Christmas lights here.

We stayed in a small hotel just off the square which made it all easy peasy. We parked, checked in to our room, then spent some time walking around the square, browsing the shops, and dodging raindrops. The weather wasn't stellar, but Christmas lights made it all easier to bear.

Also key lime truffles from this candy shop.

We thought about a horse drawn carriage ride, but the queue was long and we didn't think we'd get to the front before our dinner reservation. We ate in a little Irish pub that had good reviews online, but I thought was just okay.

Actually the food was good, but initially they seated us at a table with a heater beating down on top of our heads so we asked to be moved. Of course it was crowded so they moved us to an awkward table in the bar with low stools for seating which are not my favorite.

The bar is covered in bills people have tacked up, mostly ones but a few larger and a few foreign, and that was fun to see. If the weather were nice and I could eat outside, maybe I'd give it one more try.

Except really I think one night in town was just enough. I'm happy we made the stop, but don't feel the need to go back. An overnight visit was just the right dose of Christmas magic.

Friday morning we had breakfast at 'a little dive bar in Dahlonaga'. If you don't know country music you won't get the reference, but the live music venue made more famous by the song, also serves food. The story behind the song is a good one which is something I like about country music.

After breakfast we stopped to see the gold museum, and while I expected 'cheesy' it was actually pretty interesting.

The museum is housed in a beautiful old building, one of the oldest standing courthouse buildings in the state, and I love old buildings. I don't remember hearing about the GA gold rush in my NJ elementary school, but it happened twenty years prior to the more famous California rush, so technically first in the U.S.

It was a cold cloudy day and it occurred to me I was missing the pretty pre-Christmas snows we had in N.J. Yeah, yeah, I know they're a pain in the neck on so many levels, but there is something about the quiet stillness that comes along with softly falling snow that helps a person hit pause.

Doesn't everybody need to hit pause this time of year?

Since the rain had tapered off we decided to take a peek at some nearby waterfalls we'd read were spectacular-

They were-

Just gorgeous! This is Amicalola Falls, the highest falls in the state of Georgia.

You can hike in, but we weren't prepared for that so we drove up and parked in a lot that sits about midpoint of the falling water.

A bridge spans the rushing water and you can walk out on it for a better look.
It's high. Just sayin'.

And there are steps up and steps down but we just hung out here in the middle until we were ready to move on. We drove further up the mountain because we'd heard the view there was also incredible- 

It was.

My heart grew three sizes on the patio that day.

Because more than the hustle and bustle of a town dressed in twinkle lights what I long for this time of year is the quiet beauty of creation. Let me stand on a mountaintop and be amazed. Let me remember the miracle of Christmas and let that miracle fill me with awe and wonder.

'And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father,  full of grace and truth.' John 1:14

Opposites Attract

If you're looking for this week's Hodgepodge questions you'll find them one post back. 

We spent the weekend with college friends in Georgia. It was the first weekend in a long long while where the sun shone all day every day and it was De-lightful. Yes with a capital D because everything's better with sunshine, isn't it?

The guys were participating in a clay pigeon shooting competition at a beautiful venue in the Georgia countryside and the plan was we girls would while away the hours while they competed, then meet up with them late afternoon.

So we whiled.

We walked and talked and shopped and talked and tried on clothes and bought this and that and then we talked some more as we sat with a glass of rose on a downtown rooftop. It was perfection.

What did we talk about?

...the wedding (you know which one, right?), how our May calendars are all crazy jam packed and we're not sure how that happened, summer travel, grandchildren, why we're not letting our hair go gray, whether we'll all stay put in our houses or eventually move to a more low maintenance kind of setting, husbands who retire and husbands who don't, complicated relationships, various and sundry health and beauty concerns, exercise, DNRs and who's in charge of our healthcare directives, wills, various bits of advice our financial planners have given us, boating, children, Disney World, Mother's Day, Oregon, books, shoes, food and...

Later that evening I asked hubs if he enjoyed his day at the shoot.

Yes! he said. He loved it! he said.

Well what did you guys talk about all day?

He thought for a minute then said, 'Hmmm....I guess nothing really.'

I could say men are from Mars, but pretty sure someone beat me to it-ha!
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