Saturday, May 14, 2011

Where's Fiona Friday?

I spent 5 wondrous nights away from my kitties, so Fiona Friday was cancelled by default (sleepy traveler, no new photos of cats). This is where I've been:

Charleston, South Carolina!!! I went on a Girls' Trip with Care of Care's Online Book Club and my old friend Cindi, author of No More Bobs. We had such fun! We were welcomed with open arms.

Charleston was warm and muggy. Just about anything and everything you can imagine was in bloom.

We visited churches and graveyards, walked down quiet alleys, soaked in the history and the beautiful sights.

I went on a schooner sail on my own. On a boat with a capacity of 49, there were only 5 of us. I made 2 new friends and took a ridiculous number of photos (most of them awful -- I neglected to change my camera settings . . . oops).

There are so many beautiful little details in Charleston: ironwork, door knockers, garden decorations.

Here's a self-portrait -- Bookfool on a carriage ride! It's probably pretty hard to see me, but I'm wearing pink.

I only finished one book the entire week. Argh. Hopefully, I'll be back to normal reading and posting, soon. The book I just finished, Skinny by Diana Spechler, is a tour book and the tour date is still a few weeks off. So, I may just have to find other ways to entertain you for a while. I hope to be back to visiting blogs, soon, too! Hope everyone had a fabulous reading week!


©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

29 comments:

  1. I still love the pictures! :) I would love to see this in person someday :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE love love the self portrait. ha!
    Wonderful trip. oh, and we go THE boat! Didn't tell you it would all work out?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rachel,

    Thanks! I'm sure you'd love Charleston!

    Care,

    Heehee. Don't you love those mirrors? You got a boat! Which one?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, what fun! I've never been to Charleston, but I long to know more of the South. I think the pictures you took were great, Bookfool, although your self portrait? A bit on the teeny side. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful photos, and I like the one of the bridge you've put up in the banner header.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, I miss Fiona but it looks like you had fun, and these pictures are beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good for you!~!! I love the idea of some getaway time and the spiritual uplift that it can be. I hope you feel a bit rejuvenated.

    Glad that you are home safe and sound.

    ReplyDelete
  8. OOps, in case you missed that....it was me using my "other" login ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. It looks like you had a fabulous trip!! Great photos. Hope to see more in the coming days!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:08 PM

    What a nice trip. I've never been to Charleston, but I've always wanted to go. Love the flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bellezza,

    I'm afraid I'm going to be really good for Charleston's tourist industry. It's a marvelous place, friendly and brimming with beautiful historical relics, gorgeous gardens, stunning homes. You really must go there, sometime. :)

    My self-portrait was bigger on the computer screen at full size! LOL

    Bonnie,

    Thanks! I took scads of photos of that bridge because I thought engineer hubby would appreciate a good photo of it and that sunset shot has become one of my favorites from the trip.

    Jenny,

    Fiona will be back next week! I did have a terrific time. It was great to get home, though. When I arrived home, I rubbed Isabel's head and called out for Fiona. She came bolting around the corner. Such a fun greeting! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gaye,

    I do feel rejuvenated. It was nice to do something on my own, for once. I've been traveling with family for my entire life. BTW, I know it's you when you're using your other log-in! :)

    Les,

    I did indeed! Thanks! Charleston is a very lovely, photogenic place. I'm sure there will be a few more photos. ;)

    Kay,

    I don't believe I'd ever have thought to go to Charleston but I've wanted to meet up with Cindi for ages and when she said she was headed that way, I realized it was a place I could meet up with her. I hate to think I might have missed such a terrific place merely because I like to go north. LOL You should definitely go.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ha! I just gave more than a cursory glance at your header photo. WELL DONE. Did you just take it or did you think it would make a cool header? we may never know...
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous9:41 AM

    Charleston is so beautiful...I only spent a day there, maybe someday I'll be able to return. It looks like you had a fabulous trip!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What fun! Love the photos!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love the photos. 1, 5 and 7 are my faves. I'm glad you had a blast!! I loved Charleston when I was there!!! Hoping to go back someday. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Go girl! The trip sounds positively heavenly! Chuck actually grew up in Charleston, but I've never been there. After your gorgeous photos I want to go even more!

