Vacation in the Marsh

This past weekend my family embarked on a trip--a vacation to Edisto Island, SC. We were all very excited about getting away for a few days. Not to mention I got paid days off from my weekday job. What more could I ask for, right? :-) So, we woke up early Monday morning, loaded the van, and started down the road. Chloe was a little worried about leaving the dogs all alone, especially since Peanut (our beagle/chihuahua mix) was extremely angry at being chained. We worry abou that creature when she's nice. Heaven knows what she can think up when she is angry. But we had to take a chance. We weren't going to let some deranged mutt with a grudge to keep us at home. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah...the trip down. We were pretty much suffocated underneath pillows and sleeping bags, but at least we weren't hot. Daddy was thrilled to have air conditioning in the rental van. (since we don't have ac in our cars...) He definitely took advantage of it, and we pretty much froze the whole way down there. The scene in the back of the Long van was interesting. Micah and I donned our head scarves and sunglasses. We were entertained by taking crazy pics of ourselves. Josh and Issie argued over leg room. Ian sat behind me (BIG mistake). He thought up everyway imaginable to torment me constantly! After my patience ran dry I ended his "fun" by whirling around and slappin' him upside the head. Chloe slept like a log. And Hannah sat with her face smeared against the window giving other drivers frantic distress signals. It was up to me to bring along music for our excursion. I brought 4 Bebo Norman cds. (I think everyone wanted me dead after that.) After listening to the same cds over and over again even I was screaming for someone to shut Bebo up!!! ( I can't believe I just said that.)
Finally, when our rears and legs were numb and everyone was ready to pull each other's hair out...we arrived! We were camping at Edisto Island State Park. We had heard some horror stories about the conditions there--but I didn't believe them. We stumbled out of the van, stretched our legs and were immediatly sniffed out by thousands of mosquitoes! We quickly set up camp. When you have 18 hands all working, things get done much faster. When camp was lookin' good we made a rush for the beach. We brought our fishing rods and tried a little surf fishing. Hannah and I climbed out on a rock jetty that stretched a ways into the ocean. It was a beautiful spot, but we nearly got swept into the ocean by the waves when the tide came in.
That night when we got back to camp Daddy and Mama began supper. Daddy had set up "bug lights" that were supposed to ward off bugs. I think something went wrong with those lights. I swear they attracted bugs...and monstrous bugs at that! I was *this* close to havinga nervous breakdown that night. I mean, I am not usually scared of bugs at all. I can deal with bugs - in moderation. But these bugs were enormous!! That night I was helping Daddy cook hamburgers. I was shaping a hamburger patty when this 4 inch hardshelled bug dove right at my face. So much for the quiet ordinance at the campground. The peace was shattered by my screams, and the hamburger meat in my hands went flying in all directions! I will never forget those bugs! lol My favorite thing was how tree frogs came out at night and would hop all over everything. They were adorable and very sticky! :-) With 9 people sleeping in a tent...in a swamp...it's bound to get hot. It did. I slept maybe a total of 30 minutes. I felt bugs crawling all over me. (Obviously the monster bug ordeal tramatized me! lol)
The next morning we woke up early and headed for the dock that went over the salt marsh. We were going crabbing. Crabbing was definitely a new experience for all of us! But it was a lot of fun!!! We tied turkey necks to string and lowered the bait into the murky water. In a matter of seconds you could feel a crab tugging at the bait. As the string holder lifted the bait out of the water, the net holder would scoop the crab up. The crabs werea pretty good size and they were amazing critters. their claws and legs were bright blue and red. we caught about 10 and then we....let them go. They were so cool we couldn't bear to kill them! (That's what happens when you go crabbing with 6 girls) When we got back to camp us kids took off to explore the nature trails. I walked about 10 miles that day! We walked down one trail that led to a place called Shell Mount. It was an enormous mound of oyster and clam shells. 4000 years ago the natives used that site as a dumping ground for the shells they caught. It was pretty awesome! Our camping trip was over too soon. The next morning we got packed up in record time and hit the road. On the way back we stopped by Parris Island Marine Base. We all enjoyed that very much! It was like the soldiers' very own city--complete with a hospital, schools, restaurants, neighborhoods, etc. We visted the Parris Island Museum where we met a nice tour guide named Frank. He was a veteran Marine who fought in the Korean War. We were even lucky enough to watch hundreds of new recruits training. Mr. Frank introduced us to a female drill sergeant. (She didn't even yell at us.) After seeing that place I felt very patriotic! It was definitely an unforgettable experience!!
The coast was beautiful...Spanish moss, palmetto trees, and salt marshes. But at the end of the day I was ready to head back to good ol' Spartanburg. Everyone except Daddy, Mama, and I slept the whole way home. Those of us who stayed awake listened to more Bebo Norman and devoured the snacks. (I was starving!) We were thankful to get home...even though we were all one big mosquito bite! we were also thankful to see that our grudge holding dog, Peanut, didn't even burn the house down or anything. (And my goldfish, Wee Willy, was still alive after 2 days with no food!) What an experience!!!