Isle of Palms + snow

We fled the Isle of Palms Thursday evening when we found out that a snowstorm was headed for Tennessee. We had planned to return today, so we didn't cut it very short. I am really glad that we did, though, because we have from 8" - 10" on the ground now, and it is still snowing.

We had a great time at the Isle of Palms. We stayed with our friends Richard and Ruth, who rent a three-bedroom condo there for a month each year. Their condo had a balcony facing the ocean, so it had a beautiful view, complete with a full moon. It was windy with highs in the 50's and 60's while we were there.

Because the Isle of Palms is close to Charleston, we spent an afternoon there, visiting two interesting historical homes and having a great dinner with Richard and Ruth at Poogan's Porch at the end of the day. The houses we visited were the Nathanial Russell House and the Rhett-Aiken House. They were very different. The first house had been beautifully restored, and the other is basically just as it was found when it was vacated in the 1970's. What makes the latter house so interesting is that the owners never modernized the house, so it is just as it was when it was built in the early 1800's, although all the decorations are in very sad condition.

We also drove out to the Boone Plantation one afternoon, which was interesting. The plantation has been in continuous operation as a farm for over 300 years. The house is a modern structure, however, built in an antebellum style. The gardens had beautiful camellia bushes in full bloom. It reminded me of the first time I saw a camellia. When I was nine years old, we moved from Wisconsin to Louisiana in early February. We left snow banks and bitter cold in Wisconsin. The first Sunday we were in Shreveport, someone pinned a camellia on my mother's lapel. At that point, she became a confirmed southerner!

One of the most enjoyable things we did was take a boat trip with the Isle of Palms Eco-Tours. We had a most knowledgeable guide, who showed us many interesting creatures and birds as we took a meandering route to Capers Island. He left us on the island to explore for about an hour and a half. The highlight was a sighting of a bald eagle. It was only the second I have seen in the wild, and it was the first for Alan. Another "first" for Alan was eating oysters that had just been "picked." Our guide took us to an oyster bed and cut a bunch of oysters from the shore. He offered them to all of us, but only Alan took him up on his offer. One funny thing about the trip was the dog the guide had on the boat. It loved looking at the dolphins. All the guide had to do was say the word "dolphins," and the dog would run to the bow of the boat, greatly excited. We did see several dolphins, and the dog was almost as much fun to watch as the fish.


Besides doing tourist things, it was delightful to be able to spend time with Richard and Ruth. We saw Richard's pictures of his trip to the Arctic on a National Geographic tour. The pictures were fascinating and beautiful. He has now been to the Arctic and the Antarctic, as well as the Galapagos and Easter Island--quite a world traveler.

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