Magnolia Plantation

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Hi from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. If you like to golf, this is the place for you....there are 17 courses on the island. We've taken advantage of our week here to relax a bit. The beach scenes are a 5-minute walk from the condo. I think the beach grass just says Atlantic Ocean, and is so picturesque. Tuesday night we went to the local comedy club, and once we found it, had a fun, inexpensive evening. The reason I say "once we found it" is that this island is very dark at night, so that the loggerhead turtles that hatch on the beaches don't get confused and go the wrong way. We felt that a plantation tour would add to our deep south experience, so Wednesday we drove to Magnolia Plantation, just north of Charleston. Interesting history. Ten generations of the Drayton family have owned the land, and they began giving tours of the gardens just after the Civil War, since the Union soldiers allowed the salt water into the rice fields, thus ensuring that nothing would grow there. We spent the better part of the day there, touring the house and gardens. The live oaks were magnificent, especially draped with the Spanish moss; some of them are hundreds of years old. The gardens are planted such that there is almost always something blooming. Many different types of camellias and azaleas. I'd love to visit it in the spring. They have just recently finished restoring 4 former slave cabins to 4 different time periods, and the historian giving the tour did a great job of explaining how the system of slavery operated in the Low Country. We just thoroughly enjoyed our day there.

Some of you already know this next part, thanks to Tom's email, so just skip ahead, OK. Thursday morning I woke up, and looked as if I had a golf ball in my cheek. I just thought I'd been clenching a little too hard at night, and needed a new nightguard. However, when I got ahold of my dentist in San Diego, the message I got was to get in to see an endodontist ASAP. Got an appointment for 4:00 yesterday, and by then my cheek was even more swollen and hot......NOT a pretty picture, let me tell you. He began the root canal, but because there's so much infection (I'm on a strong antibiotic), he wanted to wait a few days to complete it. When I saw him again today, he was happy with the progress. Needless to say, we had to adjust our plans a bit. We're planning on leaving for Buddy & Carol's (Tom's brother and sister-in-law) in Greenwood, S,C., about a 4 hour drive away. Then we'll return on Wednesday to complete the root canal, and then hopefully resume our trip on Thursday. We both really liked this doc and staff, and feel fortunate to have landed in such good hands. I'm feeling a little better today, although I sure haven't done much. Soup and mac/cheese and yogurt have been my meals. I feel bad that we had to disrupt our trip, but glad that at least we have someplace to go, and don't just have to sit here for days, waiting for Wednesday. Those of you that have responded with good wishes, thank you so much. Just feel fortunate that we were able to get this problem resolved. I mean, what if we were hiking the Appalacian Trail, far away from an endodontist? Tom & Nancy

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