Inspiration House, Hilton Head, Daufuskie Island, Gullah people, Parties

Inspiration House is an 11,000 sq ft. new home (8000 sq. ft. living space plus basketball court) being built for a young family.   The family in cooperation with the builder and many contractors opened up the house to the public for 8 days.  The proceeds of all the tickets ($10 each) go to either the Humane Society (a charity Newcomers is supporting) or Susan B. Kormen Cancer fund.  Newcomers volunteered to be docents one evening of the tour.

Take your own guided tour through the house.   It’s really something, especially the 3000 sq. ft. basketball court with sky box. They would not tell us the price except to say “north of $2 million.  The home has 3 laundry rooms, a locker room to go with the basketball court , home theater, huge family/bar room and of course a swimming pool.   Enjoy the tour.
http://www.ihomesc.com/mobile/

Before you can start the tour in the three boxes put in you name, email and  zipcode.   I’ve registered several times and so far haven’t gotten any emails from them.

So of course you want to know my favorite thing.   Because they donated money to the Humane Society I guessed they had animals.   They have at least one cat and dog.   This is why I know that.   They have a cat room. They have a room the size of a regular coat closet that has an opening for the cat so the cat can get away from the dog (who is too big to go through the hole) and this cat closet has a bunch of perches where kitty can feel safe.   I’m guessing that’s also where the litter box is.  Only problem I see is it’s dark and away from the family.   Don’t think my two fur children would hang out there but I don’t know their cat.   Anyway, an unusual space in this big house.

Last Tues., Wed., Thursday we met our friends Lynn and Bob in Hilton Head where they were using a week of time share at a Marriott property.  Lovely resort.   We had drinks at a waterfront bar and watched a beautiful sunset.   After a delicious Italian dinner cooked by Lynn and Bob we walked down to sit by the outdoor fire.   It was dark, the ground was uneven and I took a nasty fall.   We were all pretty worried about the bruise on my knee and the sore shoulder I had but after a couple days I improved dramatically.  Only a little sore now.

On Wed. we took a boat trip over to Daufuskie Island, home of a small community of Gullah people (only 17 left on the island) and private resorts and golf courses.  There is no bridge to the island so people come by boat from Hilton Head and Savannah.   The Gullah people are descendents of slaves who came from Africa and kind of got “forgotten” after the Civil War.   They have developed their own very distinctive language and culture and are on several of the barrier islands along NC, SC and Georgia. It is a real struggle for the people to preserve their culture.    We took a bus tour of the island so learned lots of history going back to early Indians at least 5000 years ago.  Before we left we had some famous Daufuskie steamed crab cake.  Lots of crab and not fishy.   We all said yummy. All very interesting.   I hope their museums and people can preserve this culture.

It was a beautiful day.   Both at the dock and on the boat trip we saw lots of dolphins and that is always a treat.   We sat outside at the dock and had some drinks and lunch and then being exhausted from such a day of fun most of us caught a nap.   We ended the evening with a nice dinner.   All in all a very pleasant way to spend a few days.   We know Lynn and Bob very well so there is no shortage of conversation.

Hilton Head is about 4 1/2 hours from our house and we had a fun book on CD that kept us entertained in the car and made the time fly by. The book we are listening to is  The Cat Who Lived High, the 11th novel in the Cat Who series of murder mystery novels by Lilian Jackson Braun.  We have read several in the series.   It features a millionaire bachelor and his two Siamese cats Cocoa and Yum Yum.   They all manage to get into some kind of murder mystery trouble.  Cocoa is also quite a little sleuth.  Since we are cat lovers we thoroughly enjoy the antics of the two cats.   Good character development and the plot isn’t too complicated to listen to in the car.   If you have ever read any of the “Midford” books by Jan Karon, these have a similar style.

Last night we went to a dinner party at the home of one of our Newcomer friends and the six of us had a great dinner and exchanged a few Christmas gifts.  Of special interest were a beautiful paduka tree ornament made by our host, a black bottle of wine in the shape of a cat and a great wine book.  Pictures to come later.   We need another memory card for our new camera so we can take more than 10 photos before unloading them.   Tonight is Cocktails R Us with probably 50 Newcomers at the home of a member in a very nice subdivision here in Greenville.

