Happy Anniversary to us! We celebrated by going to Charleston, South Carolina, Hilton Head, Savannah, Georgia, Tybee Island, Jacksonville, Florida...all in three days (plus two for traveling)!

 We took the tour of Charleston and I learned a lot about the olden days and the customs. For instance, the fancier homes had two staircases going to the same door. That was so the ladies could go up one side and the men on the other. Because the ladies had to lift their skirts to ascend the steps their ankles might be seen. To see a woman's ankles meant that the man by law, who had witnessed such scandal would have to propose to her! There are so many churches in the city that it is known as "The Holy City". The South Carolinian's liked to change words to fit their tastes so instead of the palm tree which is their State's tree, they changed it to Palmetto Tree. Cockroaches are Palmetto bugs. Graveyards are 'church gardens'. At one church in town if you weren't born in Charleston then you had to be buried across the street.  A prominent hero of the Civil War, vice president for two terms, was not native born so he was buried across the street. At a town celebration honoring prominent men, the city counsel decided it would be fitting if he was buried in the church garden. His body was dug up and moved only to be put back across the street after the celebration!

 The Citadel is a prestigious military school in Charleston. This man is a freshman and all freshmen are called knobs because their heads are shaved when they enter school. They have to walk in the gutters, not on the sidewalks and serve the upper class men their meals and what-not.

There is a lot of protocol that I wrote down about this, which I found fascinating!

 This is the 2013 class ring replica. It is a BIG deal to get one of these baby's! Oh and did you know that BMW's are made in Charleston? Then they are shipped to Europe so we can buy them back for an arm or a leg!

 Upper class men.

 Many basket shops are set up through out the town. These baskets are made of some kind of grass and cost a fortune! We wandered through Market Street...two full blocks of my kind of shopping with unique wares and one-of-a-kind goods.

 One reason why the homes had balcony's on the second floor was to catch the ocean breeze. The women could go out and hold up their heavy skirts without being thrown in jail! This beauty was in Charleston.

 The Atlantic ocean in the back ground is the perfect backdrop for this "Pineapple" fountain. This is made for playing in and tells the rules on the sign!

 The streets of Charleston.

 This photos shows the replicas of cannon balls and cannon that were used in the Civil War. Since the War started at Fort Sumter, just a short boat ride through the bay, Charleston is rich in historical marvels!

This long black thing is the first submarine used in the civil war. It had only enough room for 8 men if they sat on one side of it. The first two trys to bomb the enemy failed and the crew was lost. The last time was successful, but the ship and crew were never seen again! It is called " The Henley".

The Magnolia Plantation is an incredible place with a mansion, gardens, swamps complete with alligators, original slave quarters and acres and acres of breath-taking beauty!

 Notice the Spanish moss hanging from the tree below? I thought is was cool, but the locals think of it as a pain. It chokes the trees and looks 'spooky', according to one southern gal.

 This guy is for real...I found him wandering the plantation and quickly snapped a photo! Quaint ain't he!!!

This is inside the slave huts on the plantation. I can't understand how the slave owners lived in such opulence while their help lived in such squalor!

 An 'updated' slave house! The photo below is of the inside of one of the slave homes. All fixed up!

 Inside the most dilapidated slave house was newspspers for insulation! I couldn't believe that they had not disintegrated. Notice the date on the bottom picture,.

It is hard to tell by this picture, but this tree is massive! It's been there since the Revolution. The hollow one stands in a slave graveyard.

 The Magnolia Plantation was built in the early 1800's. Some of the bedding is original and incredible. The time they put into their quilts is unimaginable. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the mansion. Too bad. We had the most flamboyant guide ever! Red coat, red shoes, white hair, white pants and hilarious! He was probably in his 40's.

 Just part of the gardens on this plantation. There is one called the Biblical garden that has plants and  flowers that are referred to in the Bible. This peacock was really full of himself! I'm glad, because he is gorgeous! The albino peacock one was also strutting her stuff and I got thrilled seeing it!

 

Here we have a Great White Egret's nest with a bunch of little egrets!

 Alligators were plenteous in the swamp! They like to sun themselves on the wooden platforms in the murky water. I couldn't get enough pictures of them!

 A Blue Heron trying to fish.

 After leaving Charleston we headed to Hilton Head. Our hotel was on the beach and was fancier than any I've ever seen! We had two bedrooms, two baths, a full kitchen, family room and upscale furnishings. It was fun to see how the other half lives, but I don't need it to be happy and content.

 The Marriott at Hilton Head  We walked onto the beach just to stick our feet in the warm Atlantic. The wind was pretty hefty!

 Our kitchen that we didn't use! Nor did we use the second bedroom! John looks a little squeemish, don't ya think?

We had seafood just off the shore in Sea Pines (Harbor Town) at the Crazy Crab.  The homes here are astounding! My mouth was hardly closed the whole time we were driving around! We ate breakfast at Land's End in South Beach before hitting the road.

 This is the Harbor Town Lighthouse that we climbed to overlook the bay, yachts, and dolphin playing in the sound. Were we really there? It seemed like paradise!

 This is on top of the lighthouse. John's favorite part of the trip was seeing the 18th hole on this golfcourse that is some exquisite, only for the rich and famous course. I can't remember it's name...typical! Oh! It's called Harbor Town. Duh!

River Road in Savannah, Georgia has everything you would ever want in a shopping experience...too bad we didn't have time to browse! We just bumped down the cobble-stoned streets on our way to Jacksonville.

Being with Jim and Marilyn was such a highlight for me. The first thing we did was go to dinner at a place right on the shore of the ocean. It was pouring rain the whole time we were with them, but that didn't dampen our fun!

 Decorations in the restaurant, 'Clarks Fish Camp'

 Frog legs and alligator tail...love it!

 Before boarding our plane Marilyn took the time to take us to St Augustine's, the oldest city in the country, to the alligator farm. Since it was raining cats and dogs the alligators, crocodiles and sea monsters were out and about! Here I got eaten by a boa constrictor!

 I got video of these creatures with their prehistoric features.

 My! What big teeth you have! This is for real! Of course he was behind glass!

 All kinds of huge birds were nesting in the trees. I didn't want to be under them when they took off!

 Our last, delicious sea food meal was had here, well in the car on the way back to Jim and Marilyn's. With everything fried and out of this world, I gained four pounds!!!

 The end of a most memorbable trip with the best man on earth!!!