The Week of Debby Downer

This is what much of Florida looked like from Sunday through Tuesday. If you live in FL, you know first-hand what I'm talking about. If you aren't from FL- you're lucky! I should mention my gratitude though for being kept safe and with power the entire time Debby made her presence known. There are many who experienced flooding, power outages, tornadoes, etc. This storm just lingered and lingered and lingered. I don't remember a time during the day on Sunday where it wasn't raining. I'm not exaggerating. Anyway- I'm thankful Debby has since moved on!

The beginning of this week has moved rather slowly, considering the weather situation. But it was getting hard to stay in- cabin fever sets in quickly after about 24 hours! Monday, the highlight of my day was leaving to go pick up lunch for my roommate and I and putting gas in my car. Sad. Ha!

Tuesday, things started to pick up a bit. {Not really.}

I walked around the mall for a little while. Dayna and I did some more shopping that afternoon. Then we went to say goodbye to our friend Jessica who is moving back to PA to get married and start her married life! Jessica is one of my first Lakeland friends, and also a teacher friend. She started at the school I work at about 3 months before I did. It's fun to have good friends alongside you as you begin your career! Plus, Jessica taught 4th grade and I teach 5th, so I have had many of her students. I wish her the best of luck as she begins this new chapter in her life!

Wednesday was our first day of SUNSHINE!!! It was exciting! Dayna and I renewed our apartment lease recently and with that comes a carpet cleaning so we had that scheduled for today. I was surprised that they were in and out and done in 25 minutes! I mean, I know it's only an apartment, but still! They worked fast!

Later on in the afternoon, we did some more shopping. We made a stop into Sports Authority because Dayna "needed" a new umbrella (supposedly). Well, being the non-athletic girl that I am, I dread going into Sports Authority. It's such a boring store in my opinion. I mean, what do I have to buy there? Golf stuff? No. Baseball stuff? No. Camping stuff? Ha! No. Overpriced clothing and shoes? No.

I digress.

Anyway....I came across these mini display tents while we were there, and I had to snap a pic! I love things miniature in size!

When we got home, I had a little snack. Have you tried this yet? If not, you really should. It's seriously the perfect snack. A little bit of chocolate, pretzels, almonds...it's just delectable!

After dinner, I was ready to go outside again. I'm telling ya, 3 straight days of rain really does something to you. Dayna has been running at a park near our apartment complex and she has been telling me about the monkey bars they have there (for adults). I wanted to check them out, so we went!

On our drive back around the lake, we spotted this gator chilling on the lawn. So of course we walked as close as we could. I'm fascinated by gators.

Before long, he got up and went back into the water.

Our last stop for today was Target. I found these cool shades and Dayna proudly sported them for me. Only she could pull this off. I love it!

I'm thrilled that sunshine is part of the forecast for the next few days! I will be enjoying it!

Trip to Charleston

I spent last week in Charleston, SC as part of a Teaching American History Grant provided to the county in which I teach. It's a year long grant which includes doing online readings and postings, professional development workshops, the trip which we just went on, and a culminating project which we will complete in the fall semester. It's been a great experience so far and I know it will also be a great addition to my resume!

The group is relatively small; about 17 teachers. We all either teach 5th or 8th grade. In Florida, 5th and 8th grade curriculum focuses on American History. I'll be honest and say that this trip and the week of professional development workshops prior to, was a HUGE refresher for me. I'm not naturally a history buff, and I haven't had a history class in several years. I'm just not good with remembering dates of wars and who was in them, etc. I'm just not...and I've accepted it! Ha!

Many parts of history I do find fascinating, however. I enjoy looking at artifacts from long ago and learning about customs particular to certain time periods. I find the comparisons of "then and now" to be so amazing.

Anyway- here are some of my favorite pictures of the trip. I decided not to do a day-by-day blog post series, but rather condense it all into one post! It will be a long one!

Monday- we left at 7:00 a.m. and our first stop was St. Augustine to explore Castillo de San Marcos and the historic district.


Castillo de San Marcos


View from inside the Fort


Row of cannons


Where people would look out to see if an attack was coming- they were afraid of being fired at from the sea


Oldest wooden schoolhouse!


Jen and I

Tuesday- went to the Charleston Museum, Powder Magazine, did a Scavenger Hunt, went on a carriage ride, and explored downtown for dinner and shopping

Original brick of a historic Charleston building (I don't remember which one)


Slave tags


Rice was a profitable crop in the Charleston Area


Uniforms


An old coach


Apothecary Room


We were here 3 days in a row. Yes, three days.


Experiencing rice culture- not an easy task!


The Powder Magazine where we began our Scavenger Hunt


Reading the first clue


Kitchen house at the Heyward-Washington house (one of the stops along our Scavenger Hunt)


Heyward-Washington House (George Washington stayed here all of 2 weeks and so his name is forever attached to the house)


Sitting on the carriage, ready to go!


Beautiful!


Dinner on a rooftop


The rooftop on which we ate, Henry's Restaurant

Wednesday- Fort Sumter Tour, Charleston Museum, dinner and shopping in downtown




A view of the Fort


The ferry we took to get there


Cannon; the brickwork is original- so cool!


A view from the Fort inside. The walls used to be 55 feet high.


I just had to get a picture. Seeing the word "yall" on an advertisement is just so Southern to me. I love it. Oh, and we had lunch at Sticky Fingers.

Thursday- Cooking in the 19th century, Exploring Textile Collections, Boone Hall Plantation, Out to dinner as a whole group

Shrimp and Grits being made over a dutch oven


Biscuits


Apothecary station- this lady was explaining how women would remedy illnesses, etc.


Explaining the process of making lye soap




Utensils


An old flag, I love its withered and worn look- shows you just how old it is!

Now, onto one of my favorite parts of the trip- getting to play dress-up with 19th century clothing! It was so much fun!

Definitely needed help


Couldn't imagine getting dressed like this everyday!


Cindy and me (we both teach 5th grade)


We were all looking at different cameras, but at least you can see all the different dresses!


We hung together most of the trip; so glad they were there!




I wanted this picture for the fact it would have been so taboo back then for a woman to show her legs, let alone wear the style of shoes we are!


Boone Hall Plantation


This woman told us slave stories and sang a few songs slaves would sing


Slave cabins


Such powerful words


The tour guide pointed out these slave handprints to us- making bricks was one of their main tasks




Dinner at an Italian restaurant on the last night

Friday- Left hotel bright and early at 7:15, stopped in Jacksonville around 12 noon to visit the Kingsley Plantation, ate lunch at a state park near a beach, then headed for HOME!


Kingsley Plantation built in 1798


Slave cabins- roofs are no longer there but they were made out of thatch


And finally, me at our last stop, the state park near a beach where we had packed lunches.

We were all about ready to get home at this point. Thankful for a safe trip and great sunny weather!

So, there you have my too-long re-cap of my trip to Charleston!