beaufort (aka a weekend away with *my* mom and sister).

warning - lots of photos, many words and very few links!

edited 3/9/07 - LOVE that there's finally a 'real' comment - please leave us a note if you have feedback good or bad - we want to know what you think!

This weekend away trip is a 3-year tradition - Karen and I meet our mom, Polly, for a long, girls' weekend. Year 1 we went to St Augustine, year 2 to Amelia Island and year 3 to Beaufort. We settled on Beaufort for year 4 (and more?!) on Sunday. We picked Beaufort last year because our dear friend Charlie is the music director for a church there - I don't think any of us (for sure me!) had heard Charlie play since my wedding in 1983 - and we felt like some good music and good friends would be a nice addition to our tradition. Not to digress, but my dad joined the tradition last year when Polly (wisely decided she) needed a traveling companion and while this year's Daddy appearances were more planned (save one at a Saturday morning encounter on Bay Street) they were most delightful...unfortunately, his accommodations have yet to live up to ours. They're good, and when March Madness is in full swing probably preferable from a TV standpoint to our B&B mode, but still.... he's staying in a room by himself and we're three 'girls' having a fun weekend. Sorry, Daddy, but.... :-)
So here are a few photos and my thoughts about the weekend - I hope Karen and Polly (and maybe others) will feel free to add comments. That's what makes a blog fun! Enjoy.....

The weekend got off to a v...e...r...y bad start with traffic from Roswell to Beaufort. Not only did we start off late (thanks to my bj concert the night before), but we encountered traffic jams in Roswell, at the 400 toll plaza and for some really unknown reason early onto I75 - huh? the traffic gods don't like us.... but then we hit I16 and things were finally going well and we started talking about how much we didn't want to live in the middle of nowhere and then I16 was closed and we spent an hour really visiting the middle of nowhere...at 12 miles per hour... thank you for driving slowly...

{our apologies to Metter, Georgia, which is so in the middle of nowhere...}
We got to Beaufort and met Polly late Friday. Much consternation on my part when my pc wouldn't connect to the internet...terrible withdrawal...I didn't get on-line again til Monday afternoon! but Karen and Polly spoke reason and scouted out Emily's for dinner and it was wonderful except for the smoking. We enjoyed rack of lamb, crab cakes and fried calamari.



Saturday morning was cold...I made one last ditch attempt to get on-line which gave me a chance to checkout the waterfront and Daddy's lodging.

no luck getting on-line, but I was starting to adjust....oh, and breakfast was wonderful - berries, granola, pastries and a great menu - Karen had fried green tomatoes with eggs and Polly had quiche (made their lunch choices a lot harder)

here's where we stayed (yes, historic!)

Then we shopped, had lunch with Daddy and Charlie and talked a lot. We ate dinner at Paninis - a 2nd choice, but maybe the best meal of the weekend? always a good sign when you order wine, ask about the special tapas and order that...and then enjoy that first course so much you abandon your original meal plan and re-order course #1 plus an antipasto. Also good that we found a cute (?I think?) marine to take our picture.


Sunday started with church, beautiful Bach (thank you, me, for suggesting it!) and more visiting. The view from inside the church was inspiring....and of course the company was wonderful.

(Daddy, Mom, me, Charlie, Karen)

After church we tried Nippy's - fish/shrimp tacos and shrimp sliders - sounds pretty daring, huh? but yummy! And then Daddy & Charlie left and we girls took a long walk through the historic homes district (I say "the", but there could be multiple - the town is brimming with beautiful history). Then back to watch Tech beat Boston College (I napped :-) and more Phase 10. Karen and Polly tied for the 2nd round.


Dinner was the long-awaited Saltus River Grill. Unfortunately their seafood delivery was waylaid so no stuffed flounder and no crab cakes...but wonderful clam chowder, shrimp and grits and clams with fregola. And a few art photos. Tulips didn't turn out great but this one is good (even though I had to use a flash). And our closing photo is posted at the top.

We played more Phase 10 and ended the visit with a trip to Firehouse Books and Espresso Bar and very quick trip home. Can't wait til next year!