Sunday we will go swimming and then to “Miracle on 34th Street” at Centre Stage which is being done as a radio show.   Should be interesting.

Other than that we have been busy making Christmas gifts.   Pictures to follow.   There are a couple new things this year that I think you will enjoy seeing.

Chateau Elan weekend girls trip

I am behind on writing about my adventures.   Kind of hit a month or so when I just didn’t feel like doing much of anything so I didn’t.  My theory is I was just so tired of the heat and being cooped up inside with the air conditioner.   I really miss being outside and having the windows open.   I did get a couple books read which I haven’t done in a very long time.   Steven King’s 11-22-63 and Night Circus.   Thank you friend G. Ann for loaning them to me.

Quite by chance in August I got an opportunity to go with my friend from Newcomers, Cindy, on a two night trip to just north of Atlanta GA  to the beautiful Chateau Elan Resort, Spa, Conference Center, Golf Course Winery and Vineyard.  Cindy is also a big cat lover so we spent a good amount of time talking about our kitties.   I didn’t even know Georgia had much wine making going on so it was a very educational trip.

We left on Sat. morning.  It is only a 2 1/2 hr. drive.  Sat. night they had this spectacular wine and food paring meal out in the vineyard with dessert under the stars.  I had a meal like this on my bucket list and it was fabulous.   There were only 40 people there, two long tables of 20.  We sat with some really interesting folks so it was good company, a beautiful setting, wonderful music and of course great food and wine.   All the wine was from Chateau Elan.  The pictures tell the story.  Each course was a work of art.

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Georgia is known for its Muscadine grapes and wine.  The southern US is the only place in the world that these grapes grow.  I have to be honest and admit that I am not a fan of Muscadine wine.   It is usually quite sweet and has an unusual flavor.  The food and wine paring brought one very unexpected combination.   We had a salad with quite a bit of gorgonzola cheese and it was the perfect combination with the Muscadine wine.   I was really surprised and liked it quite a bit.   We had three of their white wines, a couple red wines and port with the chocolate dessert.  By the time we got to dessert it was dark outside and all the stars were out and there was a big full moon.   It was perfect.

Our room was on the bottom floor and overlooked the golf course so I could read my book out on our little patio.   On Sunday we attended the food and wine festival in the winery.   The winery is huge.  Tens of thousands of square feet on three levels.  Includes a large gift shop and demonstration cooking kitchen.  I had a great opportunity to collect info on some wineries in north GA which isn’t far from us.   There were also quite a few beer breweries.   Did you know there is peach beer, orange beer, chocolate beer, coffee beer, vanilla?  I didn’t try any of these.   Just give me the plain simple beverage.

Click here to get to a map of all the wineries.  Some are up in the mountains.  Bob and I hope to get to visit some of these when the fall colors arrive in Oct.  In addition to tasting wine and eating we went to one cooking demonstration on a yummy pork dish  and one wine lecture on Muscadine grapes.   Really interesting.  Although GA is known for the Muscadine grapes they also grow many other so there is a good selection for everyone.

Sun. night I went for a swim in the pool and soak in the hot tub.   It was a great day.

On Sunday we had the brunch at the hotel and took a short tour of the spa, which is in a separate building with its own small hotel.  Definitely Chateau Elan is the full package of things to do.  The resort is in Braselton GA.  Here is an interesting tidbit about Braselton: In 1989 Kim Basinger  paid $20 million to buy the entire town of Braselton, Georgia, about 60 miles from Atlanta. Four years later, she was sued for backing out of a film she had agreed to star in, and was forced to sell Braselton for just $1 million.   Here is my question – How and who do you buy a town from?

I think this is only my third girls weekend in my life plus I have gone on several weekend retreats but this was different from a retreat.  Hope you enjoyed the story.   I would definitely recommend visiting the property.

Still to come another time-

Bob and I had a weeks vacation in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in early June which I haven’t told you about yet.  Let me just say that Virginia is an absolutely beautiful state.  They have mountains, wineries, scenic wonders and Monticello as well as a lavender farm!

