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Finally the Beach – Day 3 Part 2

09/16/2017
Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.

We finally got to Folly Beach. It took us 20 to 30 extra minutes at the very end of the drive.

Folly Beach is a barrier island with only one road going in and out of town. Since it was Saturday afternoon, tourists were traveling to the beach for their vacations or local people were going to the beach.

We got stuck in the traffic because of that back up.

The sign welcoming you to Folly Beach

Since we were the first of our family to get to Folly, we picked up the keys and headed to the house. When we got to the house, there were two vehicles in the parking area. We were confused until Hubby went into the house. The vehicles belonged to the cleaning ladies. Whoever rented the house the week before had left a mess. It was taking them longer to get it clean.

So what did we do while they were cleaning? We went out to the beach. The Wee One was anxious to get into the ocean.

A little bit later, my mother-in-law showed up with food for us to cook. It was interesting trying to figure out how to use a gas stove because neither of us had ever used a gas stove before.

We sent out Hubby to the local store to get butter, ketchup, mayo, and mustard because we didn’t have any of that in the house. He came back with everything but butter. He heard the b sound so he thought we said buns.

As we sat down to eat, my sister-in-law and her family showed up. Fortunately, she had frozen some butter and had brought it down. She saved the day because we were eating corn on the cob with our dinner.

The rest of the evening was spent unpacking, walking on the beach, and sitting on the porch.

Here photos from the beach that evening.

We had to be careful on the beach because there were loggerhead turtle nesting areas throughout the area. The Imaginative One even said he saw the flipper imprints of a loggerhead turtle close to one of the nesting areas. So cool.

Join me next Saturday when I attend church at the Folly Beach United Methodist Church.

Have a magical day,
Traci

South Carolina Travel Blog Posts

South Carolina – Day 1 (Trip down to North Carolina)

South Carolina – Day 2 (Greensboro Science Center – Aquarium and Zoo) Part 1

South Carolina – Day 2 (Greensboro Science Center – Ropes Course and Zoo) Part 2

South Carolina – Day 2 (Greensboro Science Center – Museum) Part 3

South Carolina Trip – Day 2 (Greensboro Science Center – Aquarium once again) Part 4

South Carolina Trip – Day 2 (Greensboro Arboretum)

Mine, Mine, Mine – Day 3 Part 1
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Seneca Park Zoo – Blog Post #4

09/13/2017
Join me on Wednesdays for photos from my trip to Rochester, New York.

On Thursday, June 8, 2017, Molly and I went to the Seneca Park Zoo.

Hubby and I have a bucket list. We want to visit an aquarium or zoo in every state. Actually I want to visit the zoo or aquarium, he wants to geocache at the zoos or aquariums. It’s a win win situation.

I was able to cross off New York of my bucket list when we went to the zoo.

When Molly and I got there, there were a bunch of school buses at the entrance. The zoo is small so it was crowded. Plus the animals seemed to be turned around so we saw a lot of animal butts.

Here are photos from the visit. These photos are not in the order that I took them.

Vulture

Acting like tourists – LOL!

Decorations

The original zoo building

African decorations and the totem pole

Polar Bears

Penguins

Otter

Olive Baboon

Lion Exhibit – There was no lion in the exhibit.

Greek Salad – The best salad I have ever found in a zoo.

Tiger and a Goat

Elephants

Eagle Exhibit – The ducks live in the exhibit

Eagle statue

Baby orangutan

Baby orangutan

Clockwise – From top left to bottom left – Rhino, Duck, Poison Dart Frog, Lemur

From left to right – Alligator, Gecko, Wolf

African decorations

Flowers

Join me next Wednesday for our visit to Lake Ontario.

Have a magical day,
Traci
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Flight 93 Memorial – Part 2 – The Memorial

09/12/2017
After we got done with the Overlook and museum, we drove down to the Memorial. It was over 90 degrees so a walk from the Overlook parking lot to the Memorial was going to be unbearable.

