Our first Thanksgiving…could have been disastrous, but we were saved by the chap with a beautiful home on Lake Wateree, who came to our rescue… 
Like all best laid plans of mice and men, things have a way of unravelling when you least expect them to…the original plan was to book up a house big enough for 8 of us with potential for more if necessary. Our last experience of doing just this was last year in North Carolina during July when David and Becca were married – the lake house there was fabulous so a repeat was in order…Good old VRBO website came up with the goodies again and I happily booked a 4 bedroomed house for 5 nights – our St Louis family plus one would join us there the day before Thanksgiving, and it was close enough to Columbia so David, Becca and Elsbeth could join us when they could. The Reynolds had kindly invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them in Camden so we were sorted!
I wanted to get to the lake house a day before the crowd arrived so I’d have time to get settled so off we went – arrived there at around 6.30pm – plenty of time to unpack, chill the wine, have dinner and just generally unwind…that was the plan…things started to unravel as we unlocked the back door and walked into a what seemed to be an ice box – the house was so cold…as we found light switches and started exploring, things went from not so good to bad…the kitchen had supposedly been ‘remodelled’ but when I found the crockery cupboard, there weren’t enough plates or bowls for somewhere that was supposed to sleep 10 people! Not a wine glass in sight, only 4 other glasses and coffee mugs from the Waffle House! Trying to keep positive, we headed upstairs to inspect the bedrooms…and one bathroom…oh dear…one old bed had a mattress that had a massive dent in the middle so anyone lying on it slowly slid into the hole…the next bedroom had a single bed right next to the cupboard where the blown air heating thing was – anyone sleeping there would have to be stone deaf to sleep through a noise like a train…the next bed was right under the window – which had no curtains…the windows were so ancient that you could see through the gaps – remember it was cold when we went in? That was why! By this time, my heart was in my boots…there I was thinking of a lovely lakeside retreat like last time, and I’d picked this one…We then found a couple of pages of ‘home instructions’ which included the instructions to “treat the washer and dryer carefully – after all they are as old as the house – 40 years old..!” It didn’t get much better as the next sentence said “and be careful with the dishwasher too as it’s even older than the house” – instructions for the dishwasher were very precise “make sure you rinse each item thoroughly before placing in the dishwasher – it is old after all…” No kidding…
From then on, things just went from bad to worse…
The TV was an ancient cathode ray thing which wouldn’t change channel – no wonder really, as the remote didn’t work, and neither did the controls on the TV itself…
No DVD player (as listed in the original ad – plus a ‘full library of DVDs for your viewing pleasure…)
The additional futon/bed was on the ‘sundeck’ – no heating and the bedding was in a small box – no blankets (!)…
No WiFi (as listed…)
Nothing to cook in… ie – pots and pans…(?!)
A ‘spare’ bed in the lounge – nothing wrong with that…apart from the fact it looked as though it had come out of the Ark…or the Crimean War…
After several calls to the owners, I’d had enough and promptly burst into tears and told them we were leaving! To be fair, they agreed that it wasn’t ‘up to standard’ and promised a full refund…The house was not equipped for cold weather living…actually, it wasn’t equipped…period…the advert was misleading, the photos were certainly misleading so although I felt bad going, there was no way we could have spent a relaxing time there… I did take photos of everything in case we needed evidence, but as it turned out, we had a refund the following week…I’m sure the house was a much loved home in its day, but as a rental, it just didn’t cut it – I’m grateful to the owners who understood and were gracious enough to return our payment…
By the time we left, it was around 11.00pm and we headed off to a motel for the night…tomorrow was another day…when we’d have to find somewhere for 8 people to spend the next 4 nights/5 days together - argh!
Up early after a restless night and back on the ‘net searching for another house…don’t forget, this was now the day before Thanksgiving so hopes of a) finding somewhere big enough for us all and b) it being available, were slim to say the least…with me searching on the web, and Andrew making calls each time I found something, hope was fading fast as each call ended with “well, thanks anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to you too…” Just as I was about to call David and let him know he’d have to break out the airbeds, Andrew got hold of a chap who said his place at Lake Wateree was available, but he was on his way to the dentist and didn’t know if his housekeeper would be available to clean it and make beds…”give me a call in an hour and I’ll let you know” says Chuck…so we do, and no housekeeper…no problem we say, we’ll make beds, we’ll clean…no problem! We have to meet him out at the lake house which was 45 minutes from Columbia and he wants cash payment too, so off we go from ATM to ATM to use up the credit cards and get a wad of cash…with hopes running high and nerves shredded we arrive…And this is what we found when we got there…
Oh yes….this is more like it! It was a beautiful house right on the lake with room enough for 16! By the time the St Louis family arrived, the beers were cold, the curry was on and we could finally relax!
The following Thanksgiving Day we set off for Camden and the gathering with the Reynolds family…there were 27 (I hope I have that right…!) of us in total and it was the most wonderful family day…kids running around, the men standing around an open fire outside (it was chilly!) and the ladies chatting…4 generations of Reynolds too which was special.
Mother and daughter…
Thanksgiving lunch was fabulous – along with the turkey there were so many tasty goodies, not to mention the desserts…superb A perfect day…
Back at the Lake House we all got stuck into the Scrabble…much hilarity as the competition hotted up – one particular person seemed to have Lady Luck on his shoulder and won both games – a rematch was booked for the following night.
Blue skies…
So, our first Thanksgiving…and so much to be grateful for…
A walk with baby and my big brother…and a dog!
A crisp misty morning at the lake…
A promise of the sunshine to come…
And more misty beauty everywhere you looked…
And a picture perfect sunset to finish…
The 4 days there flew past and all too soon it was over…St Louis family set off home on Saturday, then on Sunday I drove Ant to Charlotte airport to fly back to the UK…and it was over…
To our American families - Thank you x
Tagged: Camden SC, Columbia SC, family, lake, Lake Wateree, sunset, Thanksgiving, VRBO 
