Palmetto Bluff Resort

Last weekend we had the privilege of staying at the fabulous Inn at Palmetto Bluff.  Our nephew, Dave Berry was getting married and had invited us for the festivities.
We left Thursday afternoon and drove as far as Daytona Beach and stopped at the Comfort Suites for the night.  It was near the freeway and the rates were very reasonable.

We were walking to find a place to eat when we saw a man pushing his car.  "I've run out of gas," he said, "do you have any spare change?"  At first Mark said no.  "Sorry to bother you."  He also asked a woman and she said no.

Then as we watched, he pushed his car out of the way and started to walk to the nearby gas station.  Was this man really in need?

Mark said to me that if the man could push his car to the gas station, he could use his credit card and buy him some gas.  He just couldn't not help and I encouraged him to do it.

Mark walked to the man's car and motioned to the man to come back.  Together they pushed his car to the gas pump and Mark went inside to pay for the gas.  I had watched this and then walked over as well.  The man thanked me for Mark.  "Thank you so much! he said.

Mark was very generous in giving the man gas so he would have plenty to get him where he needed to go.  It seems he had left his wallet when he stopped to eat and when he went back for it it was gone.  He said he was gone only five minutes, but no one there knew or would say what happened to his wallet, even after the man said he didn't care about the money, only his license and credit cards.  He had come from Ohio and was going to Cocoa Beach.  When Mark told him how much he had given him he said, "No way!"  Then he thanked us again and told us he would be sure to help someone else; that he helps people all the time.

I was so proud and grateful for Mark's generosity.  "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these...ye have done it unto me."

The room was very nice and the bed comfortable.  There was a nice breakfast we enjoyed the next morning before we left.  Daytona Beach is supposed to be pretty famous, so I asked Mark if we could drive to the beach to see why.  Guess what?  There are breakers!!  You could actually surf or boogie board on waves!  What a difference from Fort Lauderdale!

All right, moving along.  We stopped in Savannah for lunch then continued to South Carolina. It is beautiful and green.  We got to the Palmetto Bluff gates.  They had our reservation and let us through.  We had to drive for another 6 miles before we came to the inn where we would sign in. We arrived about 2:30.

Wow!  It's so beautiful here!  A valet came and loaded our things into a cart and drove our car away.  He took our stuff to our cottage and put everything in there for us.  We signed in and found out where we would be staying.  Mark's dad and sister, Mary Alice were also here, so we stopped first at their cottage.  Oh my goodness!  The cottages are so luxurious!

The Inn at Palmetto Bluff

    Their cottage was larger than ours because they are sharing it, but ours was no less beautiful.  We were in Cottage #22.

I love the style of wood board and batten on the walls and ceilings! 

Screened porch

That is a luxurious tub!  Loved that!

There wasn't just the cottages and inn.  It was like a little community with shops and a restaurant.  There were homes as well which people owned.

A couple of homes across the lake from our cottages and behind the inn.

Okay, we won't be swimming in the lake!

One of the nice things about this place is it's also a preserve.  They've worked very hard to preserve the natural habitat of this beautiful area.

Because cars aren't allowed to the cottages, bikes were provided for our enjoyment.

Friday we met in front of the inn at 5:30 along with all the other wedding guests.  We were shuttled to a secluded area where we would have a nice dinner.  We were met with drinks, hors d'oeuvres and a great little band playing music for our enjoyment.  Naturally I went for water.  Mark and I did actually try an oyster.  It was cooked, otherwise there is no way I would have tried it!  Slurping raw oysters off the shell is disgusting!  I had mine on a cracker.  It was okay.  There were other hors d'oeuvres I liked much better.

This place was beautifully decorated.  I learned later that Melissa and Dave had done the decorating.  She has an interior design business in Park City.  I understand it is very very nice.

You can see a tree house in the background.

Because we were near some of the natural habitat waterways, there were a lot of mosquitoes so bug spray was provided on the tables.

Allie Berry

Dad Berry and Rob, Mark's oldest brother and father to the groom.

Berry clan

When the food was finally served it was delicious!  It was like a big buffet.  Melissa's family showed a special video of Dave and Melissa.  It was very nicely done and everyone enjoyed it.

I didn't realize that Melissa's last name, which is Crotty, is an Irish name.  All of the family members that we met were gracious and friendly.  Because this is a resort, Melissa's family took much of the cost upon themselves so we could afford to come.  It was very much appreciated.

