Remember Remember the Hodgepodge November

It's November. How did that happen? Welcome to the first Hodgepodge of the month. I love this season of gratitude and look forward to incorporating it into the questions as we roll towards December.

Also, who gets my title? Anyone playing along today from the UK? 

If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post. We're all grateful for comments, so be sure to at least visit the blogger who links before you. Here we go-

1. Besides Thanksgiving, something you're looking forward to on your November calendar?

We're going to see the Vols play in Neyland Stadium this month, something we haven't done in years, so that will be fun. As long as they win. ahem. We're also visiting college friends in Atlanta later this month, and that's always too much fun. Finally, we're meeting Daughter2's boyfriend's family at the end of the month, and I'm looking forward to spending time with them in November. 

2. If I gave you a thank you card right now who would you send it to and why?

We were treated to a really nice dinner Monday night, so I'll send a thank you card to our hostess. She works in our financial planners office in NJ, and happens to have family in our little SC town. Small world people. My favorite thing. We'd never met her in person, but have spoken on the phone several times as she handles some of our paperwork. Dinner on a Monday night? Why not? 

3. Of the breads listed, which one's your favorite...bagel, cinnamon, sourdough, garlic, banana, biscuit, pita, Naan, or plain old fashioned white bread?

Oh dear. I don't eat plain old fashioned white bread so that's an easy one to take off the list. Probably my favorite would be Naan because I love Indian food, and you can't have Indian food without Naan. I would not turn down a piece of homemade cinnamon bread either. 

4. What's something you have in abundance? Is that a good thing?

Rain. I'm not going to complain much, but holy cow we've had a lot of rain. Buckets and buckets. Cats and dogs. Round up the animals two by two. I think you get the idea. Do you know what goes together like oil and water? Home building and downpours. 

5. November 5th is National Love Your Red Hair Day. Are there any redheads in your family? Who's your favorite redhead?

I married into a family of redheads so the easy answer is yes. My favorite? Hubs, of course. 

Also, fun fact...red hair + gray hair = blond hair. 
No fair! 

6. The travel website Busbud recently calculated the most Instagrammed spot in every state. Go here to see what made the list where you live. Are you happy with your state's #1? If not what do you think should be the most photographed spot in your state?  Have you snapped a photo there? If you live outside the USA answer as it relates to your state city or province.

I live in SC and the most Instagrammed spot in the state is Myrtle Beach. I haven't been to Myrtle Beach in decades, but it's a popular tourist destination so I guess that answer makes sense. I've snapped many a picture in Myrtle Beach, but nothing recent. 

What do I think should be the most Instagrammed spot in SC? 

Pretty Place Chapel. A location that truly lives up to its name. 

7. I'm going to try to have something related to gratitude in this spot each week during the month of November. Here's this week's question-

What's something you've learned about yourself this year that you're grateful for?

Hmmm...that we can do this retirement thing? 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Did you watch the World Series? I didn't because the teams didn't interest me all that much, but I did love this. Billy Joel is a Mets fan and he sang the National Anthem in game 3. This season the Mets have been playing Piano Man in the 8th inning to rev up the crowd. Everyone sings along, and in game three they sang it with the original 'Piano Man' in the crowd. Awesome! Especially when he joined in-

Pretty Place

Day 15-laugh
But I'm going with the word pretty instead. No kidding.

Day 15-pretty

For the past few years I've periodically taken note of the most gorgeous online photographs people post of a chapel in the woods called Pretty Place.

Let's just discuss the name for a minute. How can you hear about a chapel in the woods called Pretty Place, and not want to see it for yourself?

You can't.

The chapel is officially the Fred W. Symmes Chapel, but everyone I know calls it Pretty Place. It's part of the YMCA Camp Greenville, which is not technically in Greenville, but GPS got us there anyway. More or less. The chapel was built in 1941, and improvements have been made through the years.

Not to the view though...

The view cannot be improved.

I was really curious about Mr. Symmes, and looked him up when we got home. He was an accomplished businessman and a generous soul. As I sat in the chapel bearing his name, I thought about his legacy. I thought about all the men, women and children who'd sat in this very spot and been moved to tears by the staggering beauty of God's creation.

I thought about all the prayers lifted up in this sacred space and marveled at how sometimes all we need to remember the greatness of God is a front row seat to His magnificent handiwork. A place to turn off the noise and soak in the wonder.

The chapel itself is a simple building, open on three sides, with benches set in rows before a plain wooden cross.

The building is stone, but it's not really about the building. It's about this...

It's about sitting in this quiet space set deep in the woods on the side of a mountain, and feeling like you've glimpsed a tiny piece of heaven. It's about the way your soul sings when you enter here.

We live only about 30 miles from Pretty Place, but it takes nearly an hour to get up there. I'd asked several people I know here in town if they'd ever been, and those who'd seen it said we should absolutely go, do not miss it. They also added prepare to be carsick.

But still go because Pretty Place is a pretty special place.
 

I read a lot of reviews online, and every single reviewer spoke about the chapel with reverence. Most suggested you try to get there for the sunrise, and when I mentioned this to hubs he was all in. I told him about the wind-y, curvy mountain road up, and he said we could take our time, and that's what we did.

Bless him, because I know he would have so loved to whip the car around some of the hairpin turns we met en route.

The weather people said the sun would rise at precisely 7:34 AM, and since we didn't know where we were going precisely, and it was going to be dark, and we weren't going to fly up the mountain, we decided to leave home at 5:30.

We packed coffee and bagels and hard boiled eggs, and I took my Dramamine and off we went. I was wearing a fleece, and at the last minute hubs suggested I grab my heavier coat. Shout out to hubs, because do you know what it's like on a mountainside at o'dark thirty in mid-October?

It's windy! And cold!
But Pretty Place is so pretty you don't even care.

We didn't see any signs pointing the way until we were on the camp property. Even then it was just a single simple marker saying Pretty Place with an arrow aimed towards the road. We followed it to the end, and came to a locked gate.

It was really dark and we were anxious that we'd made the trip up and were going to miss what we came for, so we turned around and went back to the main camp area to see if we'd missed something. No, the locked gate was the way in.

We parked on the side of the road, and walked up a short distance before coming to a parking lot which is where you'd normally park. I was glad I'd read beforehand that you drove to the end of the road, and that the building doesn't look like much until you're right up on it.

No worries though...

We didn't miss a minute.

"And one called to another and said: 

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: 

the whole earth is full of His glory!" Isaiah 6:3