Birthday, Anniversary, Time Alone

We recently celebrated my wife's birthday and our 13th wedding anniversary. She is the love of my life, my best friend and a tremendous blessing.

Over the weekend we experienced the most rare of events for most parents, we had several days to ourselves. It is Dawn’s spring break week and with the oldest daughter off at college and the youngest daughter at Disneyworld for a few day with family friends we have time for us with no schedule, no deadlines. We slept late and then took naps. Glorious, glorious uninterrupted sleep. Sunday afternoon we took a long drive north from where we live up into Glynn County and McIntosh County.

Our first stop was at Hofwyl/Broadfield Plantation just north of Brunswick. This property stayed in the family’s possession for five generations from the early 1800s until the 1970s. It was originally a rice plantation and later a dairy farm. Hofwyl is not one of the huge mansions with the driveway lined with live oaks and immaculate gardens. It is a very nice but functional, pragmatic working farm/home. When the last family member passed away the property was turned over to The Nature Conservancy then to the State of Georgia. The house remains exactly as it was left. No renovations, no construction/deconstruction. It is a window into the past. Standing there we saw just what the family would have seen when the home was still occupied.

This tree on the plantation property is more than 800 years old. It was already an old timer when William Shakespeare walked the earth. Dawn standing at the foot of the tree gives some sense of just how massive the tree truly is.

This is the ice house. Notice the thickness of the doors.

Our second stop on Highway 17 was in McIntosh County at what is supposed to be the smallest church in the country. It is indeed small and is very popular. The logbook was full of names of folks who had been there earlier the same day and the day before. It has a very quiet, comforting atmosphere. Visitors leave pictures and mementos of loved ones asking for prayer.

The church on Cumberland Island where John F. Kennedy Jr. was married is not much bigger than this. I don't know the story behind this church or why it is so small but it is clearly a very special spot for a lot of people and God is here to be found..