March proved to be a very busy month. In addition to many ministry needs and church activities, I had to make two quick and unexpected trips to Florida to check on my dad following his being hospitalized twice on very short notice. I'm happy to report that that he is doing much better now and I deeply appreciate the prayers of so many of you on behalf of my father.
At the end of the month, Sandy and I took a few vacation days and made a roadtrip to South Carolina. We spent part of our time in historic Charleston, a truly beautiful and charming Southern coastal city. We had always wanted to visit Charleston, but had never had the opportunity to do so until now. It proved to be a great time of year for a visit. Everything was bursting into full bloom. The breathtaking azaleas and dogwoods were at their absolute peak. In fact, virtually all of the South Carolina Low Country was alive with vibrant brush strokes from God's colorful springtime pallet. 
Living with a history buff, of course, Sandy knows that with every vacation she always has to make her obligatory visit to some great landmark of the past. Thus, while in Charleston, we took a boatride out into the harbor to tour historic Fort Sumter, where the first shot of the Civil War (or War Between the States, if you prefer) was fired. Interestingly, back in April 1861, for several intense hours, the Union forces stationed on the manmade island fort took quite a barrage of shells from several different onshore locations. Not able to mount an effective counter assault with their own inadequate artillary, the Union troops finally surrendered after sustaining significant damage to their defenses. Amazingly, in spite of all the flying brick and morter, the crushed walls, and blazing fires ignited by the shelling, not one single life was lost in that battle. 
We also decided to visit one of several old plantations in the Charleston area. We opted for a place called Boone Hall Plantation, primarily because it was a setting featured in a number of film productions. For example, the popular 1980s television miniseries "North & South", Alex Haley's "Queen" starring Halle Berry, and most recently, Nicholas Sparks' tearjerker love story "The Notebook" starring James Garner (one of my wife's all-time favorite novels and movies). 
While there, we learned some things about the South Carolina Low Country's Gullah Culture. This is the name given for the culture that evolved from those West African peoples that were taken captive and brought to South Carolina to work as slaves. A very interesting lady in period costume gave a colorful lecture and demonstration on the history, language, music, lifestyles and storytelling of the Gullah people, a people whose culture is not unlike that of the Creole people of Louisiana. 
While we enjoyed taking in some sights, and doing some fun things, we also enjoyed just relaxing. Sometimes when we go on vacation, Sandy & I like to go somewhere quiet, off the beaten path, where we can just rest, read, relax, and just be together. On this particular trip, we stayed in a couple of South Carolina state parks. At each park, we rented cabins. The first one was great. It was in a peaceful, wooded setting within a thirty-minute drive of Charleston. The second one, however, 
was so remote that it wound up not being near anything....except for an Air Force Base and a MILITARY BOMBING RANGE!!!! Talk about peace and quiet! Actually, no bombing took place while were in the area, but the two days we were there, jet fighter planes flew over the park for much of the daylight hours. Hence, we vacated the premises during the daytime and went off exploring elsewhere. By the way, from the look of things, I really don't think anyone had stayed in that old cabin since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Other than that bizarre episode, we had a great time on our trip. We stumbled across some beautiful scenery as we traveled through small towns on state highways, or drove along country backroads, avoiding Interstate highway travel as much as we could.
All in all, it was nice to visit the Palmetto State. (If you've never been to Charleston and the South Carolina Low Country, especially in the springtime, you definitely should go.) But, as is usually the case, it also was great to get back home again. Truly, there's no place like it. At least there's no secret bombing range near our home in Danville... as far as I know...so far.
Pastor Danny
