Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.
I mentioned the Hunley when I did the book review for The Girl on Legare Street written by Karen White. I shared a few of these photo collages in that post.
You can only visit the museum where they are restoring the Hunley on the weekends. So that’s where we went on Sunday afternoon.
Have you heard about the Hunley? It was a Confederate submarine that sunk an Union ship during the Civil War. After it sunk the Union ship, it disappeared.
No one knows what caused the Hunley to sink and disappear.
Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.
We had a storm on Saturday night so it was humid when I got up on Sunday morning.
I was not able to get any sunrise photos that morning.
Since we did not do a big grocery shopping trip on Saturday evening, Hubby decided that Sunday morning would be the best time to get it done. He did not want to run into the same traffic jam like the afternoon before.
Right outside our beach house was a huge puddle. The reflection was wonderful. This is the house across from us.
Here is downtown Folly Beach on a quiet Sunday morning.The Wee One would “wake up” in the morning, remove his blanket from his bed, and then go into the living room to sleep some more.
When we were in Folly in 2009, I attended church at the Folly Beach United Methodist Church. I wanted to attend the church in 2013 but missed the service by an hour. This year I was bound and determined to attend a church service.
I was not the only tourist attending the service. There was a couple from Tennessee and a family from close to Berea, Kentucky worshipping at the church.
The congregation was welcoming. When we go back to Folly Beach, I am going to make sure I attend another service.
The one thing that stuck with me is the pastor singing “Who Am I?” by Casting Crowns before beginning his sermon. That became the theme of my early morning walks on the beach.
The church is absolutely beautiful.
After I got back to the beach house, it was time for us to eat lunch before going to see the Hunley.
The kids thought it was funny to use the glasses meant for alcoholic beverages for their lemonade. The Imaginative One picked the biggest wine glass.
Join me next Saturday for our visit to see the Hunley.
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.
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.
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.
Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.
Today is our last post from the Greensboro Science Center.
Before we left for the day, we decided to walk through the aquarium. Boy are we glad that we did that walk through because we found the coolest room.
It had various tanks with fish divided into different ecosystems such as coral reefs. The jellyfish display were in this room. The neatest part of the room was the interactive walls.
This is the computer animated fish at the beginning of the cool room.
The jelly fish
The lionfish – They had another area that you could climb into to get closer to the lionfish. The Wee One thought it was cool.
This was from that cool room.
Front top left to middle left, clockwise
Top Left – The wall that was the entrance to the room
Middle – A seahorse sculpture
Top Right – An interactive wall about coral reefs
Middle Right – Another interactive wall – This one is about adaptations.
Bottom Right – The sign listing all of the fish that were located in one of the tanks.
Bottom Left – Hubby trying out another interactive wall.
Middle Right – A light display on the floor.
More photos of the octopus
The Wee One and Imaginative One wanted to touch the manta rays once again before we left for the day.
Here are some shots of the various fish, stingrays, eels, seahorses, and sharks that we saw in the aquarium.
The fishing cat – We did not get to see him earlier in the day. We were so happy that we got to see him that afternoon.
The penguin and golden lion tamarin
Some of the signs
Join me next Saturday as we explore the Greensboro Arboretum.
Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.
We have two more posts about the Greensboro Science Center. Today we are going to explore the museum part of the Greensboro Science Center.
The gem they have in the atrium.
They have a lab downstairs that we visited. The boys were able to pet a snake while we were in the lab.
The alligator snapping turtle – We swear it’s the alligator snapping turtle that was a special exhibit at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery a few years ago.
The rhino nosed lizard (I think it’s the name of the lizard.)
The Imaginative One was intrigued by it. He could have stared at it for a long time.
Random displays downstairs
A poison dart frog and a person showing off the skulls of different reptiles.
The pendulum and area where visitors could sit and eat.
The murals they had in the atrium of the museum.
They had an interactive display about health.
They also had an exhibit about weather. I enjoyed reading about different extreme weather.
The dinosaur exhibit
Random Shots of the museum
Join me next Saturday for more photos of the aquarium.
Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.
Ropes Course
Here is a video of the Imaginative One on the ropes course.
And the Wee One on the ropes course –
The boys were given a two hour block of time that they could be on the ropes course. During that time, they could be on any of the courses – beginner, medium, and advanced. They ended up lasting for 1 hours and 45 minutes before they decided to be done with the course.
It was well worth the money we spent. At one point, the Wee One thanked Hubby for having him do the course. He really enjoyed doing it.
Here are three collages of them on the course.
Zoo
Gibbon talk
Animals in the Discovery House – The animal on the bottom right is a chinchilla.
From left top clockwise to left middle
Chickens – They were given free reign of the area.
Meerkat
Wallaby
Tortoise
Some sort of bird that was up in the rafters
Alpaca
The farm area was sponsored by Levi jeans. They had this cool jeans sculpture.
More of the Gibbons
Random Shots
Tiger
There was a goat in the back of the truck and a dog statue in the front of the truck.
Join me on Saturdays for posts about our South Carolina trip.
Hotel Fun
The boys decided they wanted to form a duck choir while we were in the hotel room.
The boys wanted to pretend they were T-Rexes. They ran around the room with part of their arm in their shirts.
After all the fun at the hotel, we checked out of the hotel and then went to the Greensboro Science Center. The science center had a ropes course, aquarium, children’s museum, and a zoo.
Aquarium
At the front of the aquarium is a sign with a flashing sea creature. It went too fast to get a good photo.
The otters – They had an area where you could climb in and get closer to the otters.
Penguins
The science center had a HUGE octopus. He was out while we were there in the morning.
They had an area where you could pet manta rays. The boys loved being about to touch them.
Decorations
They had a submarine that you could climb into so Hubby and the boys had to climb into it.
They also had a big tank of fish, sharks, and manta rays.
We only did a brief walk through of the aquarium because the boys were going to do the ropes course. They give you a time to do the ropes course. Our time was an hour after we got there.
The atrium of the science center
We had to walk through the atrium on our way to the zoo because the zoo is where the ropes course is located.
Zoo
The cockatoo and Macaw
The Gibbons – They were so much fun to watch.
The lemurs
This peacock was walking around. I thought that was cool.
Random Shots
More random shots
Red Panda – The Wee One’s favorite animal. He was one happy child when he got to see it.
I loved the signs they had for all of the animals.
Tortoises
Hubby helping the Wee One get geared up for the ropes course.
The Imaginative One getting ready for the ropes course.
Join me next Saturday for the boys on the ropes course and more of the zoo.
All of the sudden my camera was not working. The photos were hazy.
What was wrong with my camera? (Insert some not nice words.)
I tried wiping my lens because it could have been condensation. Maybe it was the other end of the end of the lens. Still nothing worked. Everything was still hazy.
I sat down on the rocks trying to figure out what was wrong with my camera.
Sitting down on the rocks gave me clarity because I was almost ready to walk back to the beach house in a fury. Or I might have tossed the camera in the ocean.
Once I had a clear head, I decided to see if it was the sensor that was fogged up. Once I cleaned the sensor, my photos became clearer. No more hazy photos – My day was saved.
So why did my camera fog up so bad.
It was humid.
Now that my camera was defogged, I was able to continue on my walk. That morning I walked for 2 hours.
Life was great once I figured out why my camera was not working.
Later that morning, it began to rain for two or three hours. I’m glad I got out and walked before the rain.
