aimeekitty

Though I lived in several states as a little kid, all of the growing up that I can remember was in Charleston, South Carolina. This is a gorgeous coastal town steeped in Civil War history. It has beautiful old buildings, awesome rivers, views of the ocean, a harbor, lovely gardens, lots of quirky stories, great food and lots of polite, easy-going southerners.

I hadn't been able to make it home since over a year ago, so since I had a temporary break from work, I decided to see my family.

First day, mom and I went out to Middleton Plantation (1741, rice plantation, wiki entry), which has always been my favorite of the Charleston area plantations. The main reasons for my love of it are the terrace, the big lawn, the hanging branches of the huge oaks, the reflecting pools and the profusion of azaleas in the spring. Now, with my new found appreciation of the 18th century, I have even more reason to love it.

Mom :)
The building you see to the side of her was actually one of the side buildings. The other two, including the main building, was burnt during the Civil War. You can see the intact steps of the main building to the left of her.

BABY SHEEEEEEP

I made her laugh. XD

BABY GATOR. Man the tourists were all "dude, I can't believe she's getting that close!"

I love the perfect reflection on the water...

part of the terrace

Makes me tempted to make a mini formal garden at my house. But I'm too ~~lazy~~ busy to clip boxwoods.

one of the really big oak trees on the grounds

When I was a kid, my dad took us out in boats on the ocean and the rivers of Charleston all the time. Mom would make sandwiches and brownies, and we'd sit on the river and look at Middleton from a view that most people don't see!
In this photo below, the smooth water in the foreground is one of the rice fields, and beyond that is the river.

Then, Mom and me made a lot of FOOD.

Mom's sourdough yeast rolls

so much better than cinabon.

This is the view out the living room window of my parents house. It was raining a bit and the drops on the glass caused a blurred effect to the photo.

I was helping my Mom clean out some of my old stuff, so I peaked in my old bedroom closet. I thought this was pretty amusing because my old bedroom still looks pretty girly, lacey curtains and all, but you peak in the closet and it's full of hunting gear and bullets. (This is mostly my brother's stuff, he's been doing a lot of hunting lately. In fact, he recently got a huge wild boar, and then made sausage out of it. I HATE all forms of bacon and sausage, but I tried it since it was his... it was pretty good for sausage!)

The next day, Mom, Dad and I went downtown to one of the older cemeteries.

I guess when they replace headstones, they use the older bits to make a path?

right about now, my camera battery died

My god.
(these shorts costs $180. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY DOLLARS TO LOOK THAT STUPID, folks. Only in Charleston!)

Mom practicing in the morning. She plays piano for the women's Bible study.

Dad decided to take me on a bike ride. The look on my face there is UTTER FEAR. My brother, mom and dad ride motorbikes all the time, in fact... my brother raced competitively for a while. But I've only been on them once or twice in my entire life. Every time we turn, my heart stops. haha. I would like to try skydiving at some point, though. (I think?)

We drove over to the Beafort area on Dad's bike (which is actually very comfy when you're not making turns and thinking you're going to die. XD)
One of my favorite Charleston churches is Old Sheldon. It was burned by the British AND the Yanks.It's still gorgeous though, isn't it? I almost got married here, actually,... but I was afraid my guests would be too cold. (We got married in December) Actually, if you look hard you can see a few white chairs and a white runner,... I guess someone was getting married there today!