End of Summer

School starts tomorrow!  Casey and I took a little road trip to end the summer and to celebrate my birthday (a little late).  We went to Franklin, North Carolina to mine for rubies (Casey found one, I did not) and to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to enjoy the ocean and find some shells (well, at least I found pieces of shells and some really pretty agates - thank you Susan for teaching me what to look for).

Looking for the pot of gold or in this case the bucket full of rubies.

 Casey surprised herself by having a good time getting both wet and dirty.

 Upon Celeste's advise we ate the River City Cafe...

 ...good burgers and fun decor.

 A young girl at the beach, maybe ten, trying to help me find shells in the water.  It was like the ruby mining all over again.  She kept pulling up beautiful shells.  I got nothing, but did have fun.

 Casey posing for me in the moonlight

 Lots of curls in the humid salty air.

 This is town hall and the police station in one of the near by beach cities.

Shells I wanted to find.

 Shells I did find.

Driving home in the Smokey Mountains.