Wordless Wednesday: Greenville, SC

Downtown Greenville, SC--March 2012

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom and Sarah Halstead at The Naptime Momtog for Wordless Wednesday.

Flashback: St. Simons Island

Since it's summer and we have no vacation in sight (we typically go off-season), I thought I'd reminisce about the trip to St. Simons Island we took last July with my dad and stepmom.

We stayed at Epworth By the Sea

My dad and Miss Kathleen while we were all waiting for the dolphin tour to begin...

Our family climbed to the top of the St. Simons lighthouse with my dad.  

The view from the top of the lighthouse

Incidentally, the pier in the above photo was where we found the old pelican that is dubbed "the most photographed thing on St. Simons Island."  

These were my "hold my camera over my head to get the shot and pray I don't drop it" photos.  :)

A slight peek into the lantern room

Just beyond the lighthouse, this was as close as you could get to the water without falling in...which almost happened, according to my dad.  The stairs at the very bottom were, of course, slippery.

We almost got Robert to smile for a photo.  Almost.

Robert (15), Grace (6) and Josiah (10) in July 2012

At least he smiled ever-so-slightly for Miss Kathleen's photo.  :)

We ventured into the downtown area...

Grace the bookworm found a reading nook

Each evening, we visited Bono, who was staying at a local kennel...

The kids kinda missed Bono!

and stopped to see Christ Church, too.  Here's a tip:  don't go at dusk if you hope to get any good photos.  ;)  This was my best shot, looking at an entrance to the property.  

Once we got on the property, the trees and Spanish moss made the photos dark, which worked well enough for a silhouette.

Here's my dad with the only non-Hawaiian shirt I've seen him in in a while.  The t-shirt says, "Just be happy I'm not your kid"...

because, as he says, "then you'd be older than dirt."

Click on the links in this post to see more photos, like ones about the beach, our trip in general, quirky things (including something about a velociraptor), and Spanish moss...lots of Spanish moss.

A St. Simons kind of humor

When you visit a new place, you can expect to see some humorous things, such as signs giving (what should be) common sense advice like "Do Not Feed the Alligators."

I don't think anyone would ever have to tell me not to feed the alligators. Seeing that sign on open property is pretty much enough to keep me in my car!   ;)

There are also the humorous stories that come about from talking with the locals, like when an older man told me the history of this pelican. 

The man declared that this old pelican is the most photographed thing on St. Simons Island.  The pelican sits all day long on a ladder at the edge of the pier and is fed daily by the fishermen who come to the pier because he is too old to hunt for himself.  He will not bother going after any fish that are accidentally thrown off the pier when the fishermen throw a portion of their catch to him but is content to eat what lands on the pier.  (And, yes, people are constantly taking pictures of him.)

Then there are the things that just struck me as funny, like the pelicans flying in formation over the beach

 

and the black crows that joined the seagulls in looking for bites of food among the blankets and umbrellas, like they would just blend in.

There are funny political campaign signs...

"Rootin' for Tuten"

There are the quirky things you find in quirky downtown shops...

like yoga frogs

 

 and really useful signs.

 

Some things you find humorous because of the company you keep, such as when my 6 year old daughter found wedding dresses in the back of a shop.

I heard Grace squeal, and when I saw what she had found I commented that I would have loved to have seen the expression on her face when she saw the dresses...so she did her best to recreate it for me.  Somehow, I think this is a pale imitation of reality.
 

All of these things are delightfully quirky, and not too terribly out of the bounds of the ordinary, right? 

However, some things will take you completely by surprise, such as a notice of velociraptor that was "found"...

"Very bitey"...I love it!  I wonder if the person ever gets any phone calls?

Spanish moss

When we were at St. Simons last week, I had a bit of fascination with all the Spanish moss.

At least, that's what my camera card tells me...

Most of the following photos are from Epworth-by-the-Sea, where we stayed.

This is one of my favorites....

and this one's pretty cool with the gnarled tree twisted around another tree.

The sign reads, "I am very old as you can see, so please be kind and do not climb on me." And, yes, the limb is propped up--the post is partially hidden by the sign.

The entrance to the grounds of the historic Christ Church.

Wordless Wednesday: The Beach

Josiah (10) and Grace (6) love the beach.

I mean, they love the beach.

They love the beach even if they aren't dressed appropriately to get in the water (and, obviously, that doesn't stop them).

The thing that surprises me is how fearless Grace is.  She goes farther into the water than I would (I'm a big fan of being able to see my feet at all times) whether she is with Josiah

or on her own

with me watching and wondering if the next wave will knock that tiny girl down.  But she stays on her feet...probably from sheer determination.


And she loves every minute of it.

This not-so Wordless Wednesday post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom and Sarah Halstead at The Naptime Momtog.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: The St. Simons Island Edition

This week's photo scavenger hunt items were:

• Green
• Eyelashes
• Shapes
• Paint
• Clouds

Most photos were taken during our trip to St. Simons Island last week.

Green

Lovely Lane Chapel

Eyelashes

This photo is from March 2012--elephant eyelashes!

An elephant at the Greenville (S.C.) Zoo.  Click to enlarge the photo to see the looooong eyelashes on this elephant.

Shapes

A compass painted on the walkway near a pier

Grace (6) said this glass ball was just asking to be touched!

We went on a dolphin boat tour--it was our first time!  We were eager to see the shapes of dolphins in the water, and the dolphins cooperated.

A dolphin slapping its tail.

Paint

During the boat ride, the captains told us that these were special pelicans...painter pelicans.  Can you guess why?  ;)

Clouds

Driving through Middle Georgia

The lighthouse at St. Simons

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in the fun!