Christmas in Charleston 2011

For Christmas 2011 I again headed to the southeast to spend the holidays with my Mom and Dad in Charleston, SC. On Christmas eve we did a harbor tour and visit to Fort Sumter to quench our thirst for Charleston civil war history. I found the whole trip to be very interesting and informative. It was also an eye opening experience as South Carolina is very proud of being the first state to secede from the Union and as being the powder keg that began the Civil war.

In addition to visiting the driving range, a couple of golf outings and renewing our miniature golf rivalry; I was unable to recapture the magic of last year and he beat me both times we played, my dad and I also took a visit to Charlestowne Landing. This historic site is the original settlement site of the Charleston area. This was a good sized area that included a natural area featuring some of the native species that inhabited the land with the early settlers, the original settlement and an english garden.

Cannon Beach & Ecola State Park

On New Years day David and I were lucky enough to have a rain free day and I decided to show him the beauty that is the oregon coast. We headed out to Cannon Beach to walk along the beach to see Haystack rock and check out the many galleries of local artisans that dot the downtown area.

After walking along the beach we headed a little north of the town to Ecola State Park to take in the sunset before heading back to Portland.

Oregon Zoo Lights 2011

My friend David from California came up to Portland to hang out for New Years again this year. Last year we went up to Seattle, but this year we stayed in Portland. On New Year's eve we headed out to the Oregon Zoo to take in the zoo lights. This was my first time to experience this Portland holiday tradition. It was pretty amazing to see how they transform the zoo with so many lights. In addition to the lights around the exhibits and throughout the walking parts of the Zoo you can also take a train ride that takes you through areas of the zoo that you can't get to by walking and showcases even more light features.

My favorite part was how they transformed the zoo amphitheater grounds into a virtual African savanna scene complete with crocodiles, hippos, rhinos and elephants. After experiencing zoo lights for the first time I will have to make the effort to include this more often in my holiday plans.