November 27, 2006

• 34th Anniversary

   

  We spent Wednesday night with Elizabeth in Columbia, SC. She had been working there, and it gave us time to be with her a little on Thanksgiving Day as well. Our anniversary fell on Thanksgiving Day this year, just as our wedding day was 34 years ago.  We served a Thanksgiving meal of turkey and dressing, corn, mashed potatoes w/gravy, carrot salad and applesauce. There was a piece of wedding cake and ice cream for dessert.  There were 350 that came that day to celebrate our wedding!  (Were you one of them?) We were married at the Cold Spring Mennonite Church in Abbeville, SC, by the same bishop (Uncle Jonas) that had married Merle's parents 22 years before (also on Thanksgiving Day). This year we went to Charleston, SC, instead of the NC mountains as we did for our honeymoon.

  Charleston was windy and chilly, we were thankful for our jackets. (Unlike our honeymoon - we had then left our jackets and comfortable shoes at home!) My prayer partner had made the lovely basket for us to enjoy on the trip. We spent the afternoon at Patriot's Point, touring the ships that were on display there. Merle did more climbing up and down the stairs, as he had never been on an air craft carrier before.  Just being able to relax and watch the water and the things going on around me were satisfying to me - also knowing that we could do this again tomorrow!!

  This photo shows the one item that probably had more pictures taken of it than any other, the new bridge at Charleston. There are 250 cables holding this bridge, and it will hold over one million tons! Earlier this spring, my youngest sister and daughter participated in a "run" over it. They did not win, but they did not quit!
  

  The houses were made with brick, but it was not "the thing" to have brick, so it was covered with a smooth finish, and then "marked" to resemble stone or granite.  The "bolts" on the side are just that!  They were installed after an earthquake in the 1800's, and made to tighten the building as it would become "loose".

  The whole city has gas lanterns throughout.  In the case of flooding or damaging winds, the city cuts off the gas. The "cobble stone" streets were made of ballast stones that had been on the ships from England, and not needed for the return trip. We took a carriage ride, and were fortunate enough to get the slowest horse in the stables!  We even had a mule team pass us! It was Dick's last day before leaving for a three month rest in the nearby plantation, and we enjoyed the ride at the slower pace.
  

  On the way home, I thought about the fact that this trip had the same length of time that our honeymoon had taken. We enjoyed ourselves, and do not recommend waiting as long as we did for your first "anniversary" trip. Thank each one of you who had given us "best wishes" and prayed for us while we were gone.
   

  • 12:18 pm
  • 14 Comments