A day in the mountains

I took the 1 3/4 hour drive up to Cashiers in the mountains in NC.   Cashiers is an absolutely charming little town with many lovely stores and what looks like many good restaurants.   Very well maintained and upscale town.  I think I remember back when we were looking for a place to live that we were quite impressed with it and it is even nicer now.   Plenty of plants and art galleries.

Cashiers is in the Sapphire Valley.  They used to, and maybe still do, mine sapphires there.  Miners would go to get their money for the gems or cash them in and so we have the town named Cashiers because that’s where they went.   Very cool story.

My friend Debby and a girlfriend of hers are on vacation there this week and I went up to see her.  I arrived at 10 a.m. and we took the best guided nature walk ever.   Our beautiful guide Wendy lived “off the grid” for quite some time in these mountains and her stories about all the plants and flowers was to say the least interesting.   She had to forage for food in the woods and really spoke from the heart about the plants.  She didn’t know the botanical names but she knew the common name and also the name they were called by the locals.   The walk was an easy trail in the woods and lasted about 2 hours.   At the end it started to rain and Bob went to get the car to pick up up.

After we dried off at the time share unit we went for lunch.  A very, very popular place called Cornicopia.  Bob and I split an order of ribs and still brought some home.  While we waited to be seated we browsed their fine cheese and gourmet shop.  I forgot to pick up some smoked trout.   Darn.

After that we sat by the pool and visited for awhile.  After making a call to FL we found out that her nephew Jeremy, our god daughter Amanda’s brother, and his wife will be having a baby in December.  Yippie!

We left a little after 4 and made the beautiful drive back to Travelers Rest. The highway 11 route is one of my favorites.  It has hills but not so many curvy roads and is so lush and green.  Not really any towns for many miles.  A wonderful day.

If you are looking for a vacation spot in the Blue Ridge Mountains Cashiers is definitely an area to check out.   It seems to have upscale resorts, golf courses, close to several state parks and white water rafting, hiking and canoe or kayak.   Within an hours drive you have Asheville, Cherokee and the casino and Bryson City and all the activities these towns have.  That would include Biltmore Estate, Cherokee “Eyes to the Hills” program and Cherokee Indian Museum.  Bryson City has a fantastic train trip.  All nestled in the beautiful energy of the mountains.

It’s so nice to be liked

Just a quick post to give you a chuckle.   A couple weeks ago we went on a wine tour.  We were sampling wine at a beautiful winery near Tryon, NC, about 50 miles from our house.   It was called Mountain View.   You all know what an animal lover I am and the winery had this huge Great Dane called Jackson.  He really liked me and did his best to try to get into my lap.   We were all laughing so hard we were crying.   He was huge and just a big baby.  You can see he is so big the arm of the chair just goes under him.

Here is the view from the winery.  You can see the mountains in the back.  It was a beautiful setting.

Photos of Greenville and the Blue Ridge Parkway

I made a slide show at Picasa of recent photos I took around Greenville and into NC.   You will see the Biltmore Estate grounds, Greenville, Furman University, Paris Mountain, Caesars Head State Park, Pretty Place (yes that is it’s real name), NC waterfalls, the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway and our back yard.

Click here to see the slide show.  On the far left click on slideshow.

Biltmore Stained Glass Carpet of Flowers

Thursday Bob and I went up to the Biltmore in Asheville, NC (45 minutes) to see the carpet of flowers.  WOW!   We didn’t even go in the house  (200 rooms and 175,000 square feet) this trip but instead spent time in the gardens and conservatory. The conservatory is bigger than the St. Paul Como Park Conservatory.  Frederic Olmstead designed the gardens and property plantings for this estate.  He also designed New York’s Central Park.  Nice to have talented friends!

The Stained Glass Carpet was inspired by the stained glass work of John LaFarege who inspired Louis Tiffany.   This flowered stain glass garden  is 1/4 acre and has 155,000 plants.   That’s not a typo.  Breathtaking.   The day was absolutely perfect.

After the garden tour we had lunch at Cederic in the new Antler Hill area. Cederic was a well loved great Bernard dog that Vanderbilt had. From what I have seen, the dogs ruled the house just like Sabrina and Smoky dominate our house.  It appears if the house is 2000 sq. ft or 175,000 (no typo) animals rule.

