charleston sc

We arrived in Charleston on Sunday. I found this state park on James Island that looked interesting . It is 643 acres with 125 RV sites, a large dog park with lake, and three mile to 2 mile trails. I figured that would work especially for the dogs.

Little did we suspect that this is the site of the Holiday Festival of Lights and it is spectacular. Three miles of lighted displays. It draws thousands of people, includes a Santa's village, lighted walkways. The animation is amazing. You can't really take pictures that capture it all. There is one display with Santa hitting a golf ball and across the road is the lit green and you see a white ball come across the road and roll on the green. Really something . It also meant that we were lucky to get a spot here. And I was just coming for the walking trails.

The only bummer is the damn rain. Everything is wet and soggy as it has rained for the better part of a week. We went into Charleston but the fog made it impossible to see the water. What a beautiful place and the houses are unbelievable !! Can not imagine what it takes to for upkeep with the humidity and ocean air.

Next, to keep the adventure going, we went to the only place in north america that grows tea. The Charleston Tea Plantation. (Jim thought this was on par with going to see the largest ball of twine- isn't that from a Chevy Chase vacation movie) Actually I knew nothing about how tea was processed so I found it interesting. From the time the tea is picked to dried and "tea ready" is 20 hours. So I thought it was interesting. Weare going to be in Savannah for 5 days so I thought we would have enough time to visit plantations, etc. But WHEN would we see tea grown again !

Tomorrow we leave for Savannah. I have walked my legs off but the dogs seem none the worse for wear. If Deco doesn't stop barking I am tying him to a tree, a palm tree at that . Damn dog- he is spoiled. Last night Abbie slept in the entrance to the bedroom so Nemo whined all night as he won't go by Abbie. Unbelievable !

Hope everyone is well and prepared for the holidays

Signing off

Lindsay and Jim on the road