Friday - the beach!

 When I went to sleep Thursday night, I used the new MP3 player.  What I heard was not what I loaded.  I can only assume that what I heard was preloaded to check the player before it was shipped out.  I skipped ahead to my stuff.  I woke up to the alarm, but did not get up right away.  Later when we did, he took a shower while I ate, and vice versa.  I was able to check e-mail while eating.  Everything I had packed Chris put in the car.  We washed some apples and carrots to take along.  It was a little after 7 when we left.  We followed printed directions for awhile instead of the GPS.  That meant that I had to stay awake to navigate.  But we also played a book on CD, and that does not promote wakefulness for me.

  It was "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", read by the author, Douglas Adams.  It is very good and I recommend it.  We stopped for lunch at a place called "Cheddars".  I had fish and Chris got a sandwich.  It was a good meal.  We continued driving.  We went through a rainstorm so bad that I thought we should pull over, but it didn't last long.  We arrived at Tybee Island about 4:30 EST.  Mary had rented a VERY nice house that sleeps 18 people in beds and then there are sleeper sofas.  There were 5 tables of 6 set up on the back porch in blue plates and goblets.

  A caterer brought the food: potatoes, corn on the cob, shrimp, sausage, hush puppies and condiments to complement a low country boil.  While supper was being put together, Tamara and a lady whose name I can't remember put the finishing touches on two gorgeous cakes.  Outside people were lining up with their water-shooting devices to soak anyone who came by.  There was a parade of water-compatible floats.  The participants shot water back at the crowd.  It was lots of fun to watch, but I did not participate because it was starting to rain and with the wind it was too cold to be outside, soaked to the skin, dressed in nothing but a bathing suit. 

  When supper was ready, we gathered on the back porch.  Mary said the blessing and we lined up to fill our plates.  The food was really good and I ate more than I might have at home - especially the shrimp and the horseradish.  The conversation was just as good.  And it went long, first at our table, then I moved to where Linda, Celeste and Silvia were.  Chris brought out his laptop so we could Skype Michele, but it was too far from the router and the connection was bad.  We tried again inside the house, but by that time she was on with Ashley.  So I rejoined my friends who were now in the kitchen and then in the living room.  It was so good to catch up with old friends again.  Not that they are old, just that we have been friends for a long time.   It was late when we went to bed.  There was another couple in our room.  She warned me that she snores.  I didn't think that would be a problem since Chris does too, sometimes.  But I don't think he did.  I plugged myself into an ipod to get some sleep.