July Aug 07 Family reunion

“You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. “ ~ Desmond Tutu

We spent July 28 - August 5 visiting Bruce’s side of the family in New Jersey.  First stop was steo-daughter Laura, her husband Kenyata, and our grand-daughter,  Delaney’sat their  home in  Sommer's Point.  Bruce’s step-son Marty also dropped in for a visit.  Next we hopped on down to Atlantic City where we linked up with Bruce’s Uncle Dick, his Cousin Richie, and wife Carol, and their son Jake.  Finally we had dinner with Bruce’s sister Pam and her husband Mike at a fine Spanish restaurant in Piscataway. 

Laura Kenyatta and Delaney Brown

Marty and Sam

Visiting Laura was pleasant and peaceful.   We spent most of the daylight hours catching up on each others lives, teaching Delaney to Golf (see video clip).  We also took a number of day trips.

The first was to Ocean City for a stroll down its quaint Boardwalk.

 Next we went to Egg Harbor. 

Macie and Bruce

While the guys rode the wave runner, Laura and Cece did some beach combing for shells and pretty jelly bean like pebbles that line the water’s edge.   

Delaney

Delaney was constantly asking us to go into the water with her and took great delight in wading out up to her neck. She certainly has no fear of the water.

Laura, Macie, Kenyatta

We also visited The Atlantic Ocean at Dog Beach where Miela played catch in the waves for hours

Evenings were spent playing Rummy.

On Tuesday we migrated over to Atlantic City with its famous Casino ringed shore line where we met up with the Rivetz side of the clan. 

Atlantic City Beaches and Casinos

Cece enjoyed the boardwalk and beaches. 

Jake at 3 yrs old

Three year old Jake wanted to hit the amusement park where he took a thrill ride down the slide with his mother, Carol.

 The cousins just liked to party.

Cousins: Richie and Jake and Bruce

4th of July Celebrations in Rural America 7 '07

The Fourth of July celebrations are different in rural America than in the urban areas of the country.  They are a lot less packaged and polished and a lot more personal.  For one thing both homes and businesses alike get into decorating with red white and blue on a par with Christmas in the big cities.  

Individuals can enter the Pawleys Island Parade

Then there are the parades.   Each little town has its own celebration, but rather than competing, the townships cooperate with one another to stagger their events so people can attend most of them, and still make it home in time to watch the nationally televised pictures of the firework shows in Boston, NY and Washington DC..  

We started the day with The Pawleys Island Parade at 10 am.  It begins on the South Causeway with the local fire trucks leading a loop drive around the entire Island.  Anyone can register to get into the parade but the Islands narrow streets and turn-arounds limit the float size.  The end result is a mixture of uninhibited exuberance and fun.  

Our next stop was Murrells Inlet for an equally lively boat parade.  The Inlet anchors the southern end of the Myrtle Beach tourist area and has a long board walk which is great for watching the parade.  For our part, we enjoyed the parade   from the out-of-door patio of one of the local restaurants.

In the early evening we hopped over to Georgetown for a free concert held on the lawn of one of the historic mansion/museums.  It was an interesting mixture of JP Souza marches and Chorale renditions of Fiddler on the roof.  This was followed by fireworks over the Winyah Bay in Georgetown