To Edisto we go!

To the beach we go!  First fascination of mine along the way - boat parking.  Boat after boat after boat, all stacked up.  And they take them down with forklifts.  That's just fascinating to the West Texas gal in me.

Second fascination - you really can find everything in Wal-Mart, provided you can actually find the Wal-Mart that's hiding behind all these trees.  We scored floppy hats and awesome floats and beach chairs and all the supplies we could need that we figured would have a pretty steep uptick in price at our few Edisto shopping options.  Score one for Wally World!

We wound our way along the edge of South Carolina, keeping our eyes peeled for creepy Spanish moss and really old churches and maybe even a roadside gator or two (didn't actually come across those, thank goodness) as we made our way to Edisto.  After a quick call to Craig to figure out where the beach house actually is (I had the wrong address written down, oopsie), we hauled in all of our goodies and immediately headed for the water, just to splash our toes and know that, yes, we are really at the beach.

Sandy feet are happy feet

Piggly Wiggly (I have an irrational love for this store - I don't know why.  I bought a Piggly Wiggly coffee mug) adventures to stock up on supplies, dinner at The Waterfront (pimento cheese every day!) and we were ready for an early night.  Hit it, ocean waves.

In my mind I'm going to Carolina...

...well, not really in my mind, because we actually went, but, you know, always good to get a little James Taylor in there AND the song came on the radio (thank you, Sirius!) our last day there.  YES.  At the end of June the gals (Carolyn and Kami!) and I took to the skies and roads for our annual summer getaway - this marks year six for us!  And our first kinda-repeat trip - two years ago we went to Charleston and Savannah, and this year's journey took us through Charleston again since it's the nearest airport to the wonderful place known as THE BEACH HOUSE.  Perks of marriage, y'all.  Craig's aunt and uncle have had a beach house on Edisto Island for years and years, and they were kind enough to let us stay for a few days so we could just relax and enjoy the sound of those ocean waves.  Isn't that wonderful?  As wonderful as fried green tomatoes!

fried deliciousness...

We knew we wanted to spend a little time in Charleston, so we set those alarms (and I actually woke up!!) and took an early flight in so we'd be there in time for lunch...obviously wanting to fit in as many delicious Southern meals as possible.  And we really did just hop in the car and head straight to Jestine's Kitchen for lunch.  Seriously.  We parked the car and were not distracted by anything in our quest for Jestine's.  Fried green tomatoes and iced tea and fried chicken and meatloaf and dessert triumvirate number one.  Holy freakin' yum.

Coca-Cola cake AND coconut cream pie AND banana pudding - don't mind if I do.  I'm glad my friends share. =)

We needed a little walking after lunch to attempt to burn off 1/1,168,739th of what we ate, so it was off to Charleston City Market with its beautiful wrought iron and general cuteness (also general lack of things we'd actually want to buy amid the general abundance of overpriced ridiculous things - no sir, we do NOT want to pay $38 for a floppy hat that will likely fall apart tomorrow, thank you very much)...

...and also down Rainbow Row for a look at the pretty houses...

...and over to the waterfront to catch those ocean breezes (not NEARLY as hot this time around, thank goodness - a couple years ago we were constantly dripping with sweat glowing)...

...and my favorite, swing time!  I just LOVE these swings that are part of Charleston Waterfront Park - it is so relaxing to just sit and gaze out at the ocean and catch up with friends.  

Swing feet!  And sepia takes some of the white out of my legs...

Already looking relaxed and happy, especially since our new little friend didn't steal my camera.  That's always a good start.

A little city time... 

...and now off to the beach!

Fredericksburging finale

Taking in the wildflowers at LBJ Ranch

Last full day Fredericksburging, boo.  Can't we have just a few more?  Oh well.  After eating peach pie with ice cream (hellooooo, we're on VACATION!!) for breakfast (that was just me, actually - far more reasonable people had breakfast that actually resembled normal breakfast) and lounging around Avery Haus for a bit, we divided up into three groups.  (1) A group of travelers to Luckenbach for a little beer and a little music and the purchasing of t-shirts, (2) families to a wildflower farm for really adorable pictures, and (3) the boys + Diana + me to LBJ Ranch for some learning and wildflowers of our own and other historical/nature adventures.  

Can't get enough of the pretty flowers and beautiful day!

Our time at the ranch was pretty awesome!  You pick up a CD that you play in your car as it guides you through the whooooole ranch (completely free, too, which is a nice perk), and you can get out at different stops along the way and do things like listen to historical reenactors explain how to make cheese (eeekk!) and admire fancy old hats...

 ...and entertain yourself 1860s style...

