I'm Back & Stuffed with New Experiences (and Biscuits)

Happy Height of Summer Readers!

I spent the last 11 days on my "South Bound Saurez" (I know it's spelled soiree), but I'm referring to the Led Zeppelin song, which they apparently misspelled the title when they wrote it.

First, Ed, Corey, and I headed to DC to pick up my son, Chris, and then we embarked for Augusta, Georgia, to visit his twin sister, Cait & hubby, Jordan.  It's the first time since Christmas that we've all been together. 

Hammond's Ferry, SC, where I walked along the Savannah River.  I have pillar envy!

At Evans Town Center Park--We look pretty fresh in 105 degree temps.

Accompanying us on this journey was HEAT!  We escaped DC before the derecho--did you even know these existed?--struck Washington.  Temps in Augusta reached 107, but we weathered it pretty well.  We exercised early in the morning, (kayaking, walking--foot still hurts, so no running) and when we were out later in the day, we were at the beach.  We hit Charleston (love that place) and then Myrtle Beach last Monday and Tuesday.  Barefoot Landing was so crowded, it looked like Times Square in the evening. 

The beach was beautiful, although we all prefer staying in a beach house rather than a hotel when at the shore.  The water was just the right temp--no having to gather up the courage to plunge under the surf.  That's the way I like it.

On the 4th, we headed back to Cait's house, where Jordan did yeoman's duty grilling hot dogs and hamburgers.  The heat got to him a bit; it must have been like grilling in hell!  We intended to go to Atlanta on Thursday, but it was too hot and we were too sick of being in the car so we hung out at the house, watched The Godfather I & II and ate out (again.)  Also, we played with our favorite furry grandchildren--Penny, my Welsh Corgi granddaughter, and Bruno, my mini-Dachshund grandson.

Bruno's "All Along the Watchtower" pose.

Penny's fur coat is not appropriate Southern apparel in this heat!

We expanded our culinary horizons this vacation, indulging in Southern specialties like grits, turnip greens, black eyed peas, and Corey's new favorite Palmetto cheese spread!  I think I'm having biscuit withdrawal.  As expected the Georgia peaches lived up to their hype, and Caitlin made a scrumptious peach cobbler for dessert on the 4th of July.

Although I'm in the midst of getting my first novel, St. Anne's Day, on the market, (look for info on that soon) I did try to limit working on vacation.  While it seemed like I was doing very little that was constructive with regard to writing, I was actually doing "writerly" things.  

I believe a writer benefits by every once in a while taking a break from writing to replenish the creative well.  Traveling; eating new foods; trying new activities; meeting new people; hearing different accents, idioms and manners of speaking; all help the writer to avoid the dreaded writer's block. 

In fact, while I was on vacation, I came up with the seeds for two more novels.  Now all I need is the time to write them--that and maybe a few biscuits!