We anticipated a short drive, so we spent a couple of hours in the base food court using the WiFi to work on our itinerary planning and blog updates. We underestimated the drive, though, and arrived about an hour late to Locust to visit my second-oldest brother, Roger and his wife, Rose. We had intended to park in their driveway, but found it to be impractical given a combination of challenges:
- narrow width of driveway - narrow street in front of the house - heavy neighborhood traffic But my resourceful brother found an excellent alternative - he got permission from a neighbor to use their gravel driveway and hard-packed yard to access an easement along the fence behind Roger's house. He threw an extension cord over the fence to keep our fridge and freezer running overnight, while Angie and I enjoyed the comfortable hospitality of their home. The dogs stayed in the trailer. It appears one of them tried to make an overnight exit through a window, because we found a torn window screen in the morning. We will add a new screen to our growing list of maintenance items, which now includes better cabinet hinge fasteners (the small screws keep falling out of the narrow press-board frame), levelling of our cantilvered dining table and replumbing of our outdoor shower connection, which leaks like a sieve everytime we try to use it. Roger and Rose were gracious in their patience with our late arrival. We enjoyed a hearty meal of lasagna and salad before embarking on an auto tour of their town and surrounding communities. Roger is especially proud of his hometown of 17 years where he has been a city councilman for many years. Locust is experiencing explosive growth as a bedroom community for nearby Charlotte. Yet it is surrounded by rural farmland which is remiscent of Southcentral Pennsylvania. Roger has been the driving force behind our family reunion (on my mother's side), which will celebrate it's 30th anniversary on June 25th. To Hank, this reunion represents a commemoration of God's miraculous healing of his mother Nettie's life-long alcoholism. As a result of Nettie's healing, relationships between Nettie and three of her estranged children were healed. And bonds have been formed between all seven of her children, from three different marriages and three different foster homes. We are so grateful for the love and inspiration that these new sibling relationships have added to Hank's life.
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We met Hank's oldest brother Douglas' family at their church, Calvary Chapel, which was the friendliest church we have ever visited. There must have been a half- dozen people that greeted us and made us feel welcome. We heard a great message, too, from John 5:1-15. Jesus can make you well, but it's up to you to stay well. Douglas' daughter, Becky, had chosen this church after an invitation by a friend to attend a women's retreat.
Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious homemade lunch of pork chops, green beans and potatoes, prepared German style by Douglas' Berlin-born wife, Karen. We enjoyed a great visit in their cozy Summerville home, sharing many old and new stories. Karen made some iced coffees that were the equal to any Starbucks offering. It had been almost 25 years since Hank's last visit to Summerville and more than 10 since he had seen Douglas, Karen and Becky at a family reunion, so this was a very special day for him. We did a self-guided walking tour of Charleston that tooks us from the Visitor Center all the way to the Customs House and Market and back - about 13,000 steps. We had to stop early because the dogs were so hot and tired! The churches, mansions and rich history from the Revolution through the Civil War were fascinating. The mansions were influenced by Italian and French design and featured beautiful gardens, porches and balconies they call "piazzas" here.
We tried to get a table at a dog friendly restaurant, but were faced with a 30-minute wait. We decided to instead make an early stop at Red's Ice House on Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant. This was a spot that Angie's sister, Theresa, and friend Kelly had raved about. It did not disappoint. We got seats at the outdoor bar overlooking the active riverside dock. Pelicans flocked on the river and Dolphins frolicked by. The mid-afternoon crowd was abuzz. Boaters, kayakers and paddleboarders paraded by. Our favorite boat was a a circular floating tiki bar with an in-board engine. The skipper was also the bartender. Neither of us had ever visited Savannah, but had heard how unique it was. We stopped there for lunch and we were both charmed. The streets were lined with trees strewn with Spanish moss. The brick row houses had beautiful paint and architectural details. There were mansions, the state capital building, and an amazing waterfront along the Savannah River. The city appears to be home to many colleges and has an active art scene.
