Hello From South Carolina

Hello everyone. I hope this finds you enjoying these winter months. We have meandered from Florida to South Carolina. The weather has been cool and even down right cold yesterday, but the sun came out this afternoon providing the warmth we came after.

We visited Howard's cousin Norma Luther and her husband Jim Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a delightful drive up to their home in Wilmington, NC. What an interesting town. The old downtown is quaint and picturesque. It gave you a "Gone With The Wind" kind of feeling.

We are staying on Hilton Head Island in a condo. It is lovely with the ocean licking along the sandy beach nearby. I was surprised to find such dense vegetation. We are nestled among a variety of Palm Trees and Live Oaks with moss draping from their branches.

Howard drove to Savannah yesterday to attend a leadership conference. Our friend Cam Huxford is the senior minister. We will be worshipping with them Sunday and are going to have lunch with Cam and his wife Sarah. He is president of the North American Christian Convention this year.

Howard rented a Ford Mustang convertable (black!), so we roll back the rag top on warm days. It has been fun to roam around and find small hamlets tucked away from the interstates. Today we visited Bluffton. (I wish I could get my photos to jump from my camera to the blog. No such luck.) I have several shots of this little burg which includes an interesting restaurant we discovered. It looks like a shanny all covered in corregated tin. The tables and chairs were in shambles. The fried oysters were incredible!!! You can't always tell a book by it's cover.

While in Bluffton, we drove past an old weathered Episcipal church. It was built in 1847. The exterior was covered with the original pine planks. (I have several photos which I will put on the blog when I get home). A sweet little lady was there to greet us. She started by asking us where we were from. We told her Cincinnati. She said she had spend most of her life in Indianapolis. We immediately told her we had moved from there. As her life story unfolded, she had been a dance professor at IUPUI for thirty years. She and her husband moved down here three years ago. She knew about Traders Point and College Park (where we lived). Small world!

Watercoloring has been my favorite form of entertainment on cold or rainy days. Today was an exception. I painted at an umbrella table in the sun by the pool. I thought about how nice it was to be in this beautiful part of the country....doing what I like to do best (painting).....being with the best travel guide in the world (HRB)....and looking forward to going home in a week. We are blessed, and God is good!

Much love to all,
Martha (& HRB)