Hilton Head Island and Savannah

After our lovely time in Charleston we drove to Hilton Head Island.  In the evening we drove to Harbourtown for dinner.  We were somewhat surprised to arrive at a gated community where we had to pay $6 to get in.  However, having paid our money we drove through into what turned out to be a resort.

We had a great dinner and drove back to the hotel.

The next morning we went to investigate one of the beaches on the island.  We were much taken with this sign!

Coligny beach was beautiful

Having got our fill of sun, sea and sand we drove off towards Savannah.  We stopped off at the Ann Taylor shop where I spent a lot of money and Elaine almost got offered a job as she played at being my personal shopper.

If you are planning to visit Charleston & Savannah we would recommend you go to Savannah first.  It's not as pretty as Charleston and we think it would be better to finish your trip in delightful Charleston.  Anyway, more photos of architecture coming up!

We walked down to the riverfront and this is looking in one direction.

Then behind me

And then along the other way!

John Wesley lived in Savannah for a while

We got on a free bus that took us to Forsyth Park where there was a beautiful fountain.

Walking back to the car we passed more interesting buildings.

We drove to the hotel for the night.  Despite all my careful planning this was much nearer to Savannah than it needed to be.  However I wasn't sure how much time we would spend in Savannah so it was probably the right decision.  However it did make for a very long drive the next day to Cocoa Beach in Florida.

Next instalment on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

The road trip begins.

Have you read part one of my trip?  Great!  Here's part 2.  The road trip begins.

I flew into Orlando where I met up with my friend Elaine.  How do you know Elaine I hear you ask!  Well (deep breath) she is from England and she is my daughter-in-law's sister's mother-in-law.  Or is this a better description, she's my son's wife's sister's husband's mother.  I bet you wish you hadn't asked!

Anyway, we picked up the hire car and drove to a hotel at Palm Coast.  Getting in and out of this car I managed to bang my head.  In the morning we discovered that the car was a Jaguar SE and I'm sure Hertz felt this was an upgrade.  It was lovely to drive once you had worked out how not to bang your head.

Let's get to the photos.

It was a long drive to Charleston - through northern Florida, across the whole of Georgia and into South Carolina.  We stopped off at Magnolia Plantation before going to the hotel.

This was the plantation house which we didnt go inside.

However I pressed the camera to the window to get this.

The grounds were beautiful.  Lots of water and bridges.  Sadly the camellias and azaleas were over.

We spotted this alligator

Walked through a bamboo grove

And as we were going back to the car park, saw the slave cabins which were built well away from the main house - so the owner couldn't see them.

The next day we drove into Charleston.  Mary had mentioned a walk you could do through gardens and graveyards so we tried that out.

The road trip was part of the celebration of Elaine's 60th birthday later this year.  So as a birthday treat we went on a horsedrawn carriage ride around Charleston.  It was the best hour of the whole road trip.

We loved all the different styles of architecture.  We walked around a little more.  We went to the park to see the famous pineapple fountain.

This was the interior of a shopping mall

And a last look at the architecture as we drove out of Charleston.

Our next stop is Hilton Head Island and on to Savannah.

Join me on Friday for that!

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Toledo & Fremont

I have been on a 20 day visit to the United States.  During that time I took around 830 photographs and you will be pleased to know that I'm not going to share all of them with you today.  Or at any time really!

My plan is to share photos of various parts of my trip starting with Ohio.  My friend Mary lives in Toledo.  I flew from Birmingham to Dublin, Dublin to Chicago, Chicago to Detroit where Mary picked me up and took me to her house.

The next day we went on a walking took of Toledo - in particular the Warehouse District.  The sky was blue but it was quite chilly.  However I had taken clothes appropriate for the weather!

This was outside an art materials shop - which of course we visited!

I love this sculpture of children peeking through a whole in the fence to see inside the baseball stadium.

This is a stunning mural

Another sculpture - this time inside the stadium.  I took the photo through the railings.

I loved this mural of Venice

And this photo is definitely going in my Venice project sketchbook

The gate to the stadium.

Over the long weekend we also visited Michaels, Jo-Anns, Hobby Lobby and Dick Blicks.  What can I say!?!  We like art materials.

On Friday we returned to Detroit airport to pick up two ladies who had flown in to attend a retreat that Mary & I had booked to attend.  Refine {The Retreat} was held from Friday evening to Sunday morning at an old convent in Fremont, Ohio.  Mary wrote about her experience on her blog Found on Brighton.

There was an amazing art room which we could use almost any time.  Plus there was a two hour art session led by Christine Hiester

This is the journal page that I did.  I journaled on the page first and then painted over it.  Christine had provided various photos to use.

On our way home I wanted to see the river in Fremont.  These signs were along the path to the river.

Some interesting questions!  Presumably addressing some community point or behaviour.  Not sure really.

It was a bit of a murky day but that didn't stop these folks from fishing.

On my last day in Toledo we spent a relaxed morning doing arty things.  I worked on pages in my travel journal.

Mary took me to Detroit airport and I flew to Orlando for the next stage of my trip.  More about that on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice