Summer Vacation - Day 4

Day 4 - Fourth of July in Mt. Pleasant, SC

We awoke in our cottage in the woods and had coffee and breakfast before we ventured out to the main house. We sat on the front porch and sipped more coffee and watched the hummingbirds sip their sugar water between the hanging plants.

The children we see in the morning, and then they are gone, running around the property, swinging in the trees, playing in the cottage, better known as "Anya's house." Madison has also discovered the library that is upstairs in the main house. It is a room with bookcases that line each wall from ceiling to floor, and she and Joyce have spent considerable time there discussing and exchanging books.

We left the property at 4:00 P.M. to head to the Mt. Pleasant fireworks celebration. Connie stayed behind, waving to us from the hammock on the front porch. Joyce wasn't sure of the layout, and Connie didn't think that she could handle the crowd with her back problems, so she opted out. We arrived a little before five, and the men dropped us at the entrance and left to park the cars. The celebration is at the site of the aircraft carrier, The USS Yorktown, now a museum. We found a grassy spot right in front of the ship, behind the stage, where Joyce's son, Jason, would perform tonight with his band, "The South Coast Party Band." Behind us were tents of food and beverages and beyond that were the kid's activities with jumping blow-up toys, etc. We spread out our blankets, ate some southern ribs and BBQ, and then took advantage of the $5.00 tour of the Yorktown.

Years ago, my friend Kim and I took a boat out to the aircraft carrier, The USS Kennedy, off the coast of Portland, MA. It was the biggest ship I have ever seen in my life, and I took thousands of photos of it so impressed by its size and magnitude. Getting to actually go inside the USS Yorktown was the icing on the cake of my aircraft carrier experiences.

We went downstairs into the living quarters. We saw the mess hall, the dental quarters, the sickbay, the bathrooms, the butcher room, and on and on. Further down, we went into the engine room, the machine shop, and the torpedo room. Going up, we explored the flight deck and further up the control room, the map room, the admiral's quarters, and eventually, the pilot's seat. The flight deck was massive, with actual warplanes that we could explore. Only one part of the floor was roped off, and that was the site of the fireworks that would later be shot off of the Yorktown. We spent several hours touring the ship, and we still didn't cover everything.

Back on land, Jason and his band were rocking the crowd that had now grown five times as large as when we arrived. The group was decked out in red Hawaiian type shirts, Jason wearing white sunglasses and playing keyboards and sax. At our blankets were more relatives. Jason's wife, Lori, and two of their children, eight-year-old Ellie and two-year-old Margie, were waiting for our girls. The kids hit it off right away. Madison and Darcy and Ellie took off for the kid's activities, and Anya took charge of Margie and had her at her beck and call. Eventually, all of the kids came together and danced on the grass, stopping periodically to stuff their mouths with Kettle Korn and cotton candy. Ewan fell asleep amidst the noise on a blanket. When he woke, his parents took turns carrying him around in their Baby Bjorn to see the sights.

The fireworks began after dark around 9:30 P.M. I have seen tons of fireworks in my life. I have watched them from the roof of buildings in downtown Evansville, IN. I have seen them over the Gulf in two directions in Florida. I watched them last year over the Lake in New Hampshire, and I have seen Disney World's versions from 4 different parks, but watching them over the Atlantic shot from the flight deck of the USS Yorktown was a sight I will never forget. The Southerners in the low country know how to put on a show! It was the biggest finale in any fireworks history that I have ever seen. It was miraculous.

After the fireworks, many people headed out. Jay and Maya took their children and headed home. We stayed behind and listened to the band. Ellie and Darcy joined the band on stage and played tambourines and cowbells for about an hour while Joyce and I watched from the dancing crowd, our ears forever damaged. When it was all over, we stayed behind talking with Jason and his family, the girls playing tag and running foot races in the grass. There was no sense trying to leave to sit in the traffic.

We made it home after midnight and wearily headed for the showers and our bed in our cottage nestled in the woods. We may never leave here, but don't tell Joyce and James!