Homes Along The Battery
One Of The Many Old Cemeteries
MDH Standing in the Charleston Park Fountain
Antique White Roses Growing Along A Courtyard Fence
…Thursday evening, after walking no less than ten miles throughout Historic Charleston because every wrought iron surrounded courtyard at every ten-million-dollar home and every old grave marker had to be looked upon and respected, we made it back to Folly Beach. My encounter on the elevator Thursday evening was with a tattooed, eyebrow pierced young man who wanted to know if I had “seen the crabs.”
Excuse me? I question.
Have you seen the crabs?
What crabs?
On the beach.
Where?
Where the tide meets the shore in the driftwood.
Well, no I have not yet been down on the beach after dark.
You need to go down and look, it is amazing.
How big are they?
Some are the size of a quarter, some the size of my hand.
No way!
Awesome, go look.
So where you from man?
Chicago.
Really! Chicago? Great city!
Well, not really Chicago, I just give that as a general marker, I am about one-and-a-half hour away, but nobody would recognize the name of the obscure little town from where I hail. I had to laugh at this because it cannot possibly be anymore obscure than from where I reside. I thank him for the crab info and exit the elevator.
I turn to MDH and ask, “Did you bring a flashlight?” To which he replies, “You are not seriously going to look for crabs this late on the advice of a guy from Chicago are you?” To which I tartly say, “You heard him, he was not exactly from Chicago and if there are crabs on this beach, I am not leaving until I catch one!” Which does not sound nice at all shouted loudly in the hotel hallway late in the evening. Turns out MDH brought his trusty Maglite. What a man!
After a quick wardrobe change more appropriate for night crab viewing, we trek down to the beach shining the light along the driftwood. We walk for several yards, no crabs, we walk several more yards, no crabs. Then suddenly, from the distant edge of the circle of light I see movement! There among the driftwood, broken shells, and cigarette butts are crabs zigzagging hither and thus. When the spotlight hit them, they would pause and burrow slightly in the sand. This was just too much excitement for me so I find a sturdy piece of driftwood and a large piece of broken shell and go to huntin’ as we say in East Tennessee. I did a lot of crab poking but those darn little critters are fast! I never did catch one, even more reason to return to Folly! In addition, I can honestly say, “I did not catch crabs on Folly Beach.”
Friday evening found us on a three-hour dinner cruise around Charleston Harbor. We left the dock at 7:00 pm, went under the Cooper River Bridge (an engineering work of art), passed through the shipping docks, and saw the Battery from a distance before and after sunset. Truly beautiful! Our meal was wonderful but the Jazz band, High Tide, was freaking great. Anyone who has read my blog with their speakers on should know I really like Jazz music, so this little band was a delight. The lead singer sounded like Van Morrison something I was compelled to tell him. He took this as a great compliment and played “Bright Side of the Road” for me. Whew! Made my skirt fly up! The bass player had a 1957 Fender Jazz guitar that looked brand new! The thing had to be worth a fortune. He wiped his hands before he touched it and wiped the baby off whenever he set it down. Sweet thang!
I could tell you a few other stories, but I think you get the point. I love people! To sum up this whole adventure and to explain why I share these particular encounters, let me say that being a Christ Follower is all about people. When Christ was physically on Earth, His ministry was about relationships. His ministry is still about relationships. We are now the physical tool He uses to establish relationships and introduce others to Him. The people I encounter while I am traveling will never have more than a quick surface relationship with me, but I want to make that quick encounter memorable enough so that when they recall that nice person they met, they will wonder why I was different. The world is full of hurt, sour and angry people. If I can heal a heart, sweeten a life, or bring happiness to someone, if only for a moment, I have reflected Christ. That is my purpose.
Thanks for reading, Rosie.
Excuse me? I question.
Have you seen the crabs?
What crabs?
On the beach.
Where?
Where the tide meets the shore in the driftwood.
Well, no I have not yet been down on the beach after dark.
You need to go down and look, it is amazing.
How big are they?
Some are the size of a quarter, some the size of my hand.
No way!
Awesome, go look.
So where you from man?
Chicago.
Really! Chicago? Great city!
Well, not really Chicago, I just give that as a general marker, I am about one-and-a-half hour away, but nobody would recognize the name of the obscure little town from where I hail. I had to laugh at this because it cannot possibly be anymore obscure than from where I reside. I thank him for the crab info and exit the elevator.
