SNMR: Time off for the holidays

I've decided that the Saturday Night Movie Review (SNMR) column will take December off. I'll be back reviewing more great movies starting Saturday, January 2, 2010. See you then.

Happy Holidays, people.

Willpower I have not

Took a vacation day today, I did, ostensibly to get some stuff done that I never seem to get done during the work day or when the kids are around. We'll see how much I actually accomplish.

Met K this morning at the Wal-Mart in Amherst, NH to give her back the kids for the school week. Now that V is in the middle school I normally drop them off on Sunday evening, since her school day begins earlier than M's does. Today, however V is not going to school as she's had an up-and-down temperature this weekend, peaking at 100.4 last night. When K and I do meet on Monday mornings to do the kid exchange, it's usually at the hospital when K's shift is over. But today I had to return some things I bought for my dad at Wal-Mart over the weekend that he decided he didn't want, or more precisely because I got the wrong things.

While looking for something else, which I didn't find, I managed to locate a few other things I've wanted to get to replace stuff that broke. I went to a few stores looking for another something I didn't find and while there "happened" to wander past their selection of DVDs. Most of the time, willpower I have not, when I see movies for $4.99 each that I don't have. Today was one of those days, I'm afraid.

Fort Sumter. Charleston, South Carolina

I know, I know.

Esther has been telling me for a few weeks that I ought to post some pictures of my latest visit to South Carolina.

So here they are. I'm not posting all of them, but just enough to give you an idea of what we did.

The day after Christmas is Esther's birthday and she thought it would be nice to show me some of Charleston. Since I had never been, I thought it was a fabulous idea.

Being that the Civil War is one of my favorite eras in US history, one of the places I always wanted to visit was Fort Sumter, out in Charleston Harbor. This is where the first shots of the Civil War were aimed, so that was our first tourist-y destination of the day.




These two pictures above show the approach to Sumter as you get off the ferry and onto the dock leading to the old fort.



Here's the official sign outside the entrance.



Inside the fort stands this monument, dedicated to Union Major Robert Anderson and his garrison, who were defending the fort against occupation by Confederate troops.



One of the cannon used at the fort.



Inside the walls of Sumter, near what used to be an opening for one cannon to shoot from. Sumter's exterior walls are lined with similar openings.



Another pic of me inside the walls of Sumter.

I really enjoyed visiting Fort Sumter. Aside from the cold, brisk wind, the main thing I didn't like was the amount of time that the ferry company gave to see everything at the Fort, which was only one hour. What dragged the time down was waiting for everyone to get off of the ferry and into the fort, so the Park Ranger could give his little presentation. Once that was done we only had about 30 minutes to see the rest of the fort. Of course we could have caught the next ferry but that would have meant three hours on the island instead of just one. I think allowing two hours on the grounds would have been just right. I despise being rushed and I definitely felt like I was rushed. Especially considering the cost of the ferry per person. Not cheap, I'll tell you.

On Vacation....

No, not me silly. My parents.

V, M and I drove them to the airport this morning. They're off to Florida and the Caribbean for the next two weeks. Tomorrow they drive across the state to pick up their ship - a one week Caribbean cruise with my aunt, uncle and last surviving grandparent. Once they get back, they'll spend a week at my grandmother's condo before flying home on the 25^th.

One of the reasons my parents went (aside from their need of a vacation) is because of my grandmother, who will be celebrating her 90^th birthday on the 19^th. This is her way of celebrating... with her son (my uncle) and daughter (my mom) and their spouses, since God only knows how many years she has left....

Next Friday, my sister is going to Florida herself. The parents of one of her high-school friends own a condo somewhere down there and she was invited to spend a few days.

I could use a vacation. I haven't gone anywhere on vacation in I don't know how long. My trip to Dallas in March 2006 was the last trip I took, but it doesn't count as a vacation, since I went down there for a purpose.