South Carolina Weekend Part 1

This past weekend was so action packed I'm not sure how many different blog posts I'm going to have to break it down into several different blog posts. 

Several years ago I met some incredible people on the ABC Lost message board.  Friendships developed on the board and spilled over into real life.  Over the 6 years of the show's run, I've been able to meet 6 of my board buddies in real life, as well as getting to speak with a couple over the phone. 

This weekend I had a chance to hang out with two ladies (and their families) that I had previously met as well as one that none of us had met before.  Mingo and CAM both live in South Carolina - Mingo just 4 hours away and CAM 2 more hours, next to the beach. 

Mingo was our hostess with the mostess.  She was set to pick up the newbie to the group (in the real life sense only - she's been a part of our group for ages) Poo aka Fran Friday night, and Poo understood that the rest of us would be arriving the next morning.

CAM & I decided to show up early and surprise Poo at the airport. 

None of us had so much as seen a picture of Poo, but hoped we would know her when we saw her.  Sure enough, she and her husband "New" Steve came walking through the airport holding hands - a telltale sign of a newlywed couple!

We headed back to the house for some girl talk before finally calling it a night.  The next day started with a wonderful meal provided by Mingo then we headed out to the mean streets of Lexington.  CAM and her husband Jose had visited Mingo before and Jose wanted to swing buy the giant fire hydrant. 

My only defense is that I'm nothing if not a dutiful and obedient wife.

"Dude you gotta pee on it!"  My LOST fans will recognize that quote.  If you don't shame on you - go rewatch the earlier seasons on DVD.

As for the hydrant itself, it doesn't really have a purpose - just something interesting in the middle of downtown.  Totally not as cool as being able to grope the Dolly statue in front of the court house of my hometown, but you work with what you've got.

I finished up and it was time to head to the USC, to see where our darling Mingo works.

This part of the campus was original to the school.  One of my favorite parts about South Carolina is the trees they have there.

This is pretty much the only picture of myself from the weekend that I like.  Ironically, I don't think it looks like me at all.  Probably why I like it.

Our final stop was the zoo, starting in the botanical gardens.  Jay got some great shots that would make my you capture bloggy friends jealous.  Let me know if you'd like the link to all of the pictures.  Jay takes a lot so sorting through them can get exhausting.

Our lovely host and hostess

As we finished up in the gardens the Lostie girls decide to conteplate the meaning of the show.  Everyone besides Poo, who ran ahead to take care of her nasty tobacco habit and wasn't around for the pics.

Then it was on to the animal kingdom. This guy took Hurley's "pee on it" command quite literally.

This turtle was a persistant guy and didn't get his way first time around...

...but hit the mark by the time we came back around.

Thankfully, Jay has an awesome zoom on his camera and isn't stupid enough to actually get this close.

The Koala Bear exhibit was air conditioned, which I found strange.  I thought Austrialia was a hot climate but apparently not.

I found a buddy to snuggle with...

(damn my legs are huge.  ugh)

We got one final parting shot, and headed back to the house...

Where Jay demolished the ribs (both wet and dry rub) and bbq chicken that Todd had prepared for us.  This trip was Jay's first group visit, and up until now they called him "Mr. Cardboard" because they insisted he didn't exist - I just had a cut out that I carried around for pictures.  Mr. Cardboard ate enough that they had no doubts on him being a real boy.

Stay tuned for Sunday's festitivies...