A Journal, with Pictures

The pan­dem­ic is gone and the fam­i­ly tra­di­tion of gath­er­ing for the Fourth at the Chechessee Creek cot­tage con­tin­ues. This year we were joined by Joyce’s nephew and fam­i­ly (Brett, Juliana, Bri­ana, and Bruce Shugart). The Shugarts flew in from Las Vegas on Wednes­day and the rest of the fam­i­ly con­verged from South Car­oli­na. Flori­da and George. The Shugart chil­dren joined Kin­sey and Caitlin Pra­do for Sports Camp on Spring Island and enjoyed the great weath­er. Gary Pra­do brought his lat­est boat over and Brenn arrived in his new set of wheels a very hand­some Ford F‑150. The Shugart’s got the tour of Spring Island and Gary gave them a tour of the area by boat. We had lots to eat and gath­ered each evening lead­ing up to Sun­day’s Fourth of July cel­e­bra­tion on Spring Island.

The fes­tiv­i­ties start­ed with the tra­di­tion­al parade, led by a horse-drawn carriage,  with walk­ers in cos­tumes, dec­o­rat­ed golf carts, floats, some clas­sic cars, and lots of bikes end­ing with the singing of the Nation­al Anthem at the pic­nic area.

The parade was fol­lowed by a spec­tac­u­lar cook-out, with tons of food and live music. There were fun and games for the kids, pool time, and some­thing new an antique car show at the Tab­by Ruins.

The evening of the Fourth Juliana treat­ed the fam­i­ly to an authen­tic Mex­i­can din­ner includ­ing her famous home­made enchi­ladas. We took the oblig­a­tory group pic­ture before the sec­ond feast of the day.

At sun­set, we all pro­ceed­ed to the Chechessee Dock for the tra­di­tion­al Fourth of July Fire­works. Gary Pra­do is Chief of Fire­works and this year he out­did him­self. He was ably assist­ed by Mike and Brenn. Along the Chechessee riv­er, there are river­front homes (“the riv­er peo­ple”), and each year there is a friend­ly com­pe­ti­tion to see who can put up the biggest dis­play, and we all cheer as each year the dis­play gets more elab­o­rate. Our dis­play last­ed about an hour and capped off a great day on a per­fect South Car­oli­na evening.