South Carolina Vacation

Our recent visit to historic downtown Charleston in South Carolina started with a carriage ride to get a feel for the town. We had a good experience of staying in the center of downtown when we visited Boston a few years ago so we decided to do the same here. We especially liked not having a car and exploring it all by walking, taking a trolley, a ferry, or a carriage ride. 

our carriage and tour guide

so many homes had a door to the porch

lots of ornamental gates

 

their famous Pineapple Fountain in Waterfront Park

lots

of

churches

on

Church

Street

We attended Sunday Mass at Saint Mary's Catholic Church

I learned the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard...
if it's on church grounds it's a graveyard, I had no idea.

We took in some tours

took a ferry

to Fort Sumter

where the Civil War began

went across the bridge to Sullivan's Island

to tour Fort Moultrie

we took this path down to the beach

for a good view of the Sullivan's Island Lighthouse

we came across the Shem Creek Bar & Grill before heading out

a few other places we ate in historic Charleston were

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

 and a romantic dinner at Husk

A few other good places we ate at were The Noisy Oyster, The Blind Tiger Pub, Tommy Condon's and one of my favorites... Toast. Loved their "Eggs Meeting Street" a fried green tomato topped with a crab cake, poached egg and a remoulade sauce, served with a biscuit and either home fried or grits. Yum! We went back for more the last morning there.

We toured the Magnolia Plantation

imagine living here with this wrap around porch

and these magnificent views

my favorite...

After our time in Charleston, we rented a car and drove to Surfside Beach where we mostly hung out in this spot all day each day we were there

this was our view every single morning

I can't wait

to go back!

Summer Garden

After losing all my spring flowers my garden was looking bare. Living in Arizona you'd think I would just give up on gardening during the hot summer months of the usual 110-115 degree weather. Not much will grow but a few that will are vinca, portulaca, zinnias, and marigolds. So I made a trip to the nursery and also came home with a few I had not tried before... angelonia, pentas and lisianthus. 

Since I didn't buy enough plants to fill the flower beds,  I decided to plant these in pots. They made it through the summer and actually thrived thanks to automatic daily watering.

My vegetable garden went wild. I was gone a lot and it was ignored. I don't think you are supposed to ignore vegetable gardens. If you do, they will make you pay. I had vines growing everywhere. Not knowing what it was I let them grow. I found out I was growing cantaloupe.

 I never know what will come out of my compost.

Because this vine overtook the vegetable garden I was afraid to step into it. I wish I had taken a before picture. I finally got the nerve to clean it out and was surprised to not find any creatures living under there.

Gardening is therapeutic for me. The harder I work out there the better I feel or should I say forget, and I needed it since I was letting worry overcome me. This round of Michelle's chemo treatment was leaving me feeling helpless and worried. Click HERE for an update.

So I was happy to tackle the cleanup. I pulled and raked and trimmed and dug and before the end of the day it was looking pretty good.

Under all the mess, I found I still had rosemary, tomato plants, new green beans sprouting, swiss chard,

eggplant, bell peppers, sweet basil, and more eggplants

I have about 8 eggplant volunteers (thanks to the compost).

Be ready family and friends. Get your eggplant recipes out!

In my smaller vegetable gardens, I have hatch chiles...

  boxwood basil

I trimmed the overgrown oregano

I also have marjoram, thyme, mint, jalapenos & chives

and now that our weather is cooling down,

I have room to plant lettuce, spinach, cilantro, parsley...

and I'm going to try beets for the first time!

And when I get back from Michelle's I will be filling up my flower beds!!

So happy summer is over!!!
:'( my mandevilla did not make it)