Hunting Island

Here are some pictures from our time at Hunting Island. The lighthouse was, of course, the main draw for me, but the beach there is really nice. We arrived there in the morning and toured the lighthouse. It was a bit different from the others that we had visited. This one is built so that you can see the spiral of the stairs going up and down. I really liked that.

The weather was a bit cooler and that made the climb to the top easier. The view from the top was awesome. I took lots of pictures while I was up there. I watched the birds flying by in their V formation. I love just standing up there feeling the wind in my hair and taking in the view.

Inside the lighthouse there are plaques and pictures about the history of the lighthouse itself and the area.

I thought that this picture was kind of neat, with the shadow of the lighthouse showing on the ground below.

The other picture is of the beach and a section of big rocks. There are three of these along the beach.

Here I am atop the lighthouse.

Going Down.....

I guess you can tell from the big smile on my face, that I was enjoying myself.

The lady at the entrance was kind enough to take our picture as we came out. We walked around the grounds and then headed to the beach.

Here is Barry walking around on the rocks at the beach. He found several small crabs in the water there.

There was lots of dead trees and drift wood in a couple of sections along the beach. We found some shells in these areas. I even found a sand dollar near the rocks.

This beach was the best place to find sea shells that I have ever been to. I could not believe how many shells there were along the beach. Some good sized shells too.

As the tide came in the rocks began to disappear. I could stand in the water and see the shells washing up, along with some little fish too.

We even saw some dolphins swimming not very far at all from us. I tried to get a picture of them as they came up, but all I could ever get was their fins. If you look reeealllllly close, you can see their fins in the picture below.

These are some pictures of the water coming up over the rocks. It was cool watching the water overtake the rocks and the beach. We had placed towels on the beach, a good distance from the water when we first got there, and we had to move them back so they wouldn't wash away.

Here is the trees and drift wood that we had been walking around before the tide came in.

Hunting Island is a good beach to visit, especially if you like to gather shells and see a lighthouse.

Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island is such a beautiful place. With all it's sea pines and of course beaches. I was impressed with the fact that there are no tall signs or billboards everywhere, just the natural beauty of the island. The businesses are hidden from the main road with lines of trees. There is a sign for each one, but it is displayed very neatly and is not distracting or taking away from the natural beauty of the area. I read in one of the books that I bought while there, that the developers had that very thing in mind. Their idea of, " No Building Taller Than The Tallest Tree"; "Paint In Natural Earth Tone Colors"; "Make The Oceanfront Available To As Many As Possible, While Disturbing As Few As possible" shows all around.

The Lighthouse and Harbor Town was the lure for me, but the beauty of the place is so inviting.

When we decided to visit Hilton Head, I had to call my Aunt and Uncle, who just happen to live there. While we only planned to visit for a day, they opened their home to us with the greatest hospitality, that we stayed for four nights. We had such a good time staying with them. They showed us around alot of places that we otherwise would not have seen. We had a really nice time with them.

We visited:

Sea Pines,

These stick displays are really neat.

What a great idea for Halloween also.

The Inn At Palmetto Bluff, where we tried to find Oprah or John Travolta, to no avail.

This is a exhibit from sculptor Patrick Dougherty. He uses saplings to create his sculptures. This one was created during his month long stay at the Palmetto Inn. It is titled "Home Sweet Home" and will be on display until Dec.

Harbor Town and many of the shops there,

South Beach,

The Church Of The Cross, listed on the National Register Of Historic Places. Built in 1857 and sitting on the bluff overlooking the May River, the church has rose colored glass from England gracing the windows and soft pink plaster inside to enhance the light.

We attended a street fair, ate at some of the local places (The Gobble And Squat), had alot of ice cream,

Encountered an alligator at Lake Joe,

We hung out in the pool and did alot of catching up.

We had a wonderful time. Thanks to Sandy and Jerry we were able to see more of the area than we would have on our own. I can understand why they ended up there, it really is beautiful.

Fort Pulaski

Fort Pulaski was a really neat place to visit. I am not much of a history buff, but I found the Fort to be a very interesting place. As we toured the Fort, we learned alot about the Fort itself and of its history.

Things like: at the begining of the Civil War, Fort Pulaski was ranked as one of the most spectacular harbor defense structures in the United States. Many considered it to be "unbreachable". However, in 1862 Union forces began constructing 11 cannon batteries about a mile away from the west side of the fort. On April 11, 1862 those cannon batteries would fire a new weapon called the " rifled cannon" which had a range of 8,453 yards and that projected a bullet shaped shell that would spin giving it increased accuracy, range and penetration. Within 30 hours the rifled guns had such a devastating effect on the fort that it was surrendered and all forts like it were considered obsolete.

You can see the damage that the rifled cannons had on the wall, in the pictures.

The reder bricks show that the wall has been repaired and also show just how much of the wall that collasped.

I snapped a picture of Barry sitting on one of the

cannons atop of the fort.

