Way Down South in Dixie

Savannah was everything we had pictured it to be, but with better food than we could have imagined. Beautiful, giant Live Oaks with hanging Spanish Moss everywhere, old antebellum homes, green city squares... just a really picturesque and charming city.

We took a bus tour through the city (it was WAY too hot to walk anyway) and we learned a lot about its history. The boys were not as impressed as Larry & I were. To be honest, they heard “blah blah blah, pirates, blah blah blah ghosts”. So they came out thinking that Savannah is where nothing but pirates hung out and it’s now filled with their ghosts (not that we believe in that sort of nonsense).

Part of the tour drove by the “dueling fields” where men would go to fight to the death to protect their honor, using guns, knives, swords, and sometimes HAMMERS!!! I’m sorry Mr. Tour Guide, did you just say hammers?!? Maybe that's where we get the term "hammering out their differences"?

For lunch we were going to eat at a restaurant that is owned by Paula Deen from the Food Network, but we were pointed in another direction by a tour guide. We ended up eating at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House. Before we were seated, three women started bringing out bowl after bowl of food and setting up glasses of sweet tea at all the seats. Oh No! How much is this going to cost and how in the world could we eat all this food?! So, the 5 of us sat down to eat and then another couple came to sit with us! They do everything family style there. So, even with 7 of us eating, we didn’t come close to finishing all the turnips, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, spinach, fried chicken, stew, sweet potatoes, succotash, pulled pork, dirty rice, squash, biscuits and at least 4 other things I can’t think of right now. I told the couple with us “I’m glad I’m never going to see you again, because I’m going to embarrass myself by how much I eat” And, I did! We all did! Caleb announced that he broke his world record of eating. So, when it came time to pay, we held our breath. We were shocked to find out that for the 5 of us (and Selah certainly ate her share!), it was only $30! That’s almost what we pay at McDonald’s! But it was the best meal we've had on our trip and was a real Southern Home Cooking experience.

We also were able to go on a really nice hike at our campground, Skipaway Island. Through the entire hike the path would be crossed by humungous spider webs with big yellow spiders called banana spiders. They were creepy but really cool. When we reached the marsh there was a small boardwalk leading to a lookout tower. While walking on the boardwalk it appeared that the entire ground beneath us was moving. Looking closer we realized it was actually thousands of tiny fiddler crabs running from the vibrations when we walked. We only stayed in Savannah for 3 nights and then we headed to a campground about an hour north of Charleston, SC.

We picked this campground because it had it’s own splash park, a lazy river, and it was right on a lake. Everything was perfect except the lake. Because the area was in a drought, the lake was shallow and kind of smelly. But, we all spent hours floating around the lazy river and practicing our cannon balls. You would not believe how tan the kids are. Joshua’s hair is almost the color of Caleb’s, but Caleb’s hair is almost white! The only one without color is me. I really think I was born without pigment or something!

Charleston is a fantastic city with so much history. We spent one day just walking around the shops of the straw market and another day riding on a ferry out to see Fort Sumter. That day was a highlight for Larry. He’s been reading a “Civil War for Dummies” book and was excited to see so many places that he’s been reading about.

We have been spending a lot of time around the campground. This pool is really amazing and we usually have it all to ourselves. Schools in the south start before ours so all the kids are already in class. We took Selah to her first movie here too! One day was SO hot that we decided to go see Shrek 3 at a dollar theater. She did really great…. As long as we kept feeding her!

From here we are going to the Outer Banks of NC. Larry’s father, sister, niece, nephew, Aunt, & Uncle are supposed to join us there for a few days. We are very excited. This has been a dream vacation and we are blessed by all of the amazing things we have done as a family.

We appreciate the emails and the prayers.