Charleston, South Carolina

We spent the Labor Day weekend in Charleston, South Carolina.  It is pretty close and fin to make our way into South Carolina.  Our first stop was Fort Sumter.  Owen and Milton loved being on the ferry over watching all the huge container ships go by.  Once we made it to the fort it was raining pretty hard but that did not slow Milton down from jumping in all the rather deep puddles.  At least it was warm enough that getting cold in the rain was not an issue.  Then we drove over to Fort Moultrie, another Revolutionary War fort. Owen gave us an excellent tour of all the cannons.  After I got my stamps all collected we went to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown,  submarine USS Clamagore, and destroyer USS Laffey.  They all had the same scent as the Stennis so Damon was having some time to walk down memory lane.  Not much has changed in aircraft carrier design since WWII, except getting bigger.  Owen wanted to see the engine room for each place.  Milton liked the submarine and crawling through all the doorways.  There was also a Vietnam section where we could see one of the helicopters and jeeps used in the war.  We found a great BBQ place for dinner that was very tasty and then a fancy ice cream shop for dessert.  We were in the downtown so everything was very walkable.  The next day we went to the Charles Pickney plantation just outside Charleston. He was one of the constitution signers and very involved in our early history. The estate also had information about the slavery in the region as South Carolina was one of the most slave-strong states. We spent the rest of the day driving out to the Congaree National Park which took us to inland South Carolina. Congaree has the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States. There was a nice boardwalk through the forest that the boys did great hiking.  The excitement was that there was a hurricane headed for the coast that most of the barrier islands were doing voluntary evacuations so we got stuck in a bit of traffic driving back home. It was a fun weekend.

 

 

Wilmington Railroad Museum, North Carolina

We found our first train museum for our train-loving boys. It is a small museum so they can't get too far if they run away. It started raining like crazy shortly after getting there so it was a good thing we weren't out at the beach! It had been raining for a couple days before so everything was pretty saturated. A real life-size caboose, boxcar, and 100-year-old steam locomotive. The museum showcases the history on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Most interesting to the boys was an enormous scale layout with lots of buttons to push and play area to set up their own tracks.

Beaufort Pirate Invasion, North Carolina

This weekend we went to the Beaufort Pirate Invasion in the coastal town of Beaufort, NC. It is a festival with the main event being a re-enactment of a 1747 invasion on the town of Beaufort by Spanish privateers. People all dress up like pirates and the booths have swords and other pirate items for sale. This area has a ton of pirate history with the wreck of Blackbeard's ship the Queen Anne's Revenge. The boys liked watching the cannons and all the different ships in the port. The event was recommended to me by the maintenance guy, Jim, who has been fixing the last few things left uncomplete for our move-in. 

August 2019

This was our first month at Camp Lejeune.  We are liking things thus far, so off to a good start.  We drove down from Bethesda on August 3 and then signed the lease on August 5 to have the movers deliver our treasures on August 6.  Probably the most smooth PCS move we could have imagined.  Our stuff had been in storage since May so many of the Tupperware boxes were pretty smooshed.  Our book boxes were all put on top, so lots of weight on top of things.  We were able on the day of the move to get everything out of the boxes so the movers could take it all away that same day.  Then we got our washer and dryer later in the week making our household complete. It was a long month for me being solo with the kids, but we made the best of it.  There is a pool walking/biking distance that is perfect for the kids not getting too deep.  Owen loves to bob around in the water with his life jacket.  Milton tries to run around, but if I take off his shoes the concrete is too hot for his little feet so he stays in the water.  The scheduling complication is that the life guards call the rest time on the hour so we don't want to get there right when they have started the break.  The best part about walking or biking is that we don't have to change clothes before going home.  Staying in the swim suits feels pretty good with it being so hot.  We also found a story time at the community center about 10 minutes away that the kids had fun interacting with other kids.  Owen was trying to invite everybody over for a playdate.  We have a social little boy on our hands.  We also got Milton into a pediatric dentist to get his wonky donkey teeth cleaned up that was a success.  He was not pleased with me having to pin him down, but the hygienists were great getting him all cleaned up. The biggest event of the month was Owen's first day of school on August 27.  We rode our bikes over and he did great stopping at the cross walks and waiting his turn.  Once at school he skipped right on in giving a high-five to several Marines by the door.  That was a fun first day of school definitely unique to being on-base.