Today's post will be a wrap up of our time with our partner churches in South Carolina. You can read
here about our travel there and
here about the first half of our visit.
Thursday was our "day off". What that means is that it was the only day on our trip that we didn't have a scheduled time to share or be at a planned meal. We decided to drive about an hour away and spend the day exploring the beautiful Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
another fun family outing
We began our visit with a guided tour of the house.
enjoying the views from the porch while we waited for our tour to begin
After touring the home we walked down to the boat dock and took a boat tour along the Ashley River.
me and the boys ready for our boat ride
We saw some beautiful wildlife and even a few alligators too.
the boys enjoyed the petting zoo
and we all enjoyed the beautiful scenery. It is a great place to visit and one I would recommend if you are in the Charleston area.
Driving back across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge to Mount Pleasant. Of all the sights in the Charleston area this bridge was by far my favorite. It is just beautiful day and night.
On Thursday evening we got to enjoy a date night. It was so much fun
getting to go out and explore a little on our own. We drove to Shem
Creek and had a delicious meal at Vickery's.
Doesn't this look yummy? We had the Lowcountry
Sauté. It was shrimp, crab meat and crawfish tails over creamy grits and finished with fried oysters. I think I would drive back to South Carolina just to eat this again.
The restaurant is located on Shrimp Boat Lane. I love that name. You can see several shrimp boats docked there along the piers.
What a beautiful view we had from our outside table.
We spent the rest of our date night taking an evening walk across the bridge that I mentioned earlier. It has some jogging/ walking lanes along the side. I thought it would be a fun memory of something for us to do. And just look at the sunset view we had to look at as we walked. It was gorgeous!
an evening stroll across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge from the Mount Pleasant side
And where were the boys while we were out having all that fun? They were back home at the Masons having their own fun night with Ben and Hillary. They offered to babysit for us. Ben is the Mason's son and Hillary is the missions director at LifePark. Our family loves them! They have both been down to Guatemala many times and are so sweet to our boys. They were treated to supper at Chick-fil-A and then spent the evening building with Legos. I think they had just as much fun as we did.
On Friday we had a lunch meal with Mrs. Jo at Mellow Mushroom. She has been to Guatemala several times but it was before we took over the partnership. We enjoyed getting to know her and hearing her heart for missions.
Cruz at Mellow Mushroom in Mount Pleasant
Ben at Mellow Mushroom
That afternoon we visited the Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw.
We loved getting to walk around to all of the cages and see the different birds they have there but our most favorite thing of all was the flight demonstration show. It was really cool!
learning about birds
On Friday night Mrs. Trina prepared a delicious home cooked meal. It was more like a feast! Ben and Hillary joined us all for supper and then we spent the rest of the evening sitting around the table playing Phase 10. It was a really fun night (even though I didn't win the card game).
On Saturday we had a wonderful picnic lunch/ visit with the Gowdowns. They too have served on past teams. They took us to Daniel Island and we enjoyed a taco salad meal overlooking the river.
After eating we all walked along the pier and took in the beautiful views.
We then drove across town to visit this playground/ park. They thought it would be a fun place for the boys to run and play. They loved it!
Our boys with the Gowdowns
They are a sweet couple and we loved getting to spend some extra time with them.
As soon as we left the Gowdowns we drove straight to the Matthew's house to begin a visit with them. They had a fun afternoon/ evening planned for us.
Our first stop was in downtown Charleston for a horse and carriage tour. I was so excited!
As I mentioned in my last post we did a walking tour of downtown Charleston on Sunday. I loved getting to return and tour some more of it again. It is a beautiful place!
downtown Charleston, SC
they then walked us through the Charleston Market
They drove us out to the Isle of Palms to see the Atlantic Ocean. It was our first time to visit it. Mr. Dave lived there for many years so he told us some of the history of the area. It was a fun tour. The Church at LifePark has their baptismal services there so now when they post photos we will have a little better understanding of where they are.
Ben writing his name in the sand. My boys have now been to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
We ended the evening and visit with a seafood supper at RB's on Shem Creek. It
was fun to let the boys see the shrimp boats while we waited for our
table. We also saw another gorgeous sunset.
Here they are with the Matthews while we waited on our table. Mr. Dave is one of my favorite
people. I love getting to spend time with him. I was glad to get to meet his wife and spend a little time with them together. They are so much fun and showed us a wonderful time.
ready for church on Sunday morning
We were at LifePark and got to share in all three of their morning services. Cruz even got to share in one of his classes. It was so good to be there and enjoy worship with them.
The boys with Bro. Chad- the pastor at LifePark. We have hosted him a few times in Guatemala too and love him.
On Sunday evening we had a special treat of getting to attend the wedding of Liz, the missions director at FBC. I love the story of how God brought her and Sam together. It was a sweet wedding and a great way to end our visit there.
the boys with Liz
It was their first wedding to attend.
us with the newlyweds
We wish them many long years of wedded bliss.
Lastly, I will close with one last photo of the boys with the Masons. It was taken late Sunday night when we returned home from the wedding. I just cannot say enough good things about the two of them. They opened their beautiful home to us for 9 nights. I am sure it was not always pleasant for them but they hosted us with much love and grace. They made us feel warm and welcomed every minute of our stay. They are the kindest, most loving, generous, and caring people. They showered our boys with love and encouraged me greatly as a parent of young boys. Our trip there would not have been as special without our extra time with them. I am thankful for God-loving people like them in our lives. They make me smile!
Our visit to Mount Pleasant was ending but our trip as a whole had a few more days to go. I will post about our grand finale next.
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