on wednesday, before i knew that three days later i would be in south carolina, a random itunes clean out made me think of some extended cousins i hadn't seen in over a decade. we had spent a couple of summer vacations with them in thousand islands, ny at their idyllic cottages on the idyllic island where cars were quickly traded in for bicycles and golf carts and afternoons at the ice cream parlor, picnics on the beach, and sunset boat rides. you can perhaps imagine why this particular group of people make me think warm happy thoughts.
it all started when i came across a band that, long ago, my second cousin (i had to look that up) jamin, and i had both shared a love for. so i did what anybody would do; i headed to facebook to see if i could turn up anything. pretty quickly i was able to find jamin and his mother judy (my first cousin once removed). i added them as friends, thinking i would silently cyber-stalk them to begin the reacquainting process, and was reminded that judy had left new york and was now running a bed and breakfast in south carolina. my internal dialogue, quite literally, went like this:
"one day, i'm going to have to go check that out!"
i could not have possibly foreseen that in just twelve hours, i would be making travel arrangements that would allow me to do just that!
i sent off an email on thursday and waited to hear. and when sunday morning came without a response, i simply assumed that there were other commitments, being so last minute and all. until i checked my email, and learned that she had been simply trying to coordinate the arrivals of my second cousin, gretchen, and my great aunt, who had flown in the night before for their annual vacation. score!
my two hour drive to charleston was mildly eventful. see...i got pulled over. for going twenty miles an hour over the limit. doh! guess my california lead foot got the best of me.
BUT, he gave me a warning. a WARNING! i truly don't even know why. i was pretty resigned to my fate, and simply told him that i was sorry, and i obviously hadn't been paying attention. and after he ran my license and car rental agreement, he came back to the car saying 'twenty miles an hour. twenty miles. i NEVER do this, but this is a warning. SLOW DOWN,' shaking his head the whole time. i'm not sure which of us was more surprised, but not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, i thanked him profusely and got the heck out of dodge before he could change his mind!
the rest of the two hour drive to charleston passed smoothly at nine miles over the speed limit. i have never been to charleston before (i still can't quite believe it, and it kind of hurts to say) and the drive in was full of oohs and awes, and aaahhs. and when i pulled up to lavender and lace, i discovered that it was everything you want a charleston b&b to be: a delightfully old antebellum house with wrap-around porches on multiple levels that make you want to drink mint juleps and sit on porch swings. it was absolutely lovely! as was my reunion.
i still, in hindsight, cannot believe my good fortune. i have expressed on many occasions how grateful i have been that my family is so amazing, and that feeling extends beyond far beyond the first branch of the tree. to be able to reconnect with my cousins and great-aunt was such a blessing!
after catching up on the last fifteen years, it was time for me to head out
i couldn't leave without making a couple of stops at the national park sites in the area, so the first on the list was fort sumter. fort sumter is most notable for being the place at which the first shots of the civil war were fired.
due to time, i wasn't able to take the boat over to the fort, but i enjoyed the displays and the information at the visitor's center.
from there, it was on to fort moultrie, which is fascinating for other reasons.
it was built in 1776, and is unique for having been built with palmetto logs. because the palmettos are softer than woods normally used, the walls would absorb the shock of the cannons without exploding, and it is even said that cannon balls would BOUNCE off the walls. uh-mazing!
and with seven new stamps in the parks passport, it was time to keep on keeping on. afterall, i had a date with some very special people!
my stop for the night was in raleigh, nc with colby and julie. and while cost was a factor in opting to drive, rather than fly to va, colby and julie were the primary motivator.
i would have liked much much more time with them, but since just three days before, there was no inkling of a possibility that i would be sitting in their kitchen laughing, and learning of the death of osama bin laden together, it was all icing.
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