There and Back Again

Michael and I went down to the beach late Friday night to say goodbye. Everything was perfect-- the moon was almost full and lighting up the beach like a perfect postcard picture. I couldn't have asked for a better way to close out this amazing trip.

On the way back to the condo, we stopped on the pool deck that overlooks the beach. We had a moment of silence where we both mentally said goodbye and reflected on the week. All of a sudden, the memories of Hilton Head vacations past washed over me. I was transported to my childhood and remembered standing in that very spot with my Dad on our last night of vacation, 30 years ago. I could see myself (age 12) playing on the beach with my brothers. I saw me with my nephew Jaime riding the waves when he was 4 years old. I saw Ashley in her pink bathing suit, sitting in the sand and playing with a shovel when she was a year old. There is something magical about that island, and I feel very lucky that I've been able to spend so many years there building memories of my family. I'm happy that Michael now shares some of these same memories, and I thanked him that night for adding another chapter to my Hilton Head story.

Yesterday morning we got up at the crack of dawn and headed back to Atlanta. Of course, we stopped in Swainsboro again to see the animals in the A-Line Community. We bought a bag of animal food and went out in search of our favorite goats. They didn't let us down. When we got to the fence, we saw the goats resting at the top of the hill. They turned their heads and saw us and came charging down the hill, as if they recognized us. The clerk at BP that sold us the bag of food recognized us, or at least she recognized "that car with the sign on it". I'm sure that they do this with every visitor in hopes of getting some food, but it made me feel special that they might have remembered us from last week. After visiting with the goats twice this week, I really really really want a goat of my own. I don't even know where to search for one, or how much they cost, but I can see a goat in my future! The llama was pretty cute too, but I don't think that's a possibility!