    ReplyDelete
  18. How fun! Sounds like a wonderful getaway. I've never been to South Carolina but it looks beautiful. On my map of places I want to go visit.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well darn, I wish I'd known y'all were going there - I might have been able to buzz over for a day.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What great photos, and you it looks like you were having a wonderful time scooting all over the place and trying everything out! I also think it would have been nice if you could have met up with Kathy. She is a fantastic person, and just loads of fun to hang out with. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful photos with us!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Care,

    Nope, that wasn't taken with my header in mind. I figured engineer huzzybuns would like to see some pretty pics of that bridge (I was correct), so I snapped it from many angles and that one just happened to look perfect for a header. Amazingly, I wasn't blinded while taking the sunset pics. :)

    Softdrink,

    You should definitely return. I was there for 5 days and nights. It was just about right for me, this time but there's a lot more I opted to save for a future visit. You could spend a lot of time exploring Charleston and not get sick of it.

    Jenclair,

    Thanks!

    Another Lost Soul,

    Thanks! 1, 5 and 7 are good choices. I think my favorite is the schooler pic (5). I'm rather fond of my self-portrait, though. LOL Isn't Charleston awesome?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Andiloo,

    It was a fantastic trip. I had no idea Chuck was from Charleston! Cool! You definitely need to take a family trip there. It's a beautiful place and there's so much fascinating history. I know you'll love it.

    Iliana,

    It was terrific. I'd never been to either of the Carolinas and I'm pretty sure I never would have thought to go to Charleston, but when Cindi said she was heading there, I thought it would be a perfect place to meet up. Such fun!

    Kathy,

    Oh, darn, that would have been great! I'll give you a heads-up, the next time I head that way. Husband has been informed that he'll be going along with me, next time. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Zibilee,

    Yes, indeedy. I did a lot of scooting! I wasn't planning to take a carriage ride, actually, but I had some extra time on the day Care was leaving and she suggested that I go for a carriage ride for the different point of view, since we'd seen everything from sidewalk level. It was marvelous. Actually, everything was terrific -- the ride, the tours, the boat rides, the food.

    I would never have expected Kathy would be willing to zip down, but I'll remember next time. Care has met her and said the same thing. She must be quite a charmer. :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Goodness, I had no idea Kathy would have lived that close! oh well. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Care,

    Me, either! Maybe next time. I'm sure we'll both be going back!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous1:03 PM

    So beautiful! Looks like you had a great time!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wereadtoknow,

    I had a fabulous time! Charleston is gorgeous, friendly and very walkable. I only jumped on the free trolley twice and decided I liked walking better. It's a fun place to visit. :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. oh how fabulous!! Had you met Care before or was this a first? We've just recently become buds with a recent readalong of Ulysses (which I think we both failed), but she's a hoot! Would love to go to Charleston one day, but have to admit Savannah is at the top of my southern cities hit list.

    Also, your photography is beautiful. Did I hear you mention a photography blog somewhere? Or if you know of any... I have a fancy shmancy camera but don't quite know how to use it (am shooting in manual but with lots of blurry shots due to low lighting issues).

    ReplyDelete
  29. Trish,

    Care was exactly the 2nd blogger I've met in person, so nope . . . hadn't met before, although we've been chatting and exchanging books for quite a while!

    There is no Southern city on my must list. I usually head north in the summer, so I wouldn't have gone to Charleston if not for Cindi. She chose the location; Care and I tagged along. :)

    I used to have a photography blog but I canned it because it was getting dull. I kept taking the same pictures over and over, again. I wasn't going anywhere at the time, I guess, apart from swim meets. Thanks! I really need to brush up on my photography. I made some major screw-ups on this trip by going almost entirely automatic. You just can't do that with a good camera.

    As to low lighting . . . one word: tripod. You could use your little gorilla pod, if you don't have anything sturdier. That's one reason I didn't do so hot on the photography, this time -- I don't know my camera as well as I need to. I used to sit down and read my camera manuals from cover to cover when I got a new camera but I don't even know what I did with my manual, this time. Oopsy.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog! I use comment moderation because apparently my blog is a spam magnet. Don't worry. If you're not a robot, your comment will eventually show up and I will respond, with a few exceptions. If a comment smacks of advertising, contains a dubious link or is offensive, it will be deleted. I love to hear from real people! I'm a really chatty gal and I love your comments!