We love Cedrics  Restaurant. We especially love the appetizer pickles and bought two quarts to bring home.  The pickles are so fresh, crisp and light. When have you ever heard anyone rave about pickles?  For lunch  I had a lightly battered halibut that was delicious.  After lunch we found a shaded spot by the French Broad River, still on Biltmore property, and opened up our lawn chairs and had a little nap with the bubbling background noise of the river.  Very relaxing.

We were going to go to the Farmers Market but  were to tired so made the 45 minute drive back home and when we got home had another short nap.

Life part two is pretty relaxing.   What we do each week is my dream and it is so fun to see Bob enjoying it.   He had no idea life would be this much fun.

Enjoy the photos.

They also light it at night which I bet is beautiful.   There weren’t many people around so it was really relaxing.

Our trip to Minnesota and fall activities

In early September we made a trip back for Bob’s nephew Jeff’s wedding and to visit with family and friends.  Thanks to the efforts of several friends and family we had the opportunity to see over 50 of our very special family and friends.

This is the party goose that greeted us at our neighbors Lee and Anita.

Even though we have made friends in SC it doesn’t compare to the depth of friendship that comes when you have known people for 20 or 30 years.   All that history together makes for very special relationships.

This is a group of people I worked with at the U of MN.

We had 6 different beds in 7 nights so got the opportunity to live out of our suitcases but it wasn’t bad. When we arrived it was 86 but after that got COLD!

Doggies Stella and Ruby helped give Fay her animal love.   They crawled under the covers at night and quietly snuggled with us.  Other doggies Nora and Birdie also showed us their furry love.  I brought all the dogs treats from the company that I just did a web site for Elliesediblepawtreats.com.

For all our human hosts we brought items we have turned on the lathe – pens, bottle stoppers and candles so they have something to remember us by.  We have fun making them and even more fun giving them as gifts.

We also got to a Twins game at the new Target Stadium.   It was really beautiful and fun to be outside watching the game even though it was cool.  Isn’t that a spectacular view of the city?

The wedding was in Wadena, MN about 3 hours from the Twin Cities and we really enjoyed the drive up there and back.  All back roads through little towns and lush farming land.  So very relaxing and beautiful.  The pre wedding activities were a little difficult.   The bride and groom to be had a flat tire on the way to Wadena, the brides sister had a car accident and totaled her sisters car (no one hurt), Bob’s mom Helen fell in the middle of the night and broke her ankle in two places and the flower girl Mimi fell in her white dress on the lawn and got  grass stains and goose poop all over her dress.  The wedding was outdoors.   Helen made it to the wedding but not the reception and a couple days later had surgery to repair her ankle and is now recovering for several weeks in a transition facility in Roseville.  Helen is such a trooper. Mimi’s dad Chad used a toothbrush, soap  to clean the dress and the hotel  hair dryer to dry the dress to make it look like new. You would never have know there was an accident.

Fay and Bob with Bob’s great niece Mimi.   Isn’t Mimi a beauty?  Fay and Bob clean up pretty good too.

Jeff and Sara the bride and groom.  The wedding was outside with a little lake as a background.   Weather was perfect.  We wish them a very happy life together.

And what trip to MN would be complete unless you had a photo of one of the 10,000 lakes.   This was taken in Litchfield at my friend Chris’s lake home.

A big thank you to everyone who made this a very special trip back to MN.  We will be coming back again next June.  That trip  will be here before we know it.

Travel is nice but Bob and I can both wait awhile to get on an airplane again.  It’s good to be back in SC.  Weather is cooling off and the trees are just beginning to turn a little.  Apple season is almost here.  We are only 20 miles from the NC border.   Did you know NC produces as many apples as Washington?   I’m doing my fall planting of pansies and flowering kale and cabbage.

We have visitors coming from MN next weekend and from California for a week in mid October.  Our three classes and Friday trips start at Furman next week and there are always Newcomers activities so it will be a busy fun fall.  We may even get a trip to NC wine country in early October.  Wine country like California but only 4 hours away.

