The Adventures of Chad and Beth

We returned today from a restful trip to Hilton Head Island. You would think that it was in Ohio because there were more people from Ohio there than South Carolinians. The locals make a joke out of it and have tons of Ohio paraphernalia for sale. It was so much fun and we had many wonderful moments together, as a family and as Chad and Beth (The Browns). We didn't really go anywhere but we did a lot. We spent 6 hours each day on the beach (we stayed on the beach from 9 until 4 basically). We are brown as brownies, well not that dark but pretty caramel. We ate in almost every night, everyone taking there turn to fix dinner. We ate out twice, at Paula Deen's and at a great seafood restaurant called Aqua Grill. I could go on and on and on about our trip because we had so much fun and so much happened.

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After being down there for two days and realizing how much room we had my parents wondered why we didn't invite Mike and Ann, Chad's parents. It was too late to invite them because his mom's schedule is so crazy but we had room enough for 4 more people. My mom, dad, my youngest sister Emily and her boyfriend Dylan, and Chad and I were all who went. The place we stayed was so awesome. It is a time share place that was given to us for a week by one of my dad's home owners. It was so nice, they even roped my parents into a meeting about buying but since my dad is out of work they declined. The property at Hilton Head is sold out but there is a new property at North Myrtle that is just as great. They are still two steps from buying it, dad said when he gets his job back they are going to call them. It would be awesome to have a Marriott time share.

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The biggest part of our trip besides going to Paula Deen's was spending every day out on the beach. Hilton Head is a very different beach than what we're used to. The beaches are so wide, so at low tide the beach is hundreds of feet wide so if you sit too far back you have to walk a quarter of a mile to the water. It is awesome. It doesn't slope much so when the tide is high the water is still very shallow. This makes it perfect conditions for sand dollars. However you cannot take live ones from the beach, it is against the law. There are thousands of them beneath your feet in the water. When you step on them it just feels like a bump in the sand but it turns your feet yellow. The only problem I had with Hilton Head was seashells, there are none! I found a little baby jars worth of seashells, little miniature ones. Oh well, we are going to Oak Island with Chad's family, hopefully in October.

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One of my most favorite parts of our trip besides the cabana and besides Paula Deen was the lighthouse. I have a checklist of all of the lighthouses in the Carolina's and I am determined to keep checking them off, well, Hilton Head gets a check, and it was beautiful. What made it even more grand was all of the live music and all of the great boats coming in. We went earlier in the afternoon but when I saw the sunset we made a quick run back to the lighthouse so I could score some good images. These are all my own photos. I took almost 300 pictures on this trip. If you need a photographer, here I am. We did not climb the lighthouse because we were so mesmerized by the music and the wonderful yachts coming in. Maybe when Chad and I are retired we will be blessed with a beautiful sailboat to sail around the world.

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There is so much to say about our trip, so many stories to tell, but I think I will scrap them (scrapbook). I am sure you will all get to see the pictures soon. After I pay $100 to have them all developed. We made some great memories together this past week and as every day passes I realize more and more than Chad and I are meant to be. People say, you've waited six years for him? Well, those six years mean more to me than anything and we have made a strong foundation for our future together in those six years. After this trip, it is for sure now that there will be many more where that came from.