Trip to SC, Graduation & Our Kids are Home!

Greetings!  Hope this finds you well.  Just wanted to share a little about our trip to South Carolina and Brennan's Graduation. 

Initially, we had only planned to go down early Tuesday for Graduation that evening and come home Wednesday.  When we found out both Brennan & Breezy were in a play the weekend before, we felt we couldn't pass up the opportunity to head down early to catch the final performance on Saturday night.  It was called Joseph of Aramathea.  Brennan played John the Baptist and Breezy played Martha.  It was wonderful and we enjoyed it so much! 

On Sunday, we spent several hours with the kids, including lunch at their favorite local spot...a wonderful Mexican restaurant that was FANTASTIC!  Let me just say it quickly became a favorite to us, too and I suspect we'll visit anytime we're in town.  Everything was positively delicious!  It started getting rainy and stormy as we headed back to the hotel. Tom and Brennan chatted and Breezy and I checked out all sorts of blogs...it was great! 

On Monday, Brennan had some final exams and projects and Breezy was working, so Tom and I were on our own.  It was unfortunately still very, very rainy in Greenville, meaning we couldn't do many of the things we would have normally enjoyed (we love their beautiful downtown area).  Tom said, "let's head to the beach!"  (You need to know Greenville, although in SC, couldn't be farther from the beach!)  We went to Google to find the closest, which was Folly Beach, near Charleston, 3 1/2 hours away.  Unfortunately, they had rain in their forecast that day, too.  We checked other beaches, just in case, but all were expecting 70% rain and thunderstorms!

We decided to take our chances that we'd miss it and hit the road.  After all, it was better than sitting in the hotel all day!   About 2 1/2 hours into the trip, we hit some unbelievably hard rain.  (So much for our chances!)  It was so hard to see!  Finally, it cleared up just before we arrived at Folly Beach.  It was cloudy there, but not raining! 

(photo courtesy of Google images)

We walked on the beach for a while, put our toes in the (very) cold water, and then decided to head over to Charleston, an an effort to beat the rain.  The skies were getting darker by this time and it was sprinkling just as we arrived.  We parked and started walking around town, then stopped for a late lunch at Five Guys Deli (there is one locally but we've never eaten there).  It was terrific! 

We both quickly noticed there were college kids everywhere!  (There are a number of colleges/technical schools in and around Charleston.)  As we were finishing lunch, the rain got heavier and this time accompanied by thunder & lightning!  We decided the rest of our exploring was going to be better done from the car...i.e. no photos.  (Sorry!)  = (  We headed back to Greenville thinking we'll have to try visiting again sometime in better weather! 

Tuesday was graduation day and at last, the sun returned!  It turned into a beautiful day.  We took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in a bit, had lunch at Panera, then headed to the school for graduation practice.  Later, we enjoyed dinner with the kids and then we headed back to the school for the big event!  Though Brennan's college is a small one, they went to great lengths to host a special, inspiring and wonderful ceremony. 

 
Receiving his degree...

With faculty and other 2010 graduates, Rachel & Natalie

 

Thought this was such a sweet moment...Breezy is so proud of Brennan! (and so are we!) 

And a kiss for his favorite girl!

Following the ceremony, there was a wonderful reception for the students, family and friends.  Everyone enjoyed it so much.  Finally, it was time to call it a day.  We were making the trip home on Wednesday and wanted to get a good night's rest.  Speaking of making the trip home, a certain couple followed us here!  = )  They have several vacation days and they wanted to spend it with their families.  (Hooray!)  You can only imagine how much we're loving that!  = )