Our next trip is a time share vacation for a week in November and is a driving trip to Nashville (6 hours) and Memphis (another 1.5 hours) .  It will be a beautiful time of year to drive there.  We know the area is still recovering from the flood earlier this year but I’m sure will still have a good time.   I just got the travel books from both cities and we are getting pumped for Elvis, country music and lots of history and plantation tours.  If anyone has been there and has hints please pass them along.

The Nelson Family Visit – Part One

Fay and god daughter Amanda.  I can’t believe it’s been a couple weeks since the Nelson family came to visit.   What can you do in SC in less than a week?

Amanda and her sister April flew in just before noon on Tuesday.  We got them settled in at our house and then drove them up to Caeasars Head Park and Pretty Place.  The elevation is 3200 ft.  It was 95 when we left our house and 65 when we got to Pretty Place.  We hit a storm at Caesars Head and saw some pretty incredible clouds come and go.  The girls slept on the way back to the  house and we had a picnic dinner and long visit that night.   It is so great to have them here.

Wednesday we went to Hollywild Park/Zoo.  It was really hot but we had a fantastic time.  You can get really close to the animals.  We saw the lion that was the inspiration for the lion in Lion King and tossed chicken to the lion, bengal tigers and white tigers.  The safari ride in the open bus was the hit of the trip.Had lunch at a great little sushie restaurant and made it home just in time for Amanda’s brother Jeremy and his wife Megan to arrive from Orlando and her aunt Debby and cousins Abby and Carly to drive in from MN.   Everyone is staying here.  Had a picnic dinner and talked until late on the screened porch and watched a beautiful full moon.

See all my photos at Picasa

Alaska Part One

After several years of discussing and researching this trip and trying to decide if we wanted a cruise and land trip or land trip only, we finally made the decision for  9 day land trip organized by Furman University.  Furman and Greg Cornwell our escort and naturalist took care of everything.  All we did was show up when we were supposed to.  No hassel checking in and out of hotels, no  standing in line to get tickets, no moving luggage, no being lost, no driving for Bob – it was painless and while still the most expensive vacation ever, we thought a good value.  It was also a VERY busy schedule.  More than Bob or I would ever have done on our own but that’s ok.  If we are going 4500 miles each way  we should see the sights. 

Link to photos is at the end of this post.  We also took movies but haven’t had a chance to look at those yet.    Hope they have more wild life pictures.

We traveled with 20 other people, mostly our age and a very nice group they were.   No jerks, loudmouths or latecomers.   We had good weather, around 65, and good food which surprised me.  Of course beautiful mountains and wildlife.  The down side was everything was expensive.  Gas was $1 more a gallon than SC.  I just kept telling myself they pay more for gas, ship lots of stuff in and have only about 100 day tourist season to make all their income for the year.  Fay, get over $50 for a couple glasses of wine and a snack.  It’s only money!

On Saturday June 5 we left from Charlotte NC airport (1 1/2 hours from our house) and flew to Philadelphia and then 8 hours to Anchorage arriving at 9 p.m. Alaska time or 1 a.m. SC time .  Two movies on the plane helped the time pass quicker than I expected.  The four hour time change was something we never completely adjusted too.   The first few days were really hard plus 22 hours of sunlight.   I could get to like that.  Had a glass of wine and deep fried halibut appetizer (YUM YUM) and tried to get a good nights sleep.  Hiltons have the BEST beds and pillows.

On Sunday we boarded a domed top  train to go to Denali National Park, about 6 hours on the train.   We were fortunate enough to be part of the 20% of people who see Mt. McKinley or Denali.  Hard to believe 20, 232 ft. of mountain can hide but it does most of the time.  It’s 100 sq mile foot print and height let it create it’s own weather which is usually lots of clouds. For breakfast I had eggs with a side of reindeer sausage and for lunch a very good seafood chowder.  Seats were  comfortable, view beautiful.

Getting comfortable on the train.

