This year’s trip* was maybe the most fun … the place we stayed was perfect for the four of us, the weather was cool and breezy but dry, the food and drink were amazing (as always) and I won the weekend-long dice tournament 😉. I’m not sure if it was the fun factor, or having 1SE (movie!), or just that we are all so comfortable with each other and the place, but I have a record 70+ photos (that’s the edited down number) and a video mashup #funproblems.

We love looking back on these blog posts as we plan our visits – and of course as we look back on the high (and low) lights of past years. All of this is a long way of saying that I’m going to share this year’s trip in multiple posts. I decided to start with an overview – the video, my favorite “all of us” photos and a little bit more.

Here’s the video

Cheers!-ing is a favorite subject (you know that if you follow my 1SE monthly mashups on Instagram), as are walking and wind chimes, but I don’t often get to peek into a wedding (just as Shout! comes on) or a beautiful old church with a massive pipe organ.

One thing that I’m sure contributed to this year’s trip being so fun is that we all drove together! We did have to rent a car to be sure we had enough space for everyone’s luggage and knitting (and that big bottle of wine :-), but it was well-worth it.

(I promise Lydia is there in the backseat behind my big hair!)

Friday morning, we went to visit my dad. Beaufort was evacuated last September for Hurricane Irma and Charlie assured us the Memorial Garden made it through unscathed.

We thought it looked even better – there was a big (overgrown) oak tree in the middle of garden and it has been replaced with flowers and flowering shrubs.

We had lunch on Friday at Lowcountry Produce – and we found a very nice woman to take our photo.  We also had a very nice waitress who didn’t seem to mind that we were there for almost two hours.

Friday night we ate at Emily’s (tapas!). Here we are just before leaving.

Saturday lunch was at Wren’s. We had “our table” in the back corner.

We walked from there to the Pat Conroy Literary Center. I wasn’t thinking we’d have a good photo op there, but we did!

Karen is sitting in Pat’s desk chair and that’s his writing table. Apparently, he wrote in a similar setup on those yellow legal pads. I didn’t think to ask then, but I wonder just how many yellow legal pages South of Broad was in manuscript …

Saturday dinner was at Old Bull Tavern and we did not get a photo. Sunday night we were at Saltus. As we were leaving, I approached a group of strangers at the bar and asked if anyone would be willing to take our photo. One woman enthusiastically agreed – phew!

My last photo is one I took Sunday morning, just after sunrise, on a walk by myself.

The low country at its best!

Next week, I’ll share more about the food and drink. and who knows what might come after that.

Happy Friday, y’all!

*Katie shared this article with me last weekend and I read it out loud to my housemates. We all agreed that it was a trip (family, in-laws, packing the car, groceries, dishwasher, …) but in a most acceptable way. Maybe we’re all at the age when a getaway with family is just more special.