I turn to MDH and ask, “Did you bring a flashlight?” To which he replies, “You are not seriously going to look for crabs this late on the advice of a guy from Chicago are you?” To which I tartly say, “You heard him, he was not exactly from Chicago and if there are crabs on this beach, I am not leaving until I catch one!” Which does not sound nice at all shouted loudly in the hotel hallway late in the evening. Turns out MDH brought his trusty Maglite. What a man!
After a quick wardrobe change more appropriate for night crab viewing, we trek down to the beach shining the light along the driftwood. We walk for several yards, no crabs, we walk several more yards, no crabs. Then suddenly, from the distant edge of the circle of light I see movement! There among the driftwood, broken shells, and cigarette butts are crabs zigzagging hither and thus. When the spotlight hit them, they would pause and burrow slightly in the sand. This was just too much excitement for me so I find a sturdy piece of driftwood and a large piece of broken shell and go to huntin’ as we say in East Tennessee. I did a lot of crab poking but those darn little critters are fast! I never did catch one, even more reason to return to Folly! In addition, I can honestly say, “I did not catch crabs on Folly Beach.”
Friday evening found us on a three-hour dinner cruise around Charleston Harbor. We left the dock at 7:00 pm, went under the Cooper River Bridge (an engineering work of art), passed through the shipping docks, and saw the Battery from a distance before and after sunset. Truly beautiful! Our meal was wonderful but the Jazz band, High Tide, was freaking great. Anyone who has read my blog with their speakers on should know I really like Jazz music, so this little band was a delight. The lead singer sounded like Van Morrison something I was compelled to tell him. He took this as a great compliment and played “Bright Side of the Road” for me. Whew! Made my skirt fly up! The bass player had a 1957 Fender Jazz guitar that looked brand new! The thing had to be worth a fortune. He wiped his hands before he touched it and wiped the baby off whenever he set it down. Sweet thang!
I could tell you a few other stories, but I think you get the point. I love people! To sum up this whole adventure and to explain why I share these particular encounters, let me say that being a Christ Follower is all about people. When Christ was physically on Earth, His ministry was about relationships. His ministry is still about relationships. We are now the physical tool He uses to establish relationships and introduce others to Him. The people I encounter while I am traveling will never have more than a quick surface relationship with me, but I want to make that quick encounter memorable enough so that when they recall that nice person they met, they will wonder why I was different. The world is full of hurt, sour and angry people. If I can heal a heart, sweeten a life, or bring happiness to someone, if only for a moment, I have reflected Christ. That is my purpose.
Thanks for reading, Rosie.
Something that I found oddly out-of-place in Historic Charleston but somewhat artistic....
colorful gum stuck to a light pole. I am always looking for beauty in the odd.
5 comments:
WOW!!!!! I wanna go to Charleston!!!!! You've made it look sooooooo appealing and God knows I "NEED" a vacation! My sweet girl said, Mom you and Dad need to go there...forget Pigeon Forge and the same old, same old!
Only trouble is, I don't think Charleston will be nearly as exciting without YOU there! You most certainly have left your mark on the place ;-) They'll not soon forget you! So glad you got to go and YES! I am jealous...I admit it.
Will let you know if I ever make it to this beautiful part of the world...thanks for a virtual trip anyway! You take my mind off my troubles and I appreciate your wonderful testimony of how you portray Christ wherever you roam.
Hugs, Kay W.
I love...love...love your blog!!! You and my little sis are both so creative when it comes to writing. Oh! And by the way I also think you look really great as a blond.
Know I think of you sooooo often and can relate to how you feel, as in "been there and done that"... If you should ever need an ear just give me a call.
Betty Jane
You should write travel journals for lazy slobs like me that just want a list of stuff to do in a town because I'm not adventurous enough to figure out cool stuff to do by myself!
I totally agree about the Christ-like encounters with people. I always tell my Jr. High SS class that I may not be able to quote scripture off the top of my head, but you don't have to be able to do that to convey the same message with your actions:-)
Love,
Snow White:-)
You should have asked that nice young man from Chicago (area) which town he was from. You know your Yankee aunt lives 2.5 hrs south of Chicago and has probably heard of his hometown.
I also like your hair--of course I think you have beautiful hair no matter what the color.
Love ya,
YYA
Hey YYA,
Not included was the fact I did tell him I had a YA living in your town and he did know where it was. He was a bit closer to the Indiana border. Are you kidding, how could I have passed up that opportunity! Looking forward to visiting with my favorite YA in a few :)
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