Mt. McKinley or Denali from the train

We learned much about climbing the mountain.   There are about 1200 climbers a year in the summer and about half make it to the top.   It takes 2-3 weeks.  They have to camp and acclimate to the climate with about half  the oxygen and also may have snow storms that stop them for days.  In Telketeena where the climbers prepare it was 65 degrees and by the time you get 17,000 ft. up at night it is -5 degrees at this time of the year and that’s still 3000 ft. from the top.  A climber died while we were there so a very dangerous sport.  A guide gets about $6000 to take you up plus all your other costs and gear and time off work.   This will not be my next adventure.

Another beautiful view from the train

One thing that was surprising was that I thought the runoff water from the glacier would be sparkling clear but it is really filled with silt and very muddy and fish can’t live in it.   You can sort of see this in the photo below.

After 7 hours on the train we were ready to spend a couple nights at McKinley Chalet Resort. Some of the group went for a hike but we were tired.  Took a nap and had a glass of wine and another bowl of seafood chowder for dinner and then tried to sleep.   Remember, it is 11 p.m. and still full sun and this room didn’t have such good black out shades.  Tomorrow a 12 hour trip into Denali National Park.  Looking forward to wild life.

Here is a link to a photo album and later posts will give you more details.

SC Upcountry Holiday Parties and Activities

Last Wednesday, a day where it poured rain all day, we went to the beautiful historic Poinsett Club for a Newcomers Holiday Luncheon.  The club, originally a home built around 1925, is stunning.   It is about 40,000 sq. ft, including two newer additions, a ballroom where we had our luncheon and three floors of beautiful decorated small and medium sized dining rooms.   What a mansion it must have been when it was built.   We visitied with our new friends and at our table had a lively discussion about all kinds of local issues.   The facilities definitely were 5 star.   The food was just average.

Monday night we went with our neighbors Vickie and Ed to the annual Greenville Woodworking Guild Holiday party.  There were a couple hundred guests there.   We had turkey dinner with all the fixings and then wonderful entertainment provided by the head of the John Campbell Folk School.    The school has 850 craft, art, writing classes every year.  Some for a week and some a weekend.   You can stay on site.   A very well educated historian, musician, storyteller and craftsman who told folk stories and played old folk ballad music.   Very Upcountry SC and charming.

For me the biggest part of the evening was to see the 1500 wooden toys that the members have made to donate to 14 children’s groups here in the Greenville area.  Is this impressive?

It was pretty emotional to see all these toys and realize the 4000 hours of work that went into making them and think about how many happy children will receive them.

There were many door prizes for the guests (wives).  Below are a couple examples.  I got a door prize but not one of theses, darn.   The man who made these helped Bob sharpen his new tools and taught me a little about wood turning.   He and his wife are so nice.

The bowls and ornaments are about 6″.   Guess what some of you will get for gifts next year?

On Friday we go to a special Cocktails R Us Newcomers party at a clubhouse in one of the developments and will have a band!  We each bring whatever we want to drink and a snack or dessert.   I’m actually getting some use out of the three dressy items in my wardrobe!

Saturday morning I have a neighborhood coffee party to attend and weather permitting I think Saturday afternoon we will go to see Travelers Rest Christmas Parade.  Sunday we will go to Easley (30 minutes) to see an ice carving exhibit (100 sculptures including an 8000 lb sleigh – that’s not a typo it is 8000  not 800) and then to Pendelton (another 30 minutes) to see Christmas in a historic plantation home, complete with Christmas little skits written from the information in old letters and diaries.  Sounds like pretty simple Upcountry holiday events.  Hope I can get some good photos to share with you.

My birthday is Tuesday and we might go to Asheville to see the Gingerbread Houses but more likely to downtown Greenville for dinner (have a discount coupon for restaurants there) and to see the Christmas Trees that light up downtown.   Supposed to be pretty.   Maybe a trip to a museum or art gallery in the afternoon.

Wednesday night we go to Roper Mt. with friends from Newcomers to see the Light Show there and after Christmas we go to see Hollywild Zoo 100 acre light display.   I guess we take a trolly through that area.

As you can tell there is lots going on and all of it is quite inexpensive plus we don’t have 3 feet of snow and sub zero temperatures to dress for.

Bob and I have been assembling 8 pens and pencils so as soon as he gets home with a part for the lathe we will start turning.   Wish us luck!   We have had a few mishaps already.