At different times of the day, Soldiers come out and tell stories about the fort and their way of life in those times.

I enjoyed our visit to Fort Pulaski and learned a little history too.

I guess you can still learn things as you get older, or maybe it's just that you actually pay more attention then when you were in school.

Anyway, if you are in the area, I would highly recommend visiting Fort Pulaski!!!!

Tybee Island

I guess I should warn everyone that I will most likely be posting alot in the days to come of our vacation. With almost 800 pictures and lots to share, this will be my posts........... Our trip included 4 lighthouses and the biggest mansion I've ever seen. We visited Tybee Island, Hilton Head Island, Savannah, Hunting Island and The Biltmore Estate. I hope you won't find it boring.

What a wonderful vacation this has been. Barry and I have really enjoyed our time together.

We have had the opportunity to spend time together without all the pressures and stresses of everyday life. It has given us the chance to talk openly with each other, and has been a much needed vacation.

We have seen some very beautiful areas as we have traveled through 5 states. The weather was great, which always makes traveling alot better. We had planned to stay in Savannah, but decided to go on to Tybee Island. We found a room there with no problem. I had received some brochures from a friend with information on the area and the hotels. So we had a certain one in mind (Ocean Plaza Resort)and was actually able to

stay there for a couple of days.

It has a restaurant that overlooks the ocean. We had dinner there one night, it was really nice. The picture here is of the hotel, the middle section is the Dolphin Reef Oceanfront Restaurant.

While on Tybee Island, we of course spent some time at the beach. We watched the sun come up over the ocean, strolled along the beach in the late evening, basked in the mid day sun, walked the pier, shopped at several of the beach shops, and sat many times in one of the swings along the beach.

Tybee Island has alot to do and see. One thing that was a "must " for me was the lighthouse. Tybee has two of them. Tybee Light Station and Cockspur Lighthouse.

Cockspur is best seen from Fort Pulaski. This is a little lighthouse that sits out in the water, where it seems to be floating atop of the water at high tide. We visited Fort Pulaski and walked the trail to the lighthouse.

The fort itself was really a very neat place. I thought that it would be so so, but once there I enjoyed it alot. I'll post more about it in another post.

The Tybee Island Lighthouse is Georgia's oldest and tallest lighthouse. It was such a great experience climbing to the top and seeing the view from up there. It was AWESOME!!!!!

The temp was a scorching 104 the day we went here and it was very hot inside the lighthouse and climbing the 178 stairs was a bit of a task , but I'd do it 100 times over. It was everything I ever thought it would be. I LOVED it!!!

Barry wasn't as overwhelmed as I. He had a little problem with being up there. He didn't stay up there long at all. I don't know if it was the heat or the height that got to him, it didn't bother me at all. I walked around it about four times and just stood there taking in the view feeling the wind in my hair. I even took pictures for a couple of families so that their entire family could be in the pictures.

It was an experience I will never forget!

I guess this is enough for one post, I'll try to post again soon with more of our vacation...........

Holiday World

Been meaning to post for some time, but haven't.

I have wanted to post about our recent trip to
Holiday World.

We went there last Saturday with my sister and her family. We had a really good time.

One of Lindsey's favorite rides was "The Voyage" a wooden rollercoaster.

The web site has this to say about this ride:
The world's top "air-time" wooden coaster
Air-time of 24.2 seconds

Track length: 6,442 feet (1.2 miles)

Maximum speed: 67.4 mph

Five underground tunnels

173 feet tall, with drops of 154, 107 and 100 feet

Three 28-passenger PTC trains

2 min., 45 sec. ride time

Eight underground traverses

Three 90-degree extreme banked turns

First drop's angle of descent a steep 66 degrees

Among the world's top three longest and fastest wooden coasters.

Lindsey went back to the park on Tues, with some of her friends and I think they rode this ride several times.

My favorite ride was the Lazy River Ride. It is a slow paced relaxing float along the river.......just my speed.

I think the thing I enjoyed the most was spending time with my sister and her family. I've missed doing that.

It was really nice to spend time with them.

Hopefully we can do more things together in the future.

Well that's what is up with me.......

Hope everyone has a good week end. Me, I'll be working.

I hope this post turns out right. It seems that lately it doesn't post like I want it to. The spacing is always off for some reason.......Oh well.

Truely A Teen

Okay, it is official, my daughter is truely a teen. WAHHHHHHH.............

We went to the firework show at the Corvette Museum on Tues. night and then to a cook out at one of our friends' house on Wed. and on both occassions, Lindsey did not want the glow in the dark necklaces or bracelets. All the other kids had them. They were all playing with them, tossing them up and trying to catch them on their arm or hooking them together and using them as a jump rope. Of course the other kids were younger and none of the other teens had them. I guess those things aren't cool anymore. Oh well.........

Just another one of the things she has outgrown.

I guess it had to happen.