Charleston, SC

Beware: Picture overload!!

For our FINAL spring break we went to Charleston, SC!! It's one more check mark off of our list of "must sees" while living in the South/East... whatever North Carolina is called :-) Before Spring Break we were talking to our friends (Clauss and Ririe) and told them we were headed to Charleston. Turns out, they were going too!! So, we price lined a hotel and all stayed at the same place and hung out lots in those next 3 days...

MONDAY March 9th, 2010

We left Durham mid morning in hopes that the boys would take their afternoon naps in the car... the plan worked fabulously!! We arrived in Charleston Monday afternoon and headed straight downtown! Before we checked into the hotel, we made a few stops...

Our first stop was at Waterfront Park. Perfect place to let the kiddo's run around after 4 1/2 hrs in the car!! They had about 6 of these bench swings all along this board walk and they all faced the harbor. It was a beautiful day, the boys were giggling, the salty breeze was blowing through our hair and in that moment, we had not a care in the world.

It was a little too cold this day, but apparently kids come here dressed in full swim gear ready to play.
Splashing in the water!! I love Jack's face in complete anticipation of getting wet.

Pineapple water fountain

awesome bridge we had to cross to get from our hotel to downtown CharlestonSecond stop... Fort Moultrie.
Jack sat on a few cannons

and peeked through a few watched towers. That night we met up with our friends who were also there for spring break and we went to Poe's Tavern for dinner. It was delicious :-)

TUESDAY March 10th

Thank you construction for entertaining my boys all morning while daddy tried to go golfing at the country club across from our hotel. (golf didn't work out... couldn't get an early enough T-time).

On the ferry to Fort Sumter... where the first shot of the Civil War was shot. Apparently my boys were more interested in their breakfast than they were in the dolphins swiming along side us! I must say... the dolphins were really cool!
We made it to the fort!

This was the wall all the way around the fort.

view from the 2nd story

This flag was flying during the battles at Fort Sumter.

Family picture! (Jonah was very tired). We headed back to the hotel and tried to nap the boys but that was a huge failure... so John and Jack left the hotel and headed to downtown Charleston to do a little touring on their own. As soon as Jack left, Jonah and I got a great nap :-)

A little Ben and Jerry's never hurt anyone!!

He got pretty excited about this firetruck.

Our stroller was bouncing up and down those cobble stone streets and Jack was OUT!! Not even a flitch.

One of the first theaters in the US

Beautiful ivy up and down the red brick was everywhere!! So beautiful.

The famous "Rainbow Row"

an awesome church!The sunset was fabulous!!

That night we ate at Bowen's Island. We drove exactly where the GPS told us to and still didn't believe it was taking us to a "restaurant". We drove about 1/2 acre down this dirt road in the middle of no where and we saw a piece of cardboard that had spray paint telling us the restaurant hours. It was dark, we kept driving, couldn't find anything so we turned around to meet the rest of our party and we told them we need to go eat somewhere elso because we didn't think the restaurant was real. They wanted to give it one more try so we followed them all the way down this dirt road and turns out there was a "restaurant" there after all!!

This wooden shed/restaurant was on the end of a bridge, boardwalk type thing. There was a wooden shed with netting over the "windows" and and heaters sparadically placed throughout the inside. There was a black dog that kept walking by our old plastic/card table while we ate. The bathroom was pretty much an out house about 30 feet from the restaurant. Anyway...after we left Allison decided it might be nice for us to know that she saw a big rat by the ice bucket when we were ordering...good thing we got bottled waters!

Oyster shells... the pile continues on behind me and around the building. They offered a tray of oysters for $13 or all you can eat for $23. There were 2 men sitting at the table next to us who ordered the "all you can eat" and when their table was empty a dude with a very dirty apron would walk into this barn/room/restaurant and literally bring a shovel full of oysters and dump them on their table. It was quite an experience!! I was really sad no one in our group ordered oysters, because none of us have ever had them. The problem was, none of us knew how to cut them open and with kids on our laps and a huge knife at the table made me nervous... so sadly no one got to experience oysters that night. But the shrimp were fantastic!!

Wed. March 11th, 2010

The weather channel said it was going to rain mid morning so as SOON as the boys woke up, we headed out to see the rest of Charleston before we headed home.

These flowers were in bloom everywhere

and there were so many cool, old houses.

L.O.V.E.D the red door!!!

Battery Park

"Where'd it go mom?"

Chasing squirrels in Battery Park.

These 300 yr old oak trees were beautiful. and HUGE!! (no, our hands are not touching on the other side... about 2 feet short)

We ended our tour of downtown, went back to the hotel and gave Jonah a nap while I packed our bags and John and Jack went Jack's favorite part of the trip... the hot tub!! He kept asking when we were going to go back to the hotel and sit in that BIG hot tub!) Our final stop of the day was at Boone Hall Plantation!!

It was a beautiful, southern and just what I imagined a plantation house to be like! We did a tour of the inside and turns out this house is the one in the movie the "Notebook". It's the house Allie lives in during the summer... I've been wanting to watch the movie ever since we got back.
Then we found this AWESOME tree and couldn't stop taking pictures!

And then Ashley Clauss pulled her fancy photography camera and started snapping...

Jonah and Tessa Ririe

Jack and Jonah
us...

ooooh la la!

Slave's houses on the plantation property.

One more view of the Boone Hall Plantation house aka the "Notebook" house.
they grew cotton on their plantation
John, Melanie, Jack Jonah... Carlton and Ashley Clauss... Allison, Ted and Tessa Ririe.
Thanks for an awesome spring break friends!!