...and watch out for feisty barnyard animals...

...and explore cool old barns...

...and meet some really large animals and learn about things you didn't know existed like the ability to brand HORNS...

...and make new friends with the guy attached to those horns...

...and see cool old airplanes affectionately known as Air Force One-Half...

...and pretend to be the President...

...and just generally enjoy the beautiful, wide-open spaces. 

beautiful day at the ranch 

We also took a guided tour of the Texas White House (no pictures allowed inside, boo) with a pretty enthusiastic park ranger, and it was really interesting to learn about the history of the house and check out LBJ's office. After making our way through the house, we took a little swing break down by the Pedernales River...

...and then went to meet up with Groups #1 & 2 for some winery time!  First stop was Grape Creek, where they most fortunately had some awesome ladies serving BBQ (we were STARVING - historical adventures are hard work).  We set up shop outside in the shade, listened to some live music, and worked our way through brisket sandwiches and several bottles of wine.  So right.

beverages of choice for the afternoon

the gang under a dang big tree

Number Three

cheers, parenting style

ummmm, excuse me!  mom needs some more juice!

Then we headed up the road to Becker for some more wine, some more quality lounging time in the shade, some more wine, a couple of bug adventures, and some more wine.

Diana, Dan, & Jeremy outside Becker

It really was just a beautiful afternoon!

Back into town for dinner on the giant patio at Silver Creek, then we all headed back to the great backyard at Amoroso Cottage for a rousing game of horseshoes and a grand finale in the form of s'mores.

Isn't this such an awesome backyard??  I want to steal that stone fireplace.  And the Adirondack chairs.  And some of those people and just keep them here with us at home because they're so awesome.

S'mores.  Dan's doing it right.

Our house ended the night shouting curses, and then it was time to crash and hit the road the next morning in the hopes of avoiding epic traffic nightmares (although cars sure did seem to have a hard time not running into each other as we came up I-35 - fortunately we were spared).  Full photo spread from the long weekend here, and it was just a GREAT weekend.  Yay for awesome friends and awesome times!

Fredericksburging, days one and two

Memorial Day weekend adventures, go!  We pretty much did a repeat of last year's awesome adventures, just with more awesomeness this time in the form of more awesome people.  Same crew from last year (the Vaughns, who Craig now refers to as "Grianity" in order to capture all of those names efficiently; the Keffers; and the Reynolds, who are + 7/9 one more kiddo this year) plus the Horsleys and the fabulous Dan & Jeremy.  Quite a crew!  Necessitated two house rentals this year - one for the families and one for the childless, which worked out swimmingly well.  Phew, we're a lot of people.

Let's hit the road!  Absolutely mission critical to stop for kolaches in West (Craig and I made this our lunch...AWESOME)...

...and after picking up the keys for our overly adorable house, we met up with the boys and Grianity and hit up winery #1 for the weekend, Messina Hof.  We all did a tasting (well, except for Grace, who really wanted some juice but made do with water and crackers) and then enjoyed a happy hour glass or two while just relaxing and catching up.

Number One in my series of "Trinity's Awesome T-Shirts"

I think The Craig is happiest when toting around a case of wine, I really do

Back to Avery Haus we go!  Quality time in the porch swing with a few high fives thrown in for good measure...

...and summertime sprinkler adventures are ALWAYS a good thing...

...as is dinner at Rathskeller and just relaxing with friends and drinks and PIES.  This year Trinity thought ahead and picked up the pies pretty much immediately upon arrival, so we had friends in the form of German Chocolate and Key Lime and Peach and Cherry hanging out with us all weekend.  So good.

New day, new adventures!  Shopping adventures!  Which means that Jen and I quite obviously need coffee to start the day, so we picked up icy caffeinated cups of goodness while the boys did this...

Beer for breakfast, anyone?  Just look at those smiles.

Oh, boys.  And have you always been able to wander around Fredericksburg with obvious booze in hand?  We didn't remember this being an option last year, but it was also so miserably hot last year that I think we actually wanted to just hydrate.  Curious.  At any rate, I think beer in hand keeps the boys generally happier with shopping adventures, so I'm all for it.  I just love all of the cutesy stores!  And we actually kept our spending pretty much in check, so that's a good thing.

We contemplated a moustache for Gracie...

...and didn't really contemplate adding "cardboard taxidermy" to the list of house decorating ideas, but it's still kinda fun.

Number Two

After a long afternoon of parting with our credit cards and racking up bags of cuteness and deliciousness, our party o' fourteen made it over to Hondo's for dinner where Mike finally got his club sandwich and we ordered enough fried ridiculousness for a small army.  It was awesome.