The Imaginative One stayed in the car while I went out to the Memorial. One of the park rangers was telling stories of some of passengers and how the plane just missed the elementary school by mere seconds.

The memorial was wonderful. Each individual on the plane was given a individual wall on the Wall of Names.

There is a 5 ton boulder where the impact left a hole.

Click on this link for more information about the Flight 93 National Memorial. If you get the chance to visit the memorial, I would recommend you visit it.

Have a magical day,
Traci
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Flight 93 Memorial – Overlook and Museum – Part 1

09/11/2017
If the plane flew for another 3 or so seconds, it would have hit the Shanksville Elementary School.

Last year, I shared my 9-11 story. This year I’m going to share my photos from visit to the Flight 93 Memorial.

Shanksville, PA is located 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh on the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental roadway connecting New York City to San Francisco. The Imaginative One and I drove on the highway for 70 miles. It was twisty and turny throughout the drive. The views though were worth the drive. I wish I had photos of the some of the places we saw while driving on the highway.

We saw Fort Ligonier, a replica of the French-Indian War fort. It was so cool. We also drove past a castle and a giant joker. At one point, we were 2,640 miles above sea level.

This post is not about the Lincoln Highway. It’s about the Flight 93 Memorial.

The Imaginative One and I were traveling to Hershey, PA so I decided to make a stop at the Flight 93 Memorial.

Tears flowed from my eyes as I walked along the flight path to the overlook over the field where the plane went down.

It was a surreal and beautiful place. If you ever have the chance to go there, please do.

Today I’m sharing photos from the Overlook and the museum. Tomorrow I’m going to share the actual memorial.

I’m not to write any descriptions about these photos. I’m going the photos tell the story.

Join me tomorrow for the actual memorial photos.

Have a magical day,
Traci

P.S. Remember those who were brave enough to save a town and a school full of children.
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Homemade Gluten Free Brownies

09/10/2017
Ever since late January, I have been eating a mostly gluten free diet. When I eat gluten, it messes up my body. I get headaches or my energy level tanks out. It sucks because it mostly with desserts. Your body truly does change after turning 40. Mine gave me a year and a half after my 40th birthday to change it’s chemistry.

I also have to be careful with the amount of dairy I eat because it causes me to get stuffed up. Do not even talk about ice cream because I cannot eat it AT all. It messes up my body or causes me to break out.

On Friday night I was craving brownies so I looked for a gluten free recipe. You would not know these brownies are gluten free at all. All I can taste is the fudgy goodness without feeling like crap afterwards. Win! Win!

Oh and afterwards, I was so tired from my busy work week that I crashed on the couch while the family was watching a movie. I only got to taste the delicious brownies. I may have eaten some brownie for my breakfast on Saturday morning.

For the recipe, visit my Food Journey blog where I post my gluten free and dairy free recipes.

I have other gluten free brownie recipes on this blog if you want to check out those recipes: vegan black bean brownies and No Bake Turtle Walnut Brownies.

Happy eating,
Traci

P.S. What are some foods that you used to be able to eat that you cannot eat anymore?
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Mine, Mine, Mine – Day 3 Part 1

09/09/2017
Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.

Today we are going to visit the Reed Gold Mine in Midland, North Carolina. It’s located about 30 minutes away from Charlotte. Best of all, it’s free except for the gold mining which was $3.21 per pan.

I often take photos of the boys when they have to sleep in the same bed on vacation. The Imaginative One was actually awake but pretended to sleep.

Then Hubby decided to jump on the bed so he could wake up the Wee One.

We were located down the street from the University of North Carolina. Once I realized we were driving past it, I could only take one photo of a random building on the campus.

So what is the Reed Gold Mine? It’s actually the first place in the United States that found gold. Gold was found in 1799, 50 years prior to the California Gold Rush. In fact, there are many former gold mines in the Piedmont area of North Carolina.

I thought of the Pocahontas song,

We went on the self guided tour of the area.

Walking to the underground area of the mine – Such a beautiful area

Here is the inside of the mine:

The Wee One did not want to go in the mine but changed his mind.

