Keeping Up

We're enjoying a rare quiet morning here on beautiful Hilton Head Island. Seems we've been on the go since we arrived. And, we thought this was one of those "laid back" places!

It is for most, but not for us. The primary purpose of this stop is to visit with Paul's uncle and aunt. He's 92 and she's 88. And you know what? These folks are go, go, go! They took us on a day long "locals" tour of the island. Yes, he did all the driving! (And, he did great.) They sent us off to Savannah with instructions for how to see it all in a day. (It worked!) They treated us to a lovely dinner at a beautiful spot off the island with a cousin and her husband. (Again, he drove!) After an incredible brunch and then pizza dinner yesterday we came home in an absolute food coma.

See. It's hard keeping up with these two!

Yesterday's brunch presented a special challenge. We are in the South, after all. And, in this particular part of the South, that means ya'll dress for Sunday brunch. Ladies wear dresses, but nice slacks are fine. Gentlemen wear a jacket, of course. And, since this is a resort community no tie is required. When our gracious and very active hosts extended an invitation to brunch, our first concern was that we couldn't meet the dress code. After a quick mental scan of our collective wardrobe, we were pretty sure we could do it. After all, didn't Paul pack a sport coat? We could both visualize the same jacket stored under the sofa. So, confident that we could dress ourselves, we agreed to join them.

During a brief lull in our Saturday adventures, we took a moment to make sure we were all set to dress up on Sunday. I assembled an outfit around my one pair of nice slacks. Paul began to pull his ensemble together. We looked in the storage bin under the sofa and discovered that having a sport coat on board was a figment of our collective imagination. So, we explained the situation at dinner Saturday, and Paul's uncle graciously offered to open his closet. After all, they're family. And, they are about the same size.

Sunday morning we were up and moving early. (The cats were convinced it was a travel day!) We were comedy in motion! For two people who dressed in suits every weekday for 30 years, we have quickly become rusty at the fine art of getting up, dressed and out the door. I searched for socks that weren't white. And, Paul wrestled with his one and only button down collar. We weren't just having trouble keeping up with our relatives. Dressing up was a challenge, too.

With visions of Bloody Marys and Eggs Benedict dancing in our heads, we hopped our freshly dressed selves in the Jeep and were off to meet our hosts. Upon our arrival, the first order of business was to grab a jacket. Paul's uncle selected two for Paul to choose from. One of them was the same jacket we thought we had brought along! Same color, style, label and store. It was even the same size. We all got quite a chuckle out of that synchronistic selection. These fine gentlemen aren't just related: They have the same taste in clothes!

The conversation over brunch was the same as all the others the last few days: engaging and lots of fun. We've shared many family memories and filled in a few family history gaps for each other here and there. They are so curious about what we're up to. After all, they were always the "traveling" aunt and uncle. Today their travels are limited to on and around this lovely island. But, in their long, active lives they've covered the globe. And, they think the idea of traveling the continent with a moose and squirrel is "simply great". They've bookmarked Bullwinkle's blog and promised to follow our travels and live vicariously through them. We like that.

This lovely couple we love attribute their longevity to staying active. They gave us two simple words of advice: Keep Traveling.

We really like that!