Local Touring

Alas, this summer there was no money for a *real* vacation, so we are doing things locally.  Today we are headed  here  to see these:

Final Reptile Pictures

Reptiles, Part II

Reptiles Everywhere!

Matthew loves snakes, so before the summer was over, I wanted to take him to a reptile "zoo" about an hour away.

More pictures tomorrow!

Vacation Pictures, Part III

Vacation, Part II

It is against the law to pick the sea oats because they serve as a barrior to erosion.

This little prayer chapel is on the way to our vacation spot. It is so quaint, I wanted a picture.

Matthew enjoyed the swimming pool.

Vacation

Back in June I thought about going to the mountains after summer school was over. The more I thought of driving 4-5 hours, the less appealing it was. So, we went to a local resort island that is 20 minutes away.

Lunch on the 4th

Growing up in the lowcountry, I had always heard of this wonderful seafood restaurant: http://www.hymanseafood.com/. We finally ate there on the 4th. They started us off with boiled peanuts. If you're not from the South, you just wouldn't understand how addictive these things are.I forgot to get pictures of the food, but I have to say it was the best seafood I've ever had, and I've had a LOT! Matthew got his prepared light cajun, and I had mine Caribbean jerk. It was wonderful.

A lot of famous people have eaten here, including Neil Armstrong, Barbra Streisand, Lynard Skynard, and Tanya Tucker, to name just a handful. Now, we got lucky enough to get the table where Senators Strom Thurmond (R-SC, deceased) and Joe Lieberman (I, CONN) sat. They have plaques on the tables where the different people ate. This is not very legible, but it is Strom Thurmond's. For any non-South Carolinians, Strom Thurmond served SC as senior senator from 1956-2003, when he retired at age 100.

More from the Aquarium

Liberty was my favorite next to the penguins. The aquarium had a naming contest for people to suggest his name. I think Liberty fits perfectly. This is one of the birds endemic to this area:

The stingray is the one on the right with the sharp tail sticking out.

We thought it was neat to see the scuba divers cleaning the tanks.

One of our sea turtles~

I had to let Matthew take a picture of his favorite *animal*:

The 4th

We had a great time at the aquarium on the 4th. My son is the type who doesn't like to stay long any place, so we were there only a little over an hour. We loved the penguins; this one guy seemed to love the attention.

More pictures tomorrow~

Time Off!

Yeah! I have a two week break from work! This is the last year we will have year-round school as the Superintendent wants all schools on the same calendar. I actually will be teaching the 28th-31st during what she calls "Extended Learning Days". Those are extra days students have to attend who have failed the state test two years in a row. The remaining 16 days are next summer. The pay was too good to turn down, and since I'm still paying off the cancer center, I couldn't say no. Even so, I have this week off and next Monday. Tomorrow is cleaning day. I have much to go through and throw out, and I'm going to clean the carpet with Dad's carpet cleaner.