Danielle Lee Henry

Part of our originals plans to be back in SC this time of year was to help Lynda and Ed with their son, Scott, when the new baby arrived. The Henrys are Amy and Jason's neighbor and Scott is just 4 months younger than Noah. They both attend Starfish Day Care Center and are good buddies. Scotty calls Bob "Papa" and truly believes he is since Noah calls Bob "Papa" as well. Early Monday, Nov. 2nd, Lynda called and Bob went over to their house to be with Scotty. Bob took Scotty to day care and Lynda and Ed headed to the hospital. Danielle arrived at 3:49 p.m. She was 7 lbs. 5ozs. and 19 3/4 inches long. Everyone is doing well and we could not be happier for them. Sarah will now have a playmate next door to play with too.

Trick or Treat

Halloween celebrations started at day care on Friday, Oct. 30. There was a parade and goodies which were enjoyed by all. We have loved being involved with the activities at the day care center. We pick the kids up often from day care so that we can enjoy them for a few hours each day. Noah loves his animals, especially alligators and that was what he wanted to be at Halloween. Sarah was a monkey and she filled out the costume much better than Noah did a few years ago. Scotty, the fireman, joined us for trick or treating since his mother was expecting a baby at any time. Bob took the boys in hand and Amy carried Sarah around the immediate neighborhood. The boys were good about saying trick or treat and thank you but needed to be urged to leave. It was a fun evening. Of course, in true holiday tradition, Sue made cut out cookies for the kids to frost and decorate. Noah, Scott and Griffin had lots of fun frosting the cookies and adding sprinkles for decoration before consuming them.

Pumpkin Patch

A visit to the Pumpkin Patch with Noah, Sarah, their friend Griffin, along with Amy and Stacey was fun. The Pumpkin Patch had an amusement area for the kids along with a hay ride through a field decorated with many holiday themes. The boys enjoyed many of the inflatables but the big pillow that they could run on top of was their favorite. Bob will try to post a video but he is not certain if it will work. The day ended, of course, with treats and getting the pumpkins in the patch for Halloween.

Shrimp

SC is known for its shrimp. The shrimp season for recreational shrimpers is from the 2nd week in September to Nov. 10 this year. Bob has always wanted to learn how to shrimp. Trip and Dean Anderson, friends at the campground, showed Bob how to get shrimp, clean shrimp, correctly freeze shrimp and the southern ways to prepare and cook it. Recreational shrimping is done from a boat using bait and casting a net. You are allowed to set 10 poles which are used to mark where one drops the bait. When the shrimp come to the bait, you cast the net and pull in the shrimp. This may sound easy but it's not. Some shrimping seasons you can get shrimp during the day but this year it has been better at night in the dark. Dean and Trip took Bob out to McClellanville where they met with their friend, Randy. Bob drove Randy's boat and Dean and Trip took their boat and they went out to Muddy Bay to shrimp. The first thing that they did was to set 10 poles in a straight line in the mud. They pushed the poles a few feet in the mud in order to set them. They were in about 5 feet of water. Next they set bait balls at each pole. A bait ball is composed of fish meal and clay that is mixed and roll into balls. Randy then said that he would show Bob how to pull the boat up so that he could throw the net. They pulled up to the first pole and Randy threw the net and there were shrimp already there. They were very fortunate and Bob's training was over. They then went to each pole and after 6 runs they had a cooler with 48 quarts full. That is the limit for a day. Bob then went into Trip and Dean's boat and shrimped with then into the night. They set glow lights on the poles so that you can see them in order to shrimp in the dark. Cleaning the shrimp requires pulling off the heads slow in order to remove the vein. Since you ice the shrimp when you catch them, the colder they are the easier it seems to remove the vein. You keep the shrimp iced at all times and you wash them in ice water a number of times. Dean and Trip then put them in containers, filling the containers with iced water and then immediately freezing them. We have eaten our share of fresh shrimp this season and do have some in the freezer for later.

Arrival in SC on September 15, 2009

Jason had his back surgery on September 22 and is now recuperating. We have been able to help them with Noah and Sarah and have had a wonderful time reacquainting ourselves with them after being gone during the summer months. The children have grown a lot and Noah is taller and definitely more verbal than ever. Sarah is about 20 lbs. now and is a bundle of joy and is very sweet.

Harpers Ferry, Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and Antietam Battlefield

We stopped in WVA for a few nights and decided to see a few additional national historical sites. Harpers Ferry is a multi-layered involving a diverse number of people and events that influenced the course of our nation's history. Harpers Ferry witnessed the first successful application of interchangeable parts, the arrival of the first successful American railroad, John Brown's attack on slavery, the largest surrender of federal troops during the civil war, and the education of former slaves in one of the earliest integrated schools in the U.S. Many believe that John Brown's attack was actually the start of the civil war. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal's construction began in 1828 and by the time construction ended in 1850 progress had left the canal behind and the canal was then obsolete. By 1850 new railroad technology had made great strides. The canal did serve a purpose until it closed in 1924 which was moving freight and passengers. Some of the canal is still in tact and much of the canal area is now used by hikers, campers, bicyclists, boaters and others.
Antietam's battle was the site of the bloodiest one day battle of the American Civil War. The Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg, MD) took place on September 17, 1862 and had a lasting impact on reshaping the logistics of field medicine.
As seeing any battlefield and reading the history of this event, gives you a sense of what actually took place there. On the day that we visited there was a reenactment with much cannon fire. There was also a college professor who was currently writing a book on this battle who gave a detailed history concerning this memorable battle.

Visiting with friends

The opportunity to visit with our good friends Barbara and Joe Graziano in Rome, New York presented itself. We had met Joe and Barbara in SC as they also have a daughter in that area. We had lunch with them on September 10. On September 11, we had dinner with Georgia Frank and her family. She is a professor at Colgate Univ. Suzanne met her when she was finishing her doctorate and was an adjunct prof. at Holy Cross. Sue has kept in contact with her since she left Holy Cross. We had a wonderful visit with our friends before heading south.