Sullivan's Island
Story time: When Summer was a month old, the four of us were supposed road trip to Charleston to see one of Caleb's buddies graduate. But last minute (like, last last last minute... like we were in the car and packed and headed down the highway last minute) plans changed! We booked Caleb a flight and he buzzed down to South Carolina himself. This was the first time he's taken a trip away from us. It was not my first choice, but I have to admit... it was pretty cute to hear from him and wait for his phone calls and texts.
One of the free afternoons he had he went to explore Sullivan's Island. As we were planning our trip together he wanted to make sure he could take me back there because he had enjoyed it so much. So one night after dinner he grabbed some treats and a blanket, and raced to the beach so we could see it at "your favorite kind of light."
He had found a little passageway of greenery that led between the sand of the beach and a perfectly groomed plot of grass. (He loves immaculate grass.) He had told me about this spot before, and was very pleased to bring me to it. Needless to say, I had a wonderful evening.
"Our bond is no little economy based on the exchange
of my love and work for yours,
so much for so much of an expendable fund.
We are more together than we know,
how else could we keep on discovering we are more together than we thought?
You are the known way leading always to the unknown,
and you are the known place to which the unknown is always leading me back.
More blessed in you than I know.
Even an hour of love is a moral predicament,
a blessing one may be hard up to be worthy of.
It can only accepted,
as a plant accepts from all the bounty of the light enough to live,
and then accepts the dark, passing unencumbered back to the earth,
as I have fallen time and again from the great strength of my desire,
helpless, into your arms."
Wendell Berry, The Country of Marriage
I've seen so many pictures of the famous Angel Tree that I put it on the must-do list for us! Driving to it reminded me of the scene in The Notebook where Ally is leaving Noah's house in tears and almost hits a truck on the road. Pictures don't do these old moss trees justice!! Absolutely incredible!
And then The Angel Tree... it's enchanting. You really do wish you could sit down and ask it a few questions, and hope that it's in the mood to give winding, tangent-filled answers. What a beautiful part of earth (that also isn't done justice in pictures!) Ps. It's free to come into the park and see it!
Our last stop before heading back to the airport was the Magnolia Plantation. We did the basic admission ($15 a person) and spent a couple hours wandering the property, gardens, water ways, and lawns. It was a lovely stop but I'm not sure we'd feel the need to go again. Or if we did, we might really do everything (there is a train ride and a mansion tour and on!). But truly beautiful nonetheless!
And that's a wrap for our Charleston getaway! I hope you go visit yourself sometime, or if you have been... please leave your favorite things to eat/do for me so I can add to my "Next Time List"!