Wormsloe Historic Site (Once Upon A Time in the South East, Part IV)

Our last morning in Savannah was spent touring the Wormsloe Historic Site.  Bo and Taylor had had some family photos shot there and I was envious: it was a must-see for me! I was not disappointed.

The first thing you see when you drive up to this former plantation is a magnificent stone gate. It wasn't the sunniest day out, and I shot this thing from about 12 different angles before settling on the the majesty that was the straight-on centered doorway, dominated only by the glorious oak trees and draping spanish moss.

Once past the gate, you are greeted by 400 giant oak trees, beckoning you to get out of the car and take a walk to make sure you don't miss a single detail.

 

There are plenty of man made structures within the grounds, depicting how life on the plantation in the 1700's would have been lived. A few are the actual historic frameworks of various buildings used over the years on the site. My favorite parts, though, were all natural and required absolutely no human assistance.

At approximately 3:00 that afternoon, having had discovered only a fraction of Savannah's treasures, we headed back to the house and packed up the cars for a two hour drive across state lines.

Charleston and Folly Beach (Once Upon A Time in the South East, Part V)

 On Thursday, February 14, we found ourselves trailing Bo and Taylor across the state line.

I'll tell you that in Canada, when you drive across a provincial border, you may very well have no idea that you've gone from one province to the next. Chances are there is a little information booth and a couple of flags, but other than that, you can make your way obliviously across the country with only the gradual changes in landscape to tell you that you ever left home.

In America, when you cross a state line, this happens:

It turns out that laws from state to state are much more varied. In South Carolina, for example, completely nude adult entertainment is allowed, while in Georgia, there are more restrictions on what must be covered up. (yes, there was a sign for that too) Fireworks are more freely available in SC, as demonstrated by the entire warehouses dedicated to their sale just on the northern side of the state border, and apparently fully automatic machine gun shooting is considered a regular past time!

We arrived at our hotel and were immediately welcomed to our rooms. No hassle, no fuss, super-friendly people (and, we would find out later, a killer complimentary breakfast). We changed and headed out to The Firewater Grill to meet a number of Bo's family members for supper. To be honest, the food was meh, the service was downright poor, and the atmosphere of the restaurant itself left a lot to be desired. The conversation, however, was great ("So, how did y'all meet?" "Well, see, there's this video game...") and the company was superb ("Do y'all have polar bears where you live?") and it wasn't hard to lose myself in the southern accents and friendly curiousity ("Do y'all really say 'eh' all the time?).

The next day, we set out for Charleston. First stop: Folly Beach.
One of the first things people ask when you tell them you did the tourist thing in South Carolina is if you went to Myrtle Beach. We did not. We were approximately two hours away and we were told by more than one local that Folly Beach was just as beautiful, as well as being substantially closer. 

They weren't kidding.

 

 Bordering the actual beach is the city of Folly Beach. It's weird to call it a city, because walking up the quaint streets was like walking through the set of one of those all-American twenty-something sitcoms where no one ever has to have a job or go to the bathroom until it's convenient to the plot. It was amazing!

We had lunch at the Black Magic Cafe and it was one hundred percent fantastic (or maybe we were just substantially less discriminating after the supper the night before, but I don't think that was it). I had some kind of funky wrap and it was so fresh and yummy and filling that I'm pretty sure I didn't finish, but packed up the last two bites because I just couldn't leave them behind. Then we walked a few of the streets before it was time to head into Charleston to see what there was to see there.

 Charleston was beautiful. We walked for blocks and visited a downtown market before walking some more. We stopped at St. Phillip's Church and admired the architecture, both inside and out.

There were a lot of churches, in fact. At any given point it seemed you could see one...

...or three.

We wandered the streets and got ridiculously lost trying to find the car. 

Fortunately, though, we eventually made it back to the parkade, onto the highway, and to the hotel.

Just in time...

That Time Aaron and Sara Got Married (Once Upon A Time in the South East, Part VI)

Not long after meeting Bo and Taylor playing WoW, I chanced across another interesting player. He joined our raid group sometimes, and we called on each other whenever we were short a character for whatever. When my regular raid group stopped raiding, I eventually found myself as an assumed part of his group, and it was only then, a month or more after, that I learned his name was Aaron and he was actually Bo's brother.

Fast forward to three years later. Aaron, Bo, Taylor and most of the old crowd have cancelled their accounts and no longer play. We still keep in touch, however, through Facebook and texts, and when Aaron asked if I'd really make the trip to attend his wedding to the lovely Sara, I was totally psyched. "You can take the pictures and we'll work out a deal, or you can get drunk with the rest of us." I actually debated for a while, and then decided against vying for a spot as 'official photographer'. 

Drunken wedding guest gig: check. 

Camera in hand anyway: check.

A few shots around the magnificent Magnolia Plantation should give you an idea of the kind of heaven photographers dream about.

and the groomsmen didn't look too shabby either. 

Adults are ready...

and so is Natalie.

Maybe.

Just a few last minute wardrobe adjustments

and the stage is set!

 First look...

and we're good to go!

So happy...

Signed, sealed and delivered!

The reception was held in a gorgeous cabin right onsite. There was a patio that overlooked the lake, and torches lighting the outside after it got dark. There were treats...

...and more treats.

The cake was made by Aaron's sister Casey, owner and proprietor of Yake's Cakes, and I will tell you, not only was it gorgeous, it was absolutely delectable. She did not disappoint!

The band was late (see below, next to the word 'irony')

but that just meant there was more time to have a few drinks and enjoy the company of our hosts!

Sara's first dance with her dad was to a medley of hiphop/pop nineties remixes. I was busting a gut too hard to get a decent shot unfortunately (yay wedding guest gig!) but I was able to capture these beauties as the night went on.

I'm so thankful to Aaron and Sara for the invitation, and wish them all the best for many, many years of future happiness. I also want to thank Phoris, Branamir, Christabell, Sabayon, Mymagdelena, Lilymaker, and Darthpizza for making this the best 'irl' eight-man raid of all time. 

Much love, Madampomfrey.