...Fort Johnson Tour...

...y'all know how much we love touring historical sites...so we drove to Fort Johnson on the northeast point of James Island...as with a lot of these old old forts...there's really not a lot left...

...The fort was constructed about 1708 and was named after the Proprietary Governor of the Carolinas...so it's pretty old by American standards...

...the bridge in the disance is the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge...

...so we wandered around the site...a marker of the first shot of the Civil War...fired on Fort Sumter from this spot...

...Fort Sumter in the distance...we toured it when Scout was little...

...the Munitions House...

...from the Revolutionary War...

...aren't old buildings fascinating...

...old ironwork on the window...

...inside the Munitions House...

...another view inside...

...the barred door of the Munitions House...

...we couldln't find anything to tell us what these small round stone buildings were...

...this one appears to have a bell holder on top of it...

...there are no markers...and they are blocked off...

...probably because they are full of water...which is clear and you can see the bottom...they are not very deep...so probably just used for some sort of storage...

...and finally...Marshlands...now used as a classroom...

...it retained it's name after it was moved from it's original location on Cooper River to James Island...

~Have a lovely day!

...more beach exploring...

...we headed to the tip of the island for some hiking and to see the lighthouse...

...we were surprised to see the paved pathway completely covered in graffiti...as I don't remember it at all from our previous visit...but thought the "you cute ♥" was too cute...

...we have been out to the point to see the Morris Island Light before...

...the graffiti covered walkway ends in a sandy path...

...and the Morris Island Light comes into view...

...the kiddos spent some time climbing on things...

...more graffiti...almost all of the graffiti is "nice"...

...we wandered through the woods to a little sound...

...with more pretty views of the light...

...as the tide comes in this little sound will become part of the bay...

...the light...

...the kiddos exploring the tidal pool...

...we followed some paths into the woods...probably made by wildlife...they all just ended a few hundred feet in...

...and when we got back to the cottage...the pile driver was gone...and we had a better view...

~Have a lovely day!

...another winter day...at the beach...

...an afternoon walk on the beach...I snapped a photo of the Man...ssshhh...

...and again...it was just breezy and cool...

...Jack on the beach...in his cute little jacket...

...we walked for a long time...just chatting and enjoying the ocean views and the fresh air...

...so the sun was setting as we got back to the cottage...

...beach sunsets are always so pretty...

...I promise to post something other than walks on the beach...beach vacations can get a bit same-y...

~Have a lovely day!

...a winter walk on the beach...

...our first (of many) walk on the beach...

...it was breezy and cool...but not frigid...

...the kiddos went barefoot and braved putting their feet in the water...(I did not)...they said it was quite cold...

...a deserted beach...but we pretty much expected that in December...

...for some reason there were a lot of starfish washed up on the beach...sadly they were not rescue-able...but pretty in morte...

~Have a lovely day!

...Beach Christmas 2018...

...I mentioned before that our "big" Christmas present to each other this year was a trip to the Beach...

...the Man has always wanted to celebrate Christmas at the beach...but because of his "job" we've never been able to...and this year is no different...as we won't actually be at the Beach for Christmas...but the "season" of Christmas...

...so we packed up and headed to the coast...it was a sunny 60° day...

...we arrived at our cottage and unloaded our gear in our shirtsleeves...

...our cute and sunny bedroom...

...they are building a new house/cottage right in front of this one...so the construction equipment blocks our view a little bit...

...we headed to the little grocery store just a couple of blocks away...and they have this sweet remake of a Christmas to-do list chalked on their outside wall... so sweet!...

~Have a lovely day!

...Christmas 2018...a vegan what I ate in a day...sort of...

...Christmas started the usual way...we woke up early...and Scout headed over to Our Girl's to celebrate Christmas with her family...

...so the Man and I got busy making Christmas Brunch to celebrate with the kiddos upon their return...we made vegan sausage...

...and Southern Pecan waffles...

...the kiddos returned mid-morning and we had brunch...

...then we opened stockings and a few presents...because our 'big' present this year was the Beach trip...

...Jack had been sniffing around his stocking all week...because he just knew something was in there...

...since we had had brunch we just snacked around during the afternoon...and we have plenty of fruit and nuts for Christmas snacking...

...the kiddos gave me this gorgeous glass teapot for Christmas and some oolong tea too...so we had that in the afternoon too...

...it was delicious...

...the Man had stuffed my stocking with these new kitchen towels...with the proviso that they REPLACE current towels not add to them...haha...

...and I had complained that my current nut milk bags are not wide enough to stretch over a bowl...so he included a bigger...better one...

...we spent the rest of the afternoon cooking...

...I just veganized a Betty Crocker pumpkin pie recipe by using cornstarch and water instead of eggs...

...and it turned out pretty perfectly...

...Christmas Dinner was almost entirely the Man's creations...from the seasoned green beans to the basted tofu - bee free honee, mustard, and spices...I'll have to get the recipe from him...the Mac and Cheese has Daiya cheddar and nooch and almond milk...it was really good...and an Asian sweet potato and a roll...it was all delicious...

...and that pumpkin pie...just about the best one ever...I've never been a fan of tofu based pumpkin pies...

...and the texture of this one was so perfect...

...so for this recipe a 1/4 cup of cornstarch and a half of a cup of water replaced the eggs...

...and finally we roasted vegan marshmallows over the fire in the fireplace...

...and that was enough...

...what did you eat on Christmas Day?...

~Have a lovely day!