If any of you have been to Charleston, SC you will know what an absolutely picturesque city it is. Beautiful architecture, water front views, rows and rows of boats, gorgeous parks in backyards of million dollar homes, practically a perfect setting. And I didn't catch any of it on my camera. Really?! Really.
I guess we'll just have to go again, which I'm positive we will.
This is the first picture of our trip: eating southern b-b-q at Battery Park right next to the water. Beautiful sky, palm trees, the wind from the water, and a clean park atmosphere. Plus good food. We played around here for a while, explored the big boardwalk they have, then found a great little park tucked away for locals. It was fabulous.
Then we drove out to Folly Beach where we had a little beach rental . We had to drive through a fun afternoon thunderstorm, and get stuck in horrid traffic as everyone is leaving the beach. But the rain soon let up, and we had a beautiful beach practically to ourselves! We literally walked to the beach from our place, which is perfect with kids. No loading them up, cleaning all the sand off before the drive home, etc.
Folly Beach has one of those famous piers, and it was beautiful!
As the tide was going out, there was a natural dip in the sand that creates a perfect little pool of water for kids to play in. It was a nice place for the kids to go if they got tired of the waves and just wanted to splash around.
While it was chilly that evening, we were at the beach!! Hooray! Both kids warmed up to the water pretty fast, and clothes definitely got wet.
This is exactly what we had in mind when R was done with this month's rotation. Hallelujah!
Rookie mistake: we were too excited about being at the beach that we didn't think about the tide coming back in! Luckily we didn't bring much else besides shovels and towels!
First family picture of the trip - I look huge! :)
I think Lady-LE was getting tired. She loved the waves at first, but then started getting more cautious. Sweet girl.
This is the sunrise from our deck. Pretty sweet!
We had to stock up on a few things for the week. Piggly Wiggly is a grocery store chain down here, and the kids thought it was awesome. :)
This funny girl still refuses to crawl in any form - even in a climbing way. But she figures things out and makes it work.
I was sent into a store to buy a kite while R hung out in the car with the kids. I found one, but didn't think about the label at all of "trick kite." Only when we were off again, and R explained the reasons why this was a very poor choice of mine did I remember that only my older brother was allowed to use the trick kites. And for very good reason, too! But we managed, and L was completely in love with it. Yes, a little bit dangerous as it would sometimes come crashing to the ground at warp speeds, but we like a little distance from other people on the beach anyway. They definitely got some good wind and it was fun to watch L's face light up while it soared.
And, of course, some sand castle building. We spent many hours digging and dumping and burying.
Lunch gave us a nice excuse to enjoy some shade. Aren't these beach bums cute?!
These kids were completely worn out, so we walked back home for a much needed nap and quiet time.
But don't worry - we came back later that day. Can you tell we were excited to be at the beach in March?! Amazing!
This is us in front of Patriot's Point - the USS Yorktown. This aircraft carrier was used during WWII, and is now a Naval Museum in the Charleston Harbor.
There were lots of planes to see, a really neat Medal of Honor museum, small tour segments that took you through very small parts of the carrier where the soldiers would eat, sleep, work, etc. L even got a turn at the helm. Scary thought! It was an awesome place though, and we loved it all. Lady-LE is in the multiple-words-together stage, and when she saw the airplanes inside the aircraft carrier suspended from the ceiling she continued to say "airpane stuck" over and over again. We ate a picnic lunch inside, and literally that is the only thing she said the entire lunch! It's so fun to adore your own kids. :)
The view on top of the USS Yorktown. Seriously gorgeous weather - if it weren't for that wind it would have been perfect! Or, maybe if we were on the sailboats there then it would be perfect! Someday Ry ... someday.
On our deck. L still talks about going back to our "beach house" - quite the dream now, but it was a good dream while it lasted!
We explored a little of the town Folly in the evening, including the Pier. It's a long walk, and tons of room for the kids to run!
I love this because of L's hair. It was definitely windy that day!!
We hit up Charleston again in the morning of our second-to-last day there. We drove all around such ritzy neighborhoods, and loved catching glimpses of the beautiful gardens in between each mansion. We tried to do a swamp/plantation tour but it didn't end up working out, so after lunch we chose the beach again. Temperatures were a bit more chilly, and there was a cold wind constantly blowing. But we tried not to complain, because we were at the beach, in swimsuits, in March! So we'll take what we can get, right?
The little beach girl became addicted to the sand/water combination. She was constantly busy, never wanted to take time to eat anything (and whatever she did eat had so much sand mixed in with it that I would take it away). The house in the background in the second photo was our rental. It was divided into four units, and we had the one by the palm trees.
We didn't get as wet this time at the beach, because of that wind. But we practiced ABC's in the sand, made a treasure map in the sand including buried treasure (which L led Daddy on countless times), and tried to sunbathe as much as possible (for the sake of the heat of the sun!).
We will miss the beach!!
Our last day there we packed everything up, then headed over to a boat tour of Fort Sumter, a small island compound where the first shots of the Civil War took place in 1861. It ended up being perfect weather this day, and we were so excited to be on a boat ride! Like the rest of our vacation, I didn't get hardly any good shots of the actual place! The one of R pushing the stroller is the only picture I have of the front of the fort - lame, right?? The family shot is the back of the fort, where you can't see anything anyway. (makes me wonder why I try sometimes?) Either way, it was an awesome tour, and we are so grateful we went. We even saw dolphins on the boat ride over there. And we learned a ton! The picture of L sitting next to a cannon is one of the original cannons used in the first battles. The tour guide was so helpful and passionate about the history of it all - we would highly recommend this!
This is us on the boat ride back to Charleston. L still talks about Fort Sumter and the cannons. I'd say it was a hit!
We grabbed some lunch in Charleston before heading toward home, and we just happened to drive by a place called Jestine's Kitchen. Yum! Definitely a good choice. Outside the restaurant I got lucky to catch a sideways hug between brother and sister.
We meandered a little bit around the streets, and after we admired the firetrucks from the outside we were invited in and got to climb in them. L even requested to try on a fireman's hat, and he was so kind and walked us all around telling us about this fire station.
Turns out it is the oldest still-in-use fire station around - it has the grooves on the floor from when horses were used. They also had two old - really old - fire trucks that you can climb on, and we fully took advantage. Although I must say, Lady-LE's favorite part was a police officer's motorcycle. Can't win 'em all I guess!
We sadly drove away from beautiful Charleston just after four days of fun. We stopped in Columbia, SC where there is a
temple for our church. We have some great friends from undergrad who live practically down the street from the temple, and they graciously offered to watch the kids for us! While Charleston is beautiful and we loved every minute there, this was by far the highlight of the trip for us.
We drove the last leg of the trip after dinner, and pulled into our driveway with one child still awake and going strong. Thank goodness for Baby Signing Time!
Thank you, Folly Beach, for a fabulous vacation.
It was just what the doctor ordered.
(ha! sorry ... lame joke)