We were welcomed by more rain showers upon our arrival at the Air Base in Charleston. We had a quiet night and planned our next couple of days. Upon arrival at the base campground, the maintenance guy warned us not to get our dogs anywhere near the large lake because it was mating season for the alligators. He also told us that the previous day, one guest found an alligator resting at the bottom of the steps to her trailer! We never saw a gator there, but we kept the dogs on a short leash after that briefing.
We got a lot of chores done and exercised the dogs in a safely fenced play area. Hard rain raised the level of the canal behind our campsite very fast. We watched it nervously, wondering whether we might have to evacuate. Luckily, the rain subsided, so we felt free to continue our visit with Rick and Jean. They gave us a tour of all the facilities and grounds at Tarpon Bay, followed by a walking tour of nearby Stuart, FL, a charming port town that is swarming with tourists in season. The night of our visit was quiet, though.
We stopped in Port Saint Lucie for a couple of nights to visit friends of Angie's from Virginia Beach. Rick was an EMT with Angie for many years. Rick and his wife Jean sail to the Bahamas every year on their sailboat. They moved to Port Saint Lucie this year to cut two months off their travel time to the Bahamas.
Rick is happily married to Jean, a Virginia Beach native, who had not sailed before meeting Rick. Her camping experience prepared her well, though, and she is hooked on sailing now. They love Tarpon Bay, their over-50 condo community where they can dock their sailboat, as well as enjoy swimming, pickleball and an active social life with fun people. We were greeted at our campsite by yet another gator in the canal. The campground office featured a stuffed bobcat that had been a neighbor. There was a pleasant breeze the night we arrived. We hosted Rick and Jean at our campsite and gave them a tour of our trailer. They are considering an RV excursion to the West. After a rib dinner at a nearby brew pub, Rick and Jean showed us their condo and their 38-foot cutter-rigged Island Packet sailboat "Spindrift". Hank slept in to recover from the previous day's festivities. Angie played in the water with dogs for three hours. We did some more paddleboarding with the dogs, followed by even more swimming. Angie noted that it was, by far, the dogs' favorite day of the trip.
We found and photographed the house where Angie's grandmother lived when Angie's Mom, Nan, was a little girl. The address is 1400 Petronia. Her grandmother used to say that everyday she lived in Key West was like a vacation to her. We visited the nearby St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church where Angie's mom Nan attended first grade. The grotto was a peaceful and beautiful garden. Then we had an amazing dinner at the Seaside Cafe at the Southernmost House Hotel located at the southern most point of the US. The conch fritters, ahi salad and lobster pizza were out of this world. It was a great place to wind up our visit to Key West. We attended 5th Street Baptist Church and then had lunch at Smoked Tuna, where a two-man country band played in the courtyard. Then we found a very talented folk singer named Elle Haley performing at Hank's Saloon. We only caught the last few songs of her set, but we learned that she was playing at the Tiki House for happy hour and were able to catch some more of her act there.
We visited Sloppy Joe's - where Hemmingway met his second wife. There was a country-western guitarist who did a nice version of "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks. Later that night we came across on incredible guitar talent at Hogs Breath. His name is Matthew Curry. If you like Stevie Ray, you will like Matthew. It rained hard, which resulted in the cancellation of a Glass Cats show at General Horseplay. We ended up back at Hank's Saloon - whose music talent had yet to disappoint - and enjoyed a set by Cliff Cody who got us dancing under the tent in the rain. He was very personable and told good stories of Nashville. We attended an early yoga class in a lush garden with fountains and wood decks covered by athatched roofs. Afterwards we had brunch at a Cuban coffee shop. We walked to Hemingway's House, near Mile 0 of US-1.
After cleaning up and swimming with the dogs, we broke out our paddle boards for the first time on this trip. The dogs enjoyed the warmer, relatively flat water, which was much more comfortable for them than the chop on Lake Washington. Later we headed back to town for dinner and further exploration of the music scene. We saw an obnoxious solo guitarist who was riling up the raucous crowd at Irish Kevin's. We poked our heads in a couple of other places, but ended up back at Hank's Saloon, where we were delighted to see that the Glass Cats were performing for the second night in a row. It was a different set list, but just as awesome as the first night. We capped off the evening with incredible Key Lime Pie at Kirby's. |