We went to Fripp Island, South Carolina this year.
Our beloved Fripp.
We’ve always wanted to see what it was like in a different season.
Due to a nor’easter slamming the coast, it was much cooler than it normally should’ve been.
But it didn’t stop McDaniel and Ellie from laying out on the beach.
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| Those our my yoga panted legs and tennis shoes. It was chilly! People walked by in their coats and stared at the girls. Someone commented that they must be from Canada. |
I always wondered if Fripp would still be my beloved Fripp outside of the summer season.
It was.
It was still beautiful.
The beach doesn’t change with the seasons.
But the leaves changed on the non-palm trees.
It was still the most relaxing place on the planet.
You can NOT be in a hurry in the presence of Spanish moss hanging from the trees.
You can’t.
It’s not possible.
It was still the most entertaining place with nothing to do.
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| Doesn’t that cloud look like a big fish getting ready to eat something? |
McDaniel was so excited that she was finally old enough to drive the golf cart around the island.
Even though driving the golf cart around the island meant creating more wind. More cold wind.
I was so glad I brought my boots with me.
Finding pumpkin decorations on the steps of the houses was so cool.
And this was even more cool:
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| McDaniel fell in a ditch and twisted her ankle right before this picture. |
Everything had a beautiful glow about it.
The marsh grass turned gold.
We always see lots of deer at Fripp but we couldn’t believe how many more we saw this trip.
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| It’s against the rules to feed the deer on the island. And the alligators. Monte decided to bend the rules. Not about the alligators. |
Look at the dolphin swimming right up to all the pelicans. I just typed penguin instead of pelican. It wasn’t THAT cold.
My mom made this cute turkey cheese ball Thanksgiving Day.
Don’t you love his side-eye look?
The girls made these chocolate covered pretzel turkeys.
They realized that when they stood the candy corn beak up it turned into a penguin and when they put it flat, it turned into a turkey.
I’ve never walked on the beach on Thanksgiving Day before.
I liked it.
Mr. Pilgrim Nutcracker made the trip too.
It was by far the most relaxing trip ever.
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| My dad napping. |
Black Friday on the island didn’t start at midnight. Or 4:00 am. It started at the very reasonable 10:00 am. and involved 30 unique vendors. None of which were Wal-Mart.
We did go up to the gift shop at the front of the island where everything was 40% off. There was a line of about 15 people waiting to check out. I’ve never seen that many people in the gift shop ever.
Apparently, my mom didn’t notice all the people forming an orderly line because she just walked right up in front of all of them, plopped down her items and checked right out.
I think the gift shop employee was too appalled
and filled with Southern hospitality to protest.
But then I noticed all the people in line indicating WITH THEIR EYES the wrongness of her line-cutting, so I sided with them and stayed quiet.
Really, really quiet.
I quickly devised a “She didn’t take her pill this morning.”
answer if anyone asked.
As we were headed to the hot chocolate station, I spotted Frosty the Snowman with his “handler” who had an ear piece waiting to get the word on when Frosty should take his place with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
It looked just like the Frosty that McDaniel was TERRIFIED of when she was little and visiting Santa back in Ohio.
The same Frosty that kept following McDaniel around the park thinking posing for a picture would make her day but instead it TERRORIZED her.
Monte had to pull Frosty aside and tell him to “Back off, Bub!”
or he was going to have to pop him in one of his eyes made out of coal.
So when I saw that the Frosty at Fripp looked just like that, I hollered for McDaniel to come and see.
Because I’m a fun mom like that.
When I turned around, Frosty was MUCH closer to me than before and staring directly at me.
In a scary clown kind of way.
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| That’s why this is fuzzy. I was screaming. |
Frosty was a bit surprised by my reaction.
As was the Frosty Monte had
“to have words with”
back in Ohio.
So much so, that Frosty jumped a little and lost his hat.
We all laughed out loud.
And didn’t dare help Frosty.
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| That’s why this is fuzzy. I was laughing. |
Santa had a beautiful outfit. His chair was throne-like.
We didn’t realize that right by the hot chocolate were also the loud speakers.
So when the countdown to the tree lighting was announced, we were all a bit blown away.
It was all very echoey in a “Never mind the man behind the curtain.”
The Great and Wonderful Oz kind of way.
A line formed to sit on Santa’s lap. When I loudly asked if Mom would like to just cut to the front of the line like she did earlier at the gift shop, a woman in front of me pushing a stroller, stopped, turned around and indicated to me WITH HER EYES that she was familiar with Mom’s cutting ways.
Let’s just say she was not filled with the holiday spirit.
The lights were beautiful!
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| Monte submitted this picture in a contest that would include the winning picture in a calendar. He hasn’t heard back yet. |
I’m not sure who’s idea it was to attempt a group selfie as the sun was going down.
But we should’ve known it was going to take several tries.
We felt like we were in one of those Hallmark Christmas movies where the big city guy or gal is forced to spend the holiday season in a small town.
In fact, we watched that movie at Fripp. It starred Candace Cameron Bure.
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| SOURCE |
My dad predicted every plot twist in the movie.
Apparently that was not his first rodeo.
And by rodeo, I mean Hallmark movie.
It finally did warm up on our last day at Fripp.
So my dad could enjoy his afternoon nap at the beach.
So, in conclusion, Fripp Island is a wonderful place to visit during the summer or fall.
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