What a surprise to learn a few days ago that my cousin Edie and her son Lance, whom I haven’t seen since he was a boy, lived right here in Charleston, SC where we are staying!!

With Lance’s busy career, Edie’s busy career, and the holiday, we didn’t get a chance to meet up until today. Sad, because we leave for Florida tomorrow. But any time is better than no time! Edie is back to teaching, this time she teaches eighth grade science.

I believe we arrived around 10:30 am and got to stay until 4:30 pm. We had to get back while there was still daylight so Dave could see to hook up the Jeep and other tasks.

We remembered fondly our past experiences with Bo, Edie’s faithful companion, so I was as excited to see him as Edie. She moved here from her hometown of Lucedale, Miss and lives in a townhome; such a vast difference from her beautiful house in Lucedale. She says it suits her and she looks happy, so I’m happy for her. This is a very cool town with scads of historical places to visit. There is city life and beach life, plantations to visit, so I understand the attraction and I don’t know half of it. She and Bo live a bit more of a minimalist life than before, but they are making it work.

Always such a gracious hostess, we had a nice visit with her and then took all the fixings for burgers to son Lance’s house to fix “linner”- lunch/dinner. We also had chips and dips before sitting down to delicious home made burgers that she grilled on his grill.

Lance is an architect, he designs schools and other non-residential buildings. His house -while still a work in progress- was neat, and beautifully appointed. I loved his kitchen with the long island in the middle, and his rescue pet Stink, which is an adorable black and white cross between a spaniel and a poodle. He got his name because when he got him he had pretty bad ear infections which smelled awful. I personally thought it an unfortunate name, because he certainly doesn’t stink now. I’d have called him Oreo.

We had a lovely visit and I’m so sorry I didn’t take more pictures, but you know how it is when you visit family you haven’t seen in ages. Conversation is the main event!

When we left there, Edie picked a place for us to visit that allowed us enough time to see it and get back in time. I’m sorry, I think it was called Charles Towne Landing, but it had once been a plantation and now is a park that also houses an animal refuge of sorts. I was down in the back, so I’m afraid I only took a few pics as I was struggling to walk.

We really enjoyed our visit and only wish there had been more time. There’s only so much you can do in a few hours! I’d say we made good use of our time!

Edie and Lance are happy being in their new spaces and I’m so happy that they have found a place where they can be so close. He had previously lived in DC and she in Lucedale so for them to be within minutes of each other suits them perfectly! They are both so blessed!