Charleston, South Carolina

The South, oh the South.  Here are some words that come to mind when I think about the South:

• palm trees
• grand homes
• heat
• humidity
• seersucker, fancy dresses, and bow ties
• cockroaches
• college football

It had been a while since we ventured to a true southern city and since my brother-in-law had work to do in Charleston, we thought we would tag along.  I had never been there and it was a pretty easy drive from DC, although there is nothing between here and there except one really scary stop.

We stayed at The Mills House by Wyndham and I highly recommend it.  The rooms are a little small, but the location is great, the lobby is perfect for enjoying lunch while your toddler runs around, and the pool was perfect. 

 
We mainly explored the city by foot.  We shopped on King Street, played in the fountain at Marion Square, and wandered through White Point Garden.  We also visited the aquarium.  Can we talk about the homes for a minute?  Holy crap they were beautiful.  I loved their color, the front porches, the flower baskets.  They all seemed huge, and from what I could tell, they were all very expensive.

 
My first favorite thing about this trip was the beach.  We went to Sullivan's Island one morning and it ended up being the perfect beach for the little ones.  The water was really shallow and calm (you had to walk really far out to even be standing in water waist deep), so Anna and Adelaide could just sit and play without us worrying about them being swallowed up by the ocean, stung by jellyfish, bitten by a shark, etc.  The sand was soft and the beach was huge.

 
My second favorite part of the trip was the food.  We ordered food to-go mostly (it is just easier with Anna, trust me) but it gave us a chance to eat fantastic food without having to wait forever in line.  My favorite was Poogan's Porch, followed closely by Magnolia's  for dinner and Fast and French for breakfast.  We did have a hard time finding dessert though.  There are plenty of candy shops but not a lot of bakeries, and for two girls with a huge sweet tooth, this can be a problem.  One night we did find some really good chocolate.

 
Before we knew it, it was time to set the alarm for 3am and make the drive back to DC.  It was a really fun trip with my really fun family.

 
You can see more pictures here.

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina - Finally feeling like vacation

Since we thought Hurricane Irene was headed to Key West, and were not enjoying our stay anyway, we decided to head back up the East Coast and spend the rest of our vacation in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.  We got a room at the Hilton (thank you government rate discount!) and it included a kitchenette, access to the beach, shops, restaurants, and several pools.  In short, it was super nice.  

We rode our bikes around town, ate at the Salty Dog Cafe, walked along the beach, and enjoyed a lot of pool time.  We also visited the outlets, which had a lot of nice stores, but nothing for pregnant chicks.  We saw dolphins, sand dollars, jellyfish, starfish, and an alligator. We basically ran out of time before we ran out of things to do.  

Since Irene decided to follow us up the East Coast, we left Hilton Head a day early, but made it home safely.  

Click here to see the rest of the pictures.

Hilton Head on Dwellable