Historic Georgetown

Looking on the bright side, a chilly day inspires us to go exploring. It's hard to believe that we were only about sixty miles from Georgetown when we vacationed in Charleston, SC, years ago… and we didn't visit the pretty gem that is this state's third oldest city.

Don't be fooled by the brilliant cerulean sky - temps were frigid by southern standards. A whopping thirty degrees! Check out the frozen fountain. Still, we can smile, 'cause it promises to hit seventy by the weekend.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, with its huge live oaks arching over old streets. Five rivers meet here, as well as an Atlantic inter-coastal inlet.
There is no shortage of water, that's for sure, and everyone wants a little piece of the view.
The apartments in the photo below are riverside.

Look hard in the above picture to see the gap between buildings. Georgetown experienced a devastating fire, just last fall.
They will rebuild. Pride and perseverance abound, here.

The Rice Paddy Restaurant, pictured here, came highly recommended to us; however, they are closed for a few vacation days.
So, we crossed the pretty street to the River Room.

After lunch, we discovered our favorite sight in a big old shrimp boat, docked next to an independent fish market. I met the nicest lady. She told me that in this local hotspot, you get the whole story about the day's catch and who was responsible for it. "Then," said she, "you get to bring it home and have it for dinner." Have to laugh. Can only imagine the side trips our crustaceans must take, before landing on Monti dinner plates!

Good Shrimp - Bad Shrimp

Georgetown Shrimp Boats '14

As you know, our recent vacation brought us to Murrells Inlet, a place that touts itself as the fish capital of South Carolina. Surely, my mercury level shot up with all the fish I consumed while there. Ahhh, delicious. And a day spent in Georgetown brought us to the pier where the morning's catch of fresh shrimp was just being unloaded. I was impressed enough by that to have blogged about it, ironically commenting on the source of the shrimp we have access to. Nonetheless, when Joe came in the other night with a bag of frozen shrimp and a piece of goat cheese, my culinary mind was spinning in delight. We both love shrimp, tomatoes and goat cheese over pasta.
(Super Bowl Sunday IS coming, you know.) I tossed the crustaceans into the freezer and forgot about them, till last night.

"Joe, where did the shrimp come from, do you know?"

"No," responded he, "because I didn't have my reading glasses, so I couldn't see. But they're from a reliable store, so they should be okay."

NOT! Farm raised and packaged in Vietnam.

"UGH," said Joe and I in unison.

They are going back for a refund of over twenty smackers. Don't be duped. It's not just salmon that is being farm-raised in deplorable conditions and sold for our consumption. Please read this article. 
Here's an excerpt:

Consider this info the next time you want to order a shrimp dish at your local haunt.

Grossed out and uninspired in Monti...

Seamless Segue from Lowlands to Mountains

Journey from Sub-Tropics to Snow

The guy above us decided to use his hot-tub at 2:30 a.m., Thursday morning. It sounded like a tornado was going through our suite.
I shot up like a bolt to Joe kinda slurring his words, "Wassa matter?" What the hey. Might as well consider departing earlier than planned, even though we'd only had a few hours sleep…

Long story short, we were on the road by 4:30 in the morning. Turns out the middle-of-the-night bather did us a favor. We landed in Washington's "loop" by early afternoon, when traffic was already heavy but moving. Not the case on our trip down, when we spent hours getting from DC to Fredericksburg, VA, only 35 miles away.

Maryland Horse Farm sans Mr. Ed

Oooh-kay. Next up was Maryland and its truly gorgeous farmlands, with heavy concentration on horses and black angus cattle. I was bound and determined to stop for the night, before we hit Pennsylvania. We crashed in Frederick (no joke), MD, at a Hampton Inn that was pet friendly. Chinese food by 5:00 p.m. and asleep within the hour… till the next morning at 6:00, with just one interruption...

We both awakened before midnight, thinking it was morning. Talk about the early-bird special, eh? Before dozing off again,
I had a laughing fit, thinking about the 30-pound pet limit. There was Mambo - all 140 pounds of him - sprawled out on the rug. Seems that Alex at the registration desk forgot to tell us this little detail, instead looking the other way when Big Dog pranced through the lobby.
I must digress here for one more Mambo story:

Joe stopped at a cooperative carwash, after the beach on Wednesday. By "cooperative", I mean that about 20 guys were scrubbing tires, vacuuming interiors and polishing paint. They pointed me towards an area in which to wait. Joe stuck with the car. I took a seat. Big M, like the good boy that he is, plopped himself right next to me. When I looked up, all 20 were in a semi-circle, snapping cellphone cameras like crazy to capture our adorable pooch. 'Tis a pity, but I don't have a pic of THEM. Next came the explanations about the
Black Russian Terrier breed…. too funny. Now…

RealTime: Home, Sweet Home

Back to our trip from sub-tropics to snow. We were home by mid-afternoon on Friday (yesterday). Bri had taken great care of the Old Homestead and all's well. What an awesome time we had! Now, though, we've a long wait till it's time for al fresco dining in our neck of the woods.

Georgetown Al Fresco

MLK Day - Meet Caroline

So many of the places we enjoyed in and around Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, are described by the words, "This used to be a rice field…" What a history. It should never be forgotten, but rather learned from.

One of the girls employed by the housekeeping staff where we stayed lives on an island inhabited by Gullah people.
 Descendants of slaves. Determined to keep their culture intact. 

So, today I took seventeen minutes to watch, listen to and learn from Caroline White. Her voice and intonation remind me of another great teacher, Maya Angelou. Either speaks and one listens. Maybe we'll get to hear a story in person, next time we visit Georgetown.

Honoring Dr. King and all he stood for.