We enjoyed checking out the Upper Hill of the mine area. It’s above the underground mine so we had to be careful because there is still some open shafts. Fortunately there was signs reminding us to be careful or there were fencing around the open shaft areas.

We decided to have an impromptu photo shoot in front of the 1895 Stamp Mill.

This is the 1895 Stamp Mill. A family from Springfield, Ohio decided to try to revitalize the Reed Gold Mine. They did find some gold but were not successful.

Some signs and equipment on the land

After exploring the mine, we panned for gold. Actually I watched the boys and Hubby pan for gold. They allowed me to get on the other side of the trough so I could get photos.

We found two gold flakes worth a few dollars at most. Still it was a cool experience.

After we got done at Reed Gold Mine, we traveled down to Folly Beach.

Taking photos at the Welcome Center to South Carolina. I love how they used the frame prop.

Random Shots

Top – Outside the welcome center – They did not want to take the photo. I told them that one day they will appreciate it. The lady in the next swing said “Yes, you will.”

Bottom Left – They had Google Maps on a big screen.

Bottom Right – The Imaginative One was bored of my taking photos.

Taking photos in front of the South Carolina map

Beautiful flowers outside the welcome center

The BBQ chicken wings and fries that the Wee One and I shared from Zaxby’s. Yum!

Join me next Saturday where I’ll finally be on Folly Beach.

Have a magical day,
Traci

South Carolina Travel Blog Posts

South Carolina – Day 1 (Trip down to North Carolina)

South Carolina – Day 2 (Greensboro Science Center – Aquarium and Zoo) Part 1

South Carolina – Day 2 (Greensboro Science Center – Ropes Course and Zoo) Part 2

South Carolina – Day 2 (Greensboro Science Center – Museum) Part 3

South Carolina Trip – Day 2 (Greensboro Science Center – Aquarium once again) Part 4

South Carolina Trip – Day 2 (Greensboro Arboretum)
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Celebrating Tanya’s 40th birthday

09/07/2017
We didn’t think about where we were going to release the balloons. If we had only moved to the other end of the deck, we would have been okay.

3. Write a blog post inspired by the word: rise.

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Sunset at Canandaigua Lake (Blog Post #3)

09/06/2017
“Join me on Wednesdays for photos of my trip to Rochester, New York.”

After going to the mall, we went back to Molly’s house. Her husband cooked us P.F. Chang’s lettuce wraps for dinner. Yum!

Even though we wanted to go to Scoops for ice cream, we were too full. That did not stop us from going to see the sunset at Canandaigua Lake.

Did you know that Humphrey Bogart had a summer home on Canandaigua Lake? I found that piece of trivia.

Canandaigua Lake is known for their historic boathouses. People cannot live in the houses. It’s more of a garage for their boat with a little living space. They are not allowed to have running water in the boathouses.

Walking around the Canandaigua Lake Historic Boathouses (I was talking about the Red Lighthouse in Holland, Michigan.)

Molly and My Shadow – What a great way to get a selfie. LOL!

Various signs at the pier

Views of the Lake and Pier at Sunset

After we left the boathouse/ pier area, we went to the public park area. There was an anatomically correct horse statue called Hanging Hoof.

They had started to build a hotel but the hotel ran out of money. It’s now a shell of a hotel. Our running joke was that Molly was going to make me stay there because I could not pronounce Canandaigua.

More signs near the hotel area

I have more photos of the Canandaigua Lake area that I’ll share in a future post. We had a picnic lunch there on Sunday afternoon.

Join me next Wednesday for our visit to the Seneca Park Zoo where I got to cross visiting a zoo in New York off my list.

Have a magical day,
Traci
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Reminds me of Hogwarts

09/03/2017
This is the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Flowers Galore – Day 2 Part 5

09/02/2017
Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.

Today we’re visiting the Greensboro Arboretum. We only saw a small portion of the arboretum. The arboretum is 17 acres with 3 different entrances. We went to the Ashland Drive entrance with the parking lot across the street.

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