Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Vacation Part One

My short absence was due to my being on vacation for approximately 10 days, which means I'm not apologizing because I'm not sorry for being on vacation.


I started the week by flying to Charleston, SC. My brothers picked me up and we went back to a friend's house for lunch. I was happy to see KT and Joey, but sad that I still haven't met their adorable kid! Katie made a killer lunch of grilled cheese on croissants with some kind of amazing honey mustard or something on it.

I also got a wedding present at Katie and Joey's house! It was well worth the wait, too - a cozy South Carolina sweatshirt blanket and a beautiful SC themed print. I can't wait to get the print framed and up in the house. I already used the blanket on the plane ride back home (I forgot to pack jeans - this was a problem on the planes and in the beach house that Papa keeps at a balmy 65 degrees).

After a couple of hours Rob, Patrick, Lauren, and I headed up 17 and arrived at the Brewer beach house in time for dinner. Most of the family arrived on Sunday, and T & Lisa came in on Tuesday. The weather was amazing and the water temperature was perfect. I can't tell you how many hours I spent on the beach last week.


I got a little pink on Monday so I avoided direct sunlight on Tuesday. I was trying to remain conscious of my bridesmaid duties at the end of the week, and I didn't want to be the bright red one with the crazy tan lines.

On Wednesday morning I woke up at 5:40am, put on a bathing suit, and put my contacts in so I could see. I headed downstairs to meet up with dad and we walked down to the beach with the paddle boards in tow. (the following pictures are of me and my brother, Rob. No one was on the beach to take pictures of me and Daddy at 6am - shocking, I know.)


I know a lot of people probably consider getting up early to see a sunrise at the beach, and some people might actually do it, but if you've never done it while out in the water you are missing out big time.


It only took a few minutes for Dad and I to paddle out. Before the sun rises there is almost no wind and the water is very calm, almost like a lake. As I headed out past the waves I noticed a porpoise only about 40 yards in front of me. I decided to remain kneeling on the board just in case one of the porpoise (porpi?) decided to come closer - I figured I'd lose balance out of sheer shock and awe! Dad and I spotted a few more of them over the next 20 minutes, but none ever got closer than that first one. I also saw a few cannon ball jellyfish, but that wasn't nearly as exciting.

We watched for the tell-tale color changes in the clouds that hinted to the location of the sun. It is always amazing to me how quickly the sun seems to come above the horizon! Only a few minutes after seeing that first burst of bright orange, the entire ball is up into the sky.

Along with light, the sun brought wind and more waves. Unfortunately for us the wind was coming straight off the beach and into our faces. This made our trip back in a bit more laborious than our trip out had been. After 15-20 minutes of constant paddling I was able to catch a couple of waves back into the shore.

We made it back inside for breakfast, and then I went back upstairs to take a nap. (Is it still a nap if everyone else in the house is still asleep?) Only about 45 minutes later I woke up again, put on another bathing suit, and added socks, tennis shoes, shorts, and a tank top because I was suiting up for a looooong walk.

Papa drove (yes, drove) Dad, Elizabeth, Shani, and me down to the south end of Pawleys Island, let us out, and drove back home.

Those of you that aren't up on your geography may not know this, but there is a reason that it is called "Pawleys Island," it is an island. Another interesting fact; our beach house is not on Pawelys Island, it is in North Litchfield. I'll spell this out for you: We got out of the car at the south end of Pawleys Island, and between us and our house was the rest of Pawleys Island, the Pawleys Island Inlet, South Litchfield, Litchfield, and North Litchfield.


We walked 8.5 miles (on sand!) in about 2.5 hours - and it was awesome! Dad timed the tides right, so when we got to the Inlet we were able to walk across very easily. The water was just above my knees at the very deepest part. There were 3 grown men in kayaks only a few yards away from us as we crossed, I'm not sure who looked sillier but my money is on them (who kayaks in 2 feet of water?)

It was a great way to start my last day at the beach house, though I'll admit I was pretty sore up until yesterday!

Thursday morning I headed north to Wilmington, NC for a wedding and since this post is already really really long I'll save that for another day.

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