It's Football Time Again!

Our boy is happy, happy, happy!  He loves football!!

(more photos to come)

Tea Time at Rose Hill Plantation

After a lazy Friday morning we decided to go visit nearby Rose Hill Mansion.  It was different to tour a home that is used as a residence by the owners.  We only saw the downstairs but the house itself was amazing.  The history of the house and former plantation was well documented.  Our guide is a descendant of the man who owned the land pre-Civil War days.  The current owners bought the house (the "plantation" has since been made into a subdivision) after it sat vacant for many years due to a fire.  They have taken many more years to restore the house to it's original beauty and design with a few modern conveniences added. 

After our tour we had "tea time" inside the house.  The kids even left saying, "That was fun!"

The front of Rose Hill.



Stained glass in one of the bathrooms.

I didn't get many photos as I was busy listening to the guide and answering questions of our kids.  Just before we left the owner came downstairs so we met her as well.  She said that she was about 9 or 10 years old when she visited her first plantation and she loved it.  Now she has renovated one.

Exploring Daufuskie Island

Thursday we took a day trip to Daufuskie Island.  The only way to get there is by boat or ferry.  The history of the island is quite interesting especially during Civil War days.  I had never heard of the Gullah culture so I enjoyed learning new things on the ferry ride.

Walking to the ferry.  This was a llloooonnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg pier! 

I don't know why I thought this was so funny.  There's more than one way to get a boat where you want it to be!  This lift was driving on a pier next to us.

I know this is blurry but do you see the truck with the red horse trailer behind it?  When we got to Daufuskie Island, this truck drove off the barge and headed onto the island.  There are very few cars/trucks but some of the 300 or so residents have one.  This is how they get their vehicles to/from the island.

Mom and C on the ferry.

Mom and E on the ferry.  (She was not really sleeping but rather trying to irritate her twin by not opening her eyes for the photo.)  The ferry ride took about an hour.

Once we got to Daufuskie Island, we ate lunch at a local restaurant.  Then it was time to explore...

We rented a 6-passenger golf cart for the day.  The first thing the kids wanted to do was find a beach.  Ummm...we're on an island.  Plenty of beach to be found!  And most of the time we were the only ones out there.

The kids managed to talk Dad into letting them "help" drive the golf cart since there was no one else around us.  It felt like the island was deserted.

(I'm not sure why I didn't get a photo of B driving.  Don't worry, he had a turn too.)

Even riding backwards was fun!

We found some craftsmen on the island.  The ironworks man was not home but the pottery maker let us watch him at work.  He grew up on the island.  His mom was the postmaster.  He and his wife take their boat down to Savannah about once a week to shop and "take care of business matters" like shipping orders, going to the bank, etc.  It's definitely a slower paced lifestyle than what we know.



One more beach stop before returning to the ferry.  We were still the only ones on the beach.

Most of the roads are paved.  Trees with Spanish moss line the roads.  It's beautiful!  The photos do not do it justice!

After a fun day of exploring, we headed back to Hilton Head on the ferry.

What a relaxing day this was!

(Miss C was complaining of an ear ache by the time we headed back so we were looking for a clinic online while on the ferry.  By bedtime she had medicine and was on the mend.)



Ah...the bridge is in sight!  We're almost back!

Beachcombing and Dolphin Watching with Captain Chris

Our boat trip was rescheduled for the next day (Wednesday).  We watched the weather all day.

It was sunny and hot.  There was fun on the beach as we waited for the tide to go out.  We had to do our boat trip at low tide to do all we wanted to do.



The weather was perfect!  We were ready for our adventure with Captain Chris.



Do you know what all those things are between the water and the "grass"?  Oysters!



We have been on the water many times but not in a boat this size.  The kids loved it from the start!



Captain Chris grew up on Hilton Head.  He knew lots of fun facts to share with us.  He also showed the kids how to cast a net.  One cast gathered a few shrimp, a "see through" minnow and some other things I can't remember.



"So this is what a shrimp looks like out of the water!?"



Yesterday, we climbed the Harbor Town Lighthouse.  Today we got to see it from the water.



Captain Chris assured us that we would see dolphins.  We saw them!  One even came up to the boat and "talked" to us.  We could not pet or feed him - that's the law - but he was so close we could enjoy him for a bit.  Meet Nick!



We went to Vanishing Island which is a sandbar.  Captain Chris times his tours for low tide so we were out in the early evening to maximize our time on the sandbar.  The kids were not disappointed!  They found more things than I could keep up with on my camera.

Sand clover (I think...need to check this one's name with the kids.)

This tube sticking up from the sand is from a crab.  That is how it breathes while buried under the sand.  We could see these little tubes sticking up all over the sandbar.

We found several whelks during our week.  The kids were great about putting them back in the water if they were alive.  H found a very tiny one just before we left that did not have a live creature in it so she has one to take home.  The "foot" of this one is sticking out.

Another living creature H found.  I can't remember exactly what it is.

The "foot" of this whelk is sticking out really far.

C found something else alive.  God's creatures are amazing!!

We found several live sand dollars.  They finally found two skeletons we could keep.  This was the first skeleton found.

The view as we walked around the sandbar that still had a little water over it was clear so we could find things rather easily.

Our dad walks on water!  :)

Our boat is in the background.  Vanishing Island was larger than I expected it to be.

Mom and C finding some treasures.

After visiting the sandbar Captain Chris took us looking for more dolphins and seeing other sights on the water.  Dad and B were enjoying the boat ride.  They are two peas in a pod!

Mom and E hanging on!

Can you see the outline of a dolphins?  This was on the mud where two had gone ashore chasing food then slid back into the water.  We didn't see it happen but our Captain said they were "fresh marks" from that day.

Captain E

Captain C

Captain B (a.k.a. Captain Hug-E-Face by his loving sisters)

Captain H

Just before we docked at the end of the tour, Captain Chris took over his boat again and did a couple of "donuts".  The kids loved it as you can see from the look on B's face.

This was definitely one of the highlights of our week on Hilton Head.  Thanks, Captain Chris!