How We Spent Our Summer Vacation, Conclusion

Various final pictures from our vacation.

What a wonderful 10 days!!! Thank you, Lord!!!

Tim found the above starfish for me at low tide at the end of the island on Cherry Grove Beach.

One of our favorite places to visit down there is Ft. Fisher. We visit the fort, its museum, and the Ft. Fisher Aquarium.

I ate the most AWESOME shrimp and grits (I LOVE shrimp and grits) at a restaurant called The Lucky Fisherman in Southport, North Carolina. And on my plate was my very first taste of alligator. Tastes like chicken. Very chewy, flavorless chicken.

(above) John was so excited to find a restaurant named Captain John's that he made us eat there one evening. And henceforth after that meal, he made us refer to him as Captain John.

Hangin' With Our Friends in Calabash

While we were at the beach, we were SO incredibly blessed to get to spend an evening with our good friends, Diana Kearney and Alison Clemans. Diana lives in WV, and Alison lives in Ohio (soon to be Virginia), but God has the most amazing way of orchestrating times when we can be together. We met at the....pardon me while I wipe the drool from my mouth... Calabash Creamery - which is in my estimation the greatest ice cream parlor on Earth. It was so wonderfully relaxing to spend time with such wonderful friends.

The Mountains

We had never seen the Great Smoky Mountains in the summer: they were beautiful!
Anna likes hiking...as long as she does it from the comfort of Daddy's back.

After hiking 2.5 miles into the woods, we came to this mountain pond and waterfall. Boy, did that cold mountain water feel good on our feet on a hot July afternoon!

(above) And anyone who knows Tim knows he would find a watersnake in that pond!

Sleepy time... John had always wanted to eat a candy apple, and he finally got one!

Tim's favorite restaurant, The Apple Barn, is where he gorges himself on fried chicken.

Our cabin. We didn't have any cell phone coverage or internet service for 3 days. Crazy!!! But what a beautiful location to relieve ourselves of some technology dependence...

The Beach

So we just got home from this glorious 10-day vacation to the mountains and the beach. We spent 3 days in the Smoky Mountains, and then 7 days at Cherry Grove Beach, which is right above North Myrtle. I'll share some beach pictures first...

God blessed us with amazing weather during those 7 days at the beach. It only rained twice, and that was when we were in restaurants eating dinner! Thank you, Lord, for making such a wonderful place for us to visit and dig our toes into the sand....