Turkey Tracks: Visiting Charleston, SC: Part III

Turkey Tracks:  June 18, 2014

Visiting Charleston, SC:  Part III

 

Son Mike, DIL Tami, and their youngest daughter picked me up on Wednesday morning.

We dropped off my suitcase and headed out for Middleton Plantation where we had a fabulous Southern lunch buffet style.  My plate carried fried chicken, collard greens, corn pudding, cornbread, green salad, and cole slaw.  There was, of course, sweet tea.

After lunch we had a fascinating tour of the remaining house–the original main house was destroyed in the Civil War.  I thought our Bryan family might have had a tenuous connection to the Williams family who brought Middleton to the Middleton family through the marriage of Mary Williams to Henry Middleton, but at first glance I can’t find the Bryan connection to the low country plantations.  The Bryan’s settled originally in the Albemarle, Virginia, coastal area, but spread south as numerous children came along.  Oh well, that’s a project for another day.

Here’s a nice picture–taken just above the “butterfly” lakes, with the Ashley river in the background.  This would have been the view from the main house.

The grounds have a lot of farm animals–and a peacock, too.

How special to have time on a Wednesday with two people who work!

On Thursday, this guy “graduated” from a lower group of Montessori grades to a higher unit–which involves getting new teachers for the next few years.

He’s grown very tall since last summer.  As has his older brother.

We had a terrific nature tour of the inland waterway and a deserted barrier island on Friday.  And here I slacked off as I did not take the camera with me.  As a result, I have no pictures of two of these grandchildren.  How dumb is that?

I do have a picture of the new puppy dog–a golden doodle:

Honey DOES NOT SHED, is like an otter in the water, loves to play with the children, and is as soft as velvet.  Wow!  I suggested she go home with me to Maine but got no takers for that idea.

I had a lot of really good beach time with these children–including riding waves one day with the older ones.  There were many memorable meals–Mike is a terrific cook and made me GRITS topped with a pot roast stew and fabulous steaks.  There was a really fun and delicious dinner out for just the adults one night.  And, as with Bryan’s family, the time flew by and it was time to go home.

The boys will be coming up to Maine in August for a sailing camp–Mike will bring them–so we will have fun here as well.

It was a good visit, and I miss them all already!