Today we visit St. James Church in Goose Creek. The mayor of Goose Creek met with us to share the history and give us a tour.

Two Grave stones

Two Grave stones

He had been a school principal for 30 years  so he was excited to see my brother and me. He had fun asking us lots of questions to test our knowledge.  We walked into the churchyard and showed him the picture (vantage point) we were looking for – and he knew exactly where it was! So we walked over and sure enough he was right! We didn’t take the picture right then because he wanted to show us some other things before he had to go. He showed us the symbol of a pelican with her babies, which was on the top of the entry doors.

The Pelecan

The Pelican

Immediately I recognized it. I had seen it on the altar of my grandparents church. The mayor had to leave, but another local historian came to show us the inside of the church. It was pretty dog gone cool. They had “family boxes” that were purchased as a place for your whole family to sit together.

Family Boxes

Family Boxes

Each box had a small door. The pulpit was amazing – really beautiful woodwork and carving.

The pulpet

The pulpit

We took many photos – it was so nice to see that the church had been saved and fully restored. It had been abandoned for many many years.  After we finished our visit, we drove to Johns Island to see Angel Oak. What exactly is that? Well, its a MASSIVE oak tree. I didn’t know much until we got there. At first, my dad just pointed ahead and said thats the tree. All I saw was a bunch of tiny trees… or were they. What I saw turned out to actually be just one limb. That limb was about the size already of a big tree. Then I saw the FULL thing, WOW.

ANGEL OAK

ANGEL OAK

The tree is about 60 feet tall and one of the limbs is longer than the tree’s height itself.  That limb is about 80 feet. The tree had some supports on it to prevent a big limb breaking.

Limbs about as big as trees themselves!

Limbs about as big as trees themselves!

We left Angel Oak to find more big live oaks to photograph at a local farm, but ended up getting the car stuck in a bunch of mud. My brother and I (+dad) had to push it out putting sticks under the wheels to give it traction.  Mom was behind the wheel holding her breath, but we made it out successfully! Thankfully, we weren’t too muddy, and met our cousin Jake and his family for dinner that evening.  Always good to see family when traveling! After a full belly I was ready to go to sleep in my tent.