California with friends

This weekend we went to California for the USC vs Stanford football game. Unfortunately SC lost after 3 overtimes. On the bright side we got together Sunday with Sue and Tom Barker and Wendy and Joe D'Virgilio. We have all been friends for almost 50 years.

Shrek the Musical

Our good friend and neighbor, Sandy Tountas, passed away this year. The three of us have gone to the TCC to see Broadway shows for years. This has left us this year with an extra ticket so Audrey was able to come to see Shrek the Musical. She love it.

Charleston, SC

The Frazier's brought us back to Charleston for our flight home tomorrow and then continued on their way back home to Florida. Andy and I took a cab back to downtown and walked. There are beautiful churches everywhere.
This is the circular church.

This is one of the sweetgrass basket makers.

A typical entrance to one of the beautiful homes here. Another wonderful trip comes to an end.

Bald Head Island

Today we took the ferry to Bald Head Island which is at the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

It is an island where you can only get around by bike or golf cart. The rest of the group took a golf cart with the dogs in tow and Andy and I took the bikes. It is really a neat place to see.

This is the lighthouse (no longer in use) on the island.

This is a typical view of the beach.

Wilmington, NC

Today we arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is a very historic town on the river leading to the sea.

This is the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington. This building was finished in 1928 after 3 previous buildings were burned down. It is a beautiful gothic building and we were able to get a great tour of the sanctuary. Beautiful stained glass window and fabulous wood work. Woodrow Wilson's father was pastor of this church from 1874 to 1885 and the president considered this his home.

This was one of the windows in the First Presbyterian Church. We also were able to go into St. Mary Catholic Church. It will have it's 100th Anniversary next year. The brick building of this church was incredible.

Happy Birthday Kaye

We are in Raleigh, NC for two days and we went out last night for dinner to celebrate Pam's sister, Kaye's birthday. They live here in Raleigh. We had a great dinner at Shucker's.

Mount Mitchell & Crabtree Falls

In the morning we took a hike to Crabtree Falls.

We moved on from there to the top of Mt. Mitchell. As you can see it was just a bit cold up there. This really is not snow but frozen moisture on the trees. Check out the picture below and you can see this is the highest point east of the Mississippi.
We returned to our cabin in the afternoon and played with the dogs in the meadow next to the river by our cabin. We went on to the barn and helped the owner feed the horses, goats and donkeys.

Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

We are just north of Asheville, NC in a cabin outside of Burnsville. This is a view east of the parkway as we traveled north to Blowing Rock and Boone. It has really turned cold today and we actually drove thru snow even though it was not sticking to the ground.

This is the river near Linville where we hiked to the falls.

This is Moses Cone Park. This house was built in the mid 1890's by Moses and his wife Bertha as their summer home. There are 25 miles of carriage roads here and the house has become a place for local crafts.