Charleston will never lose its charm any time of the year and since we were going to stay in the area for an extended period of time waiting for baby Camden to make his appearance, we thought it would be fun to explore the surrounding areas. We decided to drive around the surrounding islands. The campground we stayed in is located in Johns Island, with is pretty rural and is really close to Wadmalaw Island, which is even more rural than Johns Island. Wadmalaw Island, home to Irvin House Vineyards, grows muscadine wide. Our friends Linda and Tommy Sexton from Beaufort joined us at the campground so we decided to visit the winery and participate in a tasting. John and I agreed that we do not particularly care for sweet wine.
However, the same location hosts Firefly Distillery. We also shared vodka tastings and that was a totally different story. The lushes in us would not allow us to leave empty handed and we ended up purchasing different flavored vodkas and even walked out with apple pie moonshine, which by the way is AMAZING when you pour 2 spoonfuls on vanilla ice cream. Apple pie moonshine is very smooth but very dangerous as it creeps up on you, kicks your butt very quickly, and trust me, even walking becomes a challenge.
While is Johns Island, our 10 year old bikes, which last year endured many, many, surgical procedures began to again demonstrate signs of illnesses. So being the decent people we are, (haha) we put them to sleep and bought new ones. The new ones are GREAT! They only have 3 speeds (not the 21 speeds and thousand chains we used to have) and you have to backpedal to brake. Reminds me of when I was a kid and that keeps me on my toes as I keep squeezing the handle bars when I want to slow down only to realize – Oh darn the hands no longer control the brakes. Because of that I’ve had a couple of “close” calls. It’s much better now but I remain a slow learner.
We have begun to take daily rides and one of the really nice things this area has are great bike trails. One such trail is the West Ashley Greenway, which is paved and/or graveled throughout and is mostly shaded by beautiful oak trees and intertwines throughout neighborhoods and marshlands. You can see all kinds of wildlife in their natural habitat while “attempting to exercise and lose weight”. Well, I don’t know about the weight loss I’m sure that will come by maybe Christmas, but I’m getting really good at laundry! 🙂
Our Beaufort friends invited us to see Beaufort and its surrounding areas like a native so we took them up on their invitation and drove south. We had lunch at a small little place called Shrimp Shack for shrimp burgers, which we had never had before and so thoroughly enjoyed.
We were also taken to Hunting State Park,
walked the beach and drove by the lighthouse.
We then went to Paris Island. Tommy is a Marine and went through boot camp here in preparation for Vietnam, so he was able to take us on an up close and personal tour, which was amazingly touching as John’s dad, also a Marine, walked these streets 70 years ago, as he prepared to fight for our freedom during WWII in Okinawa.
Next week, the unit goes to RV hospital for its facelift. We decided that we do need a residential refrigerator. We also don’t like the carpet or flooring it came with, so we will have all the floors resurfaced with engineered hardwood and a Stainmaster Mohawk carpet on the bedroom and slide. In the meantime, we are off to Hilton Head for a week.
See you soon!
The Wandering Lindstroms 