12 August 2007

I've always loved big, old trees. The trees at the plantation were wonderful. The one Emily's standing in front of was standing when the plantation was built in 1730. The one I'm standing by is even older. There were trees of this size all around the grounds.






Here's the plantation house. I think it looks like Tara.



This is the cricket I mentioned before. It was huge and I got within a foot of it for this picture. It was over 5" long (not including the antennae or legs) and about 3/4" around. I've never seen anything like it. It looks ordinary in this picture.



The coastal highway was pretty amazing. It was so flat and the road was bordered by endless stretches of marshland, rivers and creeks.



Finally we reached Myrtle Beach. There were crazy storms late last night. We turned on the weather channel to make sure there wasn't a hurricane or tornado in the area. The palm trees whipped in the wind just like on CNN. The rain pounded and the lightning flashed over the ocean. It took forever to fall asleep. I woke up at 5 AM to another wave of storms. I checked the weather channel again. By 9:00, the sun was shining and we spent the day switching between the beach and the pool. Em and I have a one bedroom condo on the 4th floor of this hotel. My neighbor Kelly and her daughter have a condo here on the 14th floor. Our friend Barbara is staying at a nearby hotel, but spending her days with us. Kelly made tonight's dinner of chicken quesadillas. We did some shopping afterwards. We finished a DVD that we started last night. I'm pooped. It seems like I've been on vacation forever.

Here's Emily and Natalie hamming it up at a store at Broadway at the Beach.

9 comments:

Billy said...

You have been on vacation forever! But it looks like you are having a marvelous time. Can't wait to see more pictures.

captain corky said...

Those trees are amazing. Any picture of the lightning over the ocean?

Martha said...

I've never made it down south for vacation, but I love history and the pictures of the trees and plantation house just gave me an itch to do some traveling.

Happyone said...

Those are some awesome trees. It's always so amazing to think of all the history that has gone on around them.
That cricket looks pretty creepy to me even in a picture!

jAMiE said...

Good to hear from you...love the trees too and the plantation house...the cricket...creepy to me too.

You might need a vacation from your vacation?

Terroni said...

Beautiful pictures, Cheryl.
It's great to hear that you're having such a good time!

TAG said...

If it's not too late, be sure and go to Brooke Green Gardens while you are in the area. They are located a few miles south of South Myrtle Beach.

They claim to have (I have no reason to doubt) the largest private collection of sculptures in the US. The gardens, the animals, the art are fabulous.

You will enjoy.

TAG

CRUSTY MOM-E said...

those trees' the weeping willows?? just beautiful.
It just so happened that as I was reading your post and scrolling down through the pictures as I came upon the cricket, my five year old happened to be walking by and glanced over here to see the picture..needless to say, he now thinks I'm reading about spidergirl..his words, not mine. :)
Always,
Crusty~

TAG said...

Crustybeef,

The trees are called "live oak". They are evergreen and can grow to a tremendous age. The branches tend to grow down toward the ground at times.

Also, as you can see they sometimes provide habitat for "spanish moss". Spanish Moss isn't a moss and it doesn't come from Spain. It is an epiphytic plant.

TAG

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