NORTH CAROLINA AND WASHINGTON D.C. CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

On our trip back home we met up with our old friends....Joanne and Mike Zellner in North Carolina.

Mike, Joanne, and me

the whole group

The last stop of our wonderful trip was like the grand finale of the fireworks.  We were lucky to catch the Japanese cherry blossoms at their absolute peek of bloom.  People, people everywhere and cameras click, click, clicking.  Such beauty all around.  How blessed we were to see this.  These trees were given to our country by Japan in 1912 as a gift to honor the growing bond between our two countries.  You can tell the oldest trees because they are the ones that are all knobby and gnarled and bent over.  But still, each year they burst into bloom.

there were blossom parades in the streets.  here the girls are
all dressed as blossoms.

our first day it was overcast

on the second day the sky was gorgeous blue.  the Washington
Monument looks so beautiful.

lovely old tree

a beautiful OLD cherry tree

the new Martin Luther King Monument

beautiful Casa Blanca

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

We had such a lovely time touring all around beautiful Charleston and the surrounding areas.  We did lots of the touring by bike and got to see so many things close up and personal.  We also took a horse and carriage tour around the city and learned so many historical things.  We were also there during Good Friday and Easter and they had religious services in the lovely gazebos in the parks.

painted stately homes

gorgeous wisteria everywhere

An interesting feature on many of the homes is the privacy door on the porches.  When this door is open, it means that visitors are welcome when they are sitting out.  When it is closed, it means that the owners want privacy while sitting on their porch.  

Rainbow Row is a lovely historical area.  The row houses were used as shops on the first floor and living areas above.  It is said they were painted different colors so that people who couldn't read would know where to find certain things they needed to buy.  

So many interesting Confederate structures.  One used as a hospital for injured Confederate soldiers.  Another a meeting place for Daughters of the Confederacy.  Notice the double sided staircase.  It is called an "open arm" staircase welcoming visitors to come in.  

this was used as a hospital during the civil war

We visited Boone Plantation, which the most photographed plantation in the country and is one of the oldest working plantations, continually growing crops for over 320 years.  Shows like DAYS OF OUR LIVES, THE NORTH AND SOUTH, and THE NOTEBOOK were filmed here.  

This was a Gullah presentation by a local Gullah woman.

The Gullah is a group of Creole people living in the area who
are descendants from the slaves that worked in the rice fields. 

a lazy southern afternoon

a guide said this house was in a scene in the movie THE COLOR PURPLE

cotton growing

Views of Ft. Sumter and Sullivan's Island

Fort Sumter from afar

We went to St. John's Island to see Angel Oak .  This live oak tree is said to be  the oldest thing,  living or man made, east of  the Rockies.  It is estimated to be over 1,500 years old and over 65 feet tall.  It is native to the low country in South Carolina.  The Angel oak grows outward, with branches as thick as oak trees themselves.  The branches have grown so long and heavy that they grow along and even under the ground and come back up again.