Fire & Ice

Hank and I spent Saturday evening at an annual event to support cancer research, treatment and prevention. Last year it was The White Party, and this year it was Fire & Ice.

There were ice sculptures, a fire pit, shrimp & grits and a cuban station to name a few party favorites. Below you'll see a puppet who paints! She is such a lovely lady with talent.

She painted the below piece of art, and then all of the guests added to it. Very special!

Hank and I enjoyed some time in the photo booth - Always a hit with us!

I was excited to add pearlescent Carolina blue gumballs to my favor bag!

It certainly was "a red hot evening to support a cool cause." - Fire & Ice

Big Boss

Saturday afternoon Hank and I made our way to Big Boss Brewing Company for a tour.

There were a lot of people in line for the 2PM brewery tour (which occurs every second Saturday of the month). I heard we were lucky in that it wasn't as crowded as usual.

Where's Hanko? I snapped this photo while grabbing lunch at the food truck, Chick-N-Que. Their food was delicious. My favorite was what I ordered for Hank, the Alarm Cluck Sandwich, smoked chicken topped w/ jalapeno cheese, lettuce, tomato, sliced jalapenos and habanera ranch dressing. It was hot but so good. (Hint: Hanko is under a yellow umbrella!)

You can purchase up to three beer tastes for $1 each, and for $1, the cup size is quite generous. Then you mingle, tour and even ride a restored military truck around the block.

Last Friday Night

Last week was wild in regards to busyness, so when Friday night came I wanted nothing more than to spend the night relaxing with Hank. We enjoyed a little Mexican with margaritas for dinner. Then we pulled a Bentley by enjoying the weather with some back porch sitting.

SCUBA

"Diving extends our horizons beyond the shore and invites us into a new and exciting aquatic world. It gives us a reason to seek out exotic places we'd probably never heard of before we took our first breaths underwater."

It's hard to believe this year marks my eighth year as a certified SCUBA diver. I've made some pretty amazing memories diving in the great deep blue. One of my first dives was in the Homasassa River in Florida where you rub the bellies of manatees. I've enjoyed cave diving and a relaxing dive where you just drift down a river - both in Florida as well.

One of my scariest dives was a shipwreck in Oahu, Hawaii, and it was horrible. I was down 95 feet, the surface was rough, the current was fast, and it was scary. If I would have let go of the mooring line, I honestly think I would have been sucked into the abyss... Yikes!

With the rare exception (as mentioned above), there is so much beauty in diving.

I enjoy the coral reefs, fish, sea life in general (especially sea turtles) and the colors. I most enjoy the memories I make with Hank and my Dad as we've made all of our dives together.

There was one dive in Grand Cayman where these little fish kept biting Dad's fingers and legs. We could not stop laughing! They had trackers on him and followed him everywhere.

After you've completed a dive, you are anchored out in the middle of crystal clear water, laying under beautiful skies, on the bow of the boat, basking in the sun. I remember how much fun Hank and I had eating oranges, chatting and throwing the peels in the water. The music was going, and if it's the last dive of the day, tropical drinks are ready to be enjoyed.

My favorite dive was the Lost Anchor in Belize, one of the largest coral reef systems in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia (which I can't wait to dive one day!). We were 70 feet down. We saw an eel, spotted manta ray and either a shark or a barracuda! I was so busy trying to see what this "fish" was, with Hank and Dad following, that we unknowingly separated from our dive group. When we surfaced we were looking around thinking who in the world are these people? We ended up with the wrong group! C'est la vie!

This week the three of us refreshed our SCUBA skills, and we are ready to get back to it! We're plotting our next dives, and I'm plotting the need for all pink SCUBAPRO gear : )

*Scrapbooking our dives is the best, because the paper and stickers are fishtastic!

A Southern Lunch

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich, Pimento Cheese, Arugula, Grilled Sour Dough and Sweet Potato Fries, complete with a glass of Sweet Tea. This is lunch at The Carolina Inn.