Vacation - post the first...

So...we went on vacation.  A real vacation. Not just going back to Ohio and visiting family or traveling to a job interview that can also double as a sight-seeing tour.  This hasn't happened since we went to The Campbell Folk School way back when (at least 7 years ago!)...This time we went to Aikin, South Carolina.  I know it sounds fancy, right? Well, it is a very cool town...A lot of horse-type-people and a small college-town (USC-Aikin is in town, as well as Aikin Technical College).  

On the way, we stopped at 2 fabric stores and bought a little fabric (really!, not much).  The first was in Sumter, SC called Treadle Pushers... they had, like, 4 big "long-arm" quilting machines!  You could rent time on the machines...something to look into, though it is ~2.5 hours away...we shall see.

 

I loved the  No Soliciting sign - LOL...Except, I really don't care for thin mints (anathema, I know!)

Fonda had managed to find a yard-sale, too...it was amazing that we were able to get there on a Thursday and we actually found some fabric there, too...I bought the equivalent of  3.5 yards of fabric for $14...a very good deal...though I have no photos of the yard sale, you will see: It was HOT!!

 

 After that, we had lunch at a place the quilting women suggested - good, Baker's Sweets - I would recommend it if you find yourself in Sumter, SC - on Alice Street.

After lunch, we continued on to Lexington, SC just west of Columbia...There was a much bigger quilting store there and we bought some more fabric, and of course, found somethings we couldn't leave without photographing...a beautiful tuffet...I wish my mom had made one or found one she couldn't live without before she died... She loved the idea of the tuffet and now we see them everywhere...this one was especially nice, and I think Fonda's Mom will enjoy it, too...we did not buy it, just took a photo - we really can't afford one, or to even make one...they are a bit cost prohibitive.

Sigh.

Then on the final leg, we passed our obligatory SWIFT truck - on almost all our trips, we see these trucks and try to be the first to whisper: "swift" LOL.  

 

After a good night's sleep, we got up early to go to an estate sale that we found just around the corner from our hotel (everything in Aikin is just around the corner, I swear)... While there, I found these "peacock" stirrups and thought that my sister, Meg, might find them useful (I know I would have the last time I rode! ha, ha!  And maybe the next time, too - if there is a next time).  I didn't know what they were called and I called her...Fonda said: "Its 3:30 in the morning there!" I had to do some fast figuring and then decided it was 5:30 and she was already up and probably mucking out stalls or feeding...turns out she forgot to turn the ringer on and she *was* outside feeding :)  She also suggested they would be a good addition for our niece, Abigail (Elizabeth's daughter), who is learning to ride.  I hope they come in handy for her :)  

I guess that is all for now...that just takes us to the morning of the first full-day of our vacation!  More later :)

Peace