Spring Break: 2011. All in a Tidy Little Post.

I had no idea really what to expect of Spring Break. Other than the destinations, mostly everything was unplanned. All I knew was that I wanted most of my spring break to revolve around sun, food, and sleep. Mission Accomplished.

Hot off of my last final on Tuesday, I threw just about half of my closet into a suitcase and we headed for Haig Point, SC and to the Barnhardt's family beach house. After getting to a parking lot in Hilton Head, we boarded a ferry to get to Daufuskie Island where the house is located. The second we got to the Island, I knew it was going to be an amazing few days. Everything about it felt like I'd stepped back in time 60 years to a time where living in the deep south was more of a culture than a location.
We spent four days in Haig Point enjoying the most delicious meals prepared by Mrs. Barnhardt, relaxing afternoons in the sun, good conversation with some of my favorite people and lots of laughs.

The House.

Wren, Spencer, Frances and Me heading to the pool.

We braved the dewy air and the gnats to wake up early enough to watch the sunrise.

Well worth it, I would say.

After Haig, the rest of the crew headed their separate ways and Frances and I headed to Asheville, NC to visit the amazing Burlingham family! I hadn't been to Asheville in probably about 8 years. I just remember it being absolutely beautiful. The drive from Hilton Head to North Carolina was uneventful other than a stop in Columbia for a bit of Chipotle. After about 6 hours of travel and a bit of navigation snags along the way, we made it The B-ham's beautiful home. Over the next few days we got to explore downtown Asheville, go on a great hike to see some spectacular waterfalls AND we even spotted the rare Brevard, NC White Squirrel! But the best part was obviously getting to spend quality time with my great family.

Here we are on the hike overlooking the beautiful waterfalls.

After a weekend in NC, we made our way back down the coast to Pawley's Island to stay a night or two with the Malinski family. Although we essentially forced our way into Spencer's much needed break from us and into her home, we got to enjoy an amazing home cooked meal from the Malinski's after we spent the afternoon fishing alligators in her local pond. You read that right. Fishing alligators. No success, though. I guess they weren't biting that day, but we did get close enough for it to stare at us with its soul-less eyes as if to say "I could eat you if I want to, but then I'd have to deal with a heap of trouble, so I'm going to let it slide today." Thanks, Mr. Gator.

Getting our sun on. No tan lines, please.

Spencer's Birthday is tomorrow, so while we were in town, Mr. and Mrs. Malinski treated us to a great dinner at Frank's Outback.

Finally after an exhausting week of mooching off of our friends and families home and pantries, we figured it'd be about time to ease back into life here in Savannah. After stopping for a quick coffee at Hope and Union in Charleston, we rolled back into Savannah to find that we were about the only 2 people at SCAD weird enough to spend some of their spring break in the dorms. Turner House has been an absolute ghost town and its been rare to see more than 2 people a day walking down the halls.

At first I was a bit unnerved at how quiet everything was. Where are all the annoying neighbors? Why isn't the elevator vandalized in any way? Just because I don't eat at SCAFE doesn't mean it shouldn't be open! Then I realized the genius of it. All of the disgusting parts of living in the dorms had been conveniently washed away and what was left was dare I say...peaceful? Enjoyable? Productive? The past few days have been beautiful sanctuaries of free time and space to do whatever the heck we wanted. This is great! Not so fast, Julia. It's now Saturday afternoon and a constant stream of students are rolling their little suitcases back to their dorms. How do I know? I can hear them yelling. And it's started to rain. This isn't a coincidence.

Spring break is over, my friends. The allusion has disappeared and whats left is real life.

....Until next year.