Wonderful Vacation

Family time doesn't get better than last week's vacation in Edisto, a lowcountry island between Charleston and Hilton Head.

Last Sunday, Dori, the kids, my Mom and I headed east, cars packed with goodies and good vibes. Mom promised to be "our chef" and organizer, and she did not disappoint. We ate like royalty from the local markets.

On Day Two, Dori's sister Kathy brought her family to the area for her son Parker's baseball tournament, so we spent some excellent time with them at the beach, dinner table and baseball park in North Charleston. The four cousins had a blast in the surf while I fished. Watching the kids laugh in the ocean while reeling in fish is a simple pleasure. Over several attempts in the surf and in the back creek, I caught sea trout, whiting, a small sand shark, croakers and a bluefish.

Will and I also played golf three times. It was his first time on a course with respectable yardage, more than 5,000 from the red tees and about 6,200 from the back tees for me. The beautiful, well-maintained course is known for being tough because it is very narrow with water prominently featured on 15 of the 18 holes. You can also catch yourself gazing at impressive live oaks with spanish moss, giant palm trees, fantastic fauna, alligators, jumping fish, egrets, blue herons and pileated woodpeckers, to name a few. The entire course was recently resodded with Sea Isle Paspulum, a very unusual grass that flourishes in areas with water issues. I liked it because the greens putted true.

Highlights for Will include clearing the water all three days on the difficult par 3 sixth hole and chipping in for a par four on the hardest hole on the course, No. 10 (397 yards, all uphill from the red tees). He also had several good holes on other hard par fours. What I liked most, however, was that I asked him to enjoy each day and never get angry after hitting bad shots. He did very well in this regard. So did I, even as I played poorly the last round. I did sneak in a 73, three over par, on Wednesday, the hottest and windiest of the three days. It's about the best I can score. Mom took photos of the boys, which I hope to post soon.

Yesterday, Dori and Kathryn took a boat ride across the bay to Otter Island. On the way, they marveled at dolphin. While there, they beach-combed successfully. Dori called it a highlight. I was on the pier fishing when they returned, and can report they were chatterboxes about the excursion.

Everyone stayed active, working off the good food. Dori ran four days, while I ran five, Monday through Friday. On Friday, we ran together with Pepper, who also smiled (constant tail wags) the entire vacation. I never ran more than four miles, only 15 for the week, but they were good miles early each morning in very high dewpoints. Kathryn took Pepper for many walks. Will scoured the grounds around our impressive villa overlooking Hole No. 7, finding a few dozen stray golf balls.

Last year, we had a celebration of sorts just getting to the beach. Dori wasn't 100% in June 2008. This year, we thoroughly enjoyed our entire stay. Dori was able to engage in every activity with a zest she's always had but with the understanding each moment with family is so very precious.