It was late when we got back to our cottage.  The TV was on (Harry Potter) and I looked at Mark and said, "Did you leave the TV on?"  We realized the bed had been turned down and bathrobes laid across our bed and slippers on the floor near the bed, plus a tray with a bag of some kind of chocolate treat.  We realized housekeeping had been in.  Boy you could get spoiled here in a hurry.

In the entry way of the cottage, there is a small refrigerator where they offer free water and other drinks.  Snacks are also offered as a complimentary service.  The only thing that wasn't complimentary was the bottle of wine. (Not much to worry about there.) There were two glass containers:  one had chocolate covered something in it and the other looked like nuts of some kind.  I took one of the nuts out and popped it into my mouth and almost immediately spit it out!  I had to run to the bathroom and rinse out my mouth.  When I read the bottom of the jar it was wasabi peanuts!  Okay.  Hopefully the chocolates would be better.  Unfortunately not!  When I ate one, it was nasty and so I took another thinking it might be different.  Nope.  Looking on the bottom of that jar we found out they are chocolate covered coffee beans!  "I just broke the Word of Wisdom!" I wailed.  Inadvertently.  Oh well, we wouldn't be enjoying the rest of those.

Saturday, we rode our bikes to breakfast.  We ate at the Buffalo, which was a nice cafe.  We had the breakfast buffet, which included some incredibly delicious pastries!  At $20.00/plate, it was pretty expensive, but we enjoyed every bite.  You just don't get to experience this kind of thing very often, so I say savor the experience.

We rode our bikes all over.  Because there are 22,000 acres, obviously there are plenty of places to ride.
There are so many beautiful pine trees here.  The smell reminded me of camping.  As Mark and I were talking, something reminded me of the song "Those Were the Days."  Does anyone remember that?  So I started to sing (as I'm weaving around on my bike)
"Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day.
We'd live the life we'd choose,
We'd fight and never lose,
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days!
Then, of course I burst out with "La, La, La, La La La...  Mark thought I was funny and weird.

We hooked up with Mary Alice and rode bikes together.  I really wanted to go kayaking, but Mark reminded me that we didn't have hats and would probably fry.  He had a headache too, so we just stayed on the covered deck and watched some of the others.  There was a dolphin out in the water.  The day couldn't have been more perfect.  The sky was a perfect blue with no clouds.  The scenery is absolutely gorgeous!

I actually took these pictures first thing Saturday morning on our way to breakfast.  The clouds later went away and it was a perfect blue sky

 There is a cute grocery store just a little ways away.  Allie wanted to take something home for her girls.  It was fun to look, but it was pricey, like $7.00 or more for a can of vegetables.  : O

Mark spent the afternoon with his dad watching the football games and I went to the pool with Allie.  We enjoyed lunch and a short swim there until it was time to come back to get ready for the wedding.  There is a small chapel across from the Buffalo Cafe.

The wedding was supposed to be at 5:00, but didn't quite get started on time.  It was a different wedding, based on nature.  Melissa's family is Catholic, but Dave isn't religious.  A woman pastor married them.

You can see Mary Alice and Dad at the front.

Dave and his mom, Donnie.

The woman who married them is on the far left, then Dave, Luke, (Dave's son was best man) then Mick.  I don't know anyone else, although Melissa's brothers are probably the other groomsmen and a friend.

Bridesmaids.  Mick's wife, Sarah is 2nd from the left.

Bride and groom.  My flash didn't take a very good picture.

After the wedding, there were drinks and hors d'oeuvres before the reception dinner.

When I took this, we had finished with all the drinks and hors d'oeuvres we wanted and were sitting on the porch of the inn, looking out over the festivities.  It was starting to get dark, but you can see there were still a lot of people there enjoying themselves.

This isn't very clear, but we were told that there had once been a plantation home on this site, but it had been burned during the Civil War as most of the homes had been.  Can you make out the ruins?

 

 

 

The reception was very nice.  The food was delicious, the service amazing.  A DJ was there playing music and there were several dances:  The traditional bride and groom dance, the bride and father and the groom and mother.  Mark got a bit misty eyed at this point.  He was thinking of Mom.

Their cake.

Each of these balls had our table placement on it.

Mick, the groom's brother.

Rob and Sheila, the groom's dad and step-mom.

Mark and Dad

Allie, Dad, Sheila and Mark

Melissa wore a lovely Vera Wang wedding dress she bought in New York.

I wish them much joy and a long married, happy life together.

Some in our party were flying out very early the next morning for Utah and Mark and I were leaving at 7:00am to drive home, so we left the reception early.  At 11:00 we knew there was going to be some kind of surprise.  It ended up being fireworks.  I think I can safely say a good time was had by all!  I know we had a really good time.  Thanks, Dave and Melissa!