Southern Hospitality

So let me begin by apologizing for being lazy with the blog lately. I seem to have gone through a lapse in motivation for blogging and will be trying to catch up rather haphazardly! Our trip to the South was a month ago now but sharing late is better than not sharing at all :)

For a better understanding of our decision for a "Southern" vacation I will preface the story with the fact that Joe's brother, in a very fortunate career move, took a position with his job that entailed moving his wife and (then) 5 children to Rock Hill, South Carolina 2 years ago. So in an attempt to do some reconnecting, visiting, bonding and adventuring, I convinced my husband to take some time off to visit the South.

The flight from Portland to Charlotte was fairly (and quite surprisingly) uneventful albeit long and exhausting. But it was worth the exhaustion when we stepped off the plane into the beautiful, warm, sunny, fall air of North Carolina. The only shock was the calculation that appeared to be going through Joe's head as he took a mental inventory of our possessions and eyed his brother's company Mercedes hoping we'd all fit to make the trip. Squeezing between the middle of my children's carseats with purse and backpack in hand was no small feat. But had I been 10 pounds heavier it would have been nearly impossible.

We were welcomed with love and excitement and shouldn't have expected anything less.

Alex and Katie were the most gracious of hosts, taking us to places we absolutely enjoyed and helping make memories we'll never forget. Days 1-4 of our trip consisted of an exciting tour of a historic cotton plantation in the heart of the Carolinas, babysitters for 8 kids that allowed an adults' night out, a local peach farm version of a hayride/pumpkin patch and a hike along an old canal trail. If our goal was to see and experience as much as possible then they were helping us attain it.

The kids were so well behaved and got along so well. By about day 3 Brendan was referring to his cousins as his "friends" and didn't want to leave.

But day 5 took us on another adventure as Joe and the kids and I drove a borrowed Ford Explorer down to Savannah, Georgia for a look beyond the Carolinas. And that's where the story continues...