After a long and sniffly month of March we all were very ready for our spring break. Made the most of it this year with a couple of lovely getaways. I could get used to traveling to pretty places 80% of the time. My completely neglected home may beg to differ, but it will have to wait. Travel is always worth it.
Trip One: South Carolina with the kids. My babies and I headed off on a spring break together, just the three of us. First time in a while. Because they love to fly and I don't like ten-hour drives by myself, we booked some cheap flight tickets out of Pittsburgh. (A two hour drive, I can handle!)
Then off, in what is always one of our favorite conveyances, the shuttle bus...
...lots of "hurry up and wait" at the airport...
... and a smooth easy flight, and we were on the other end of the country.
Sadly the trip got off to a less than ideal start as both kiddos found themselves in intestinal distress that first night. A trip to the drugstore for some immodium, and lots of snuggling and watching Spirit, and we made it through the night. There were a few moments I wanted to turn around and make that 10 hour drive back home. But we soldiered on ...
... and were glad we did when our morning brought this.
So grateful that all felt well in the morning and we were able to thoroughly enjoy a few hours at the beach on what was to be the best weather we would have on the trip.
In the afternoon, we checked off my "must- see" and visited Magnolia Gardens plantation. Thanks to this petting zoo and the terrific weather, even the kids ended up loving it there.
This macaw was dancing with us.
We've never gotten to pet a deer before!
The house tour was great, the history impressive (so much OLDER here than in Cleveland! and so much turmoil of war and reconstruction. The south is an interesting place...)
Hedge maze...
Bridges and lagoons...
Magical Spanish moss...
We added on the slave cabin tour to give the kids the full picture of what this lifestyle was built upon. It was fascinating to hear how rice cultivation began in the US not only on the backs of slaves but using their knowledge base about this non-native crop... which turned out to be not at all profitable once labor was no longer free, leaving our plantation owners broke. They turned to renting out the gardens to tourists during reconstruction and hired many of their former slaves to stay and work the gardens in exchange for free lodging. Some of the descendants were living in these cottages as recently as the 1970's. Quite something.
And of course-- the live oaks!
By the afternoon of our first day I could really see why people love living in this place!
We had a little more time to wander before our wonderful hosts for the stay, Kate and Marc, got home. So what else is there to do but go back to the beach?
The kiddos were thrilled to get to Kate and Marc's house. Big comfy couch, TV... and cats! All their favorite things.
Chase took a liking to Ivy, boisterous as they both are. Aria, a quiet gazing sort of cat, took a shine to Jack...
Day two dawned cloudy, windy and cool so we decided to hit the Aquarium..
Touch tanks galore (stingrays, here, and these awesome tiny tiger sharks in another tank upstairs)...
Jellyfish...
Exhibits of Eagles and Otters alongside the sharks...
The kids decided to participate in an interactive show by the dive tank... and both got picked to go up and try to answer a trivia question. I was impressed by their bravery. And they both got their true/false questions correct! And most importantly, earned some swag. Their favorite.
We also really enjoyed the Sea Turtle rescue center. You never really realize just how BIG sea turtles are. Or how beautiful their eyes are.
After the aquarium we decided to stay downtown and enjoy the cold, grey weather. What's a little frigid wind when you've got a historic city center to explore?
Bypassed the actual Slave Mart museum but did discuss how it related to our plantation visit...
Beautiful architecture at every turn. And palmettos! So you know you're in the South.
We loved this cobble stone street...
We made it to the waterfront park along the Charleston Harbor, where we mostly hid from the wind in various locations.
And found these great swings on the pier...
... and a wonderful fountain that we'll have to visit again when its WARM. The plus side of being under-dressed for the weather: these two, snuggling for warmth.
Thankfully we had a Candy Shop to warm up in...
Then -- it was time for our carriage tour! We decided to embrace being tourists on this trip and do ALL the cheesy things. Some little girl was pretty happy with this one.
Fascinating old jail-turned-school-turned-up for lease...
Stately, gorgeous homes, pillars, single houses with piazzas on the side...
Kate joined us! Which was grand.
Out for a lovely dinner at a James Island restaurant and home in time for cat snuggles.
Day 3, otherwise known as the day of driving all over Charleston.
We started with a visit to the Angel Oak tree. Hidden down a narrow dirt road, surrounded by forest, it was not quite what I expected. But still magnificent. Our visit was marred a bit by the fact that we arrived simultaneously with 2 busloads of middle schoolers (I can't get away!) but we waited them out and were able to get a little bit of wandering time among the branches. So hard to fight the temptation to climb and sit among them.
Ivy took this picture as we approached this awesome bridge... I like it for the way it shows our rental car (a surprisingly nice Chevy Impala), which was really our home base for the trip.
Across the bridge and back towards the ocean... next stop James Island!
What a beautiful place! Totally different vibe than Folly Beach, a little more upscale and a little more remote... windswept dunes and beautiful homes set waaaay back and all this sky...
And so much wind! Yet again the weather was just a little bit cooler than we were dressed for. Luckily we were able to shelter in the lee of a dune and the sun came out and it was so pleasant that we sat and read books and drank coca cola and played in the sand for almost two hours. Who needs to swim at the beach?
On our way to our next stop, we decided to take a look at Fort Moultrie. We headed to the end of the island, sans map, knowing it was right on the point. A fun way to tour the island as we wove around the back streets. We parked along a fence that was near a fort-like structure and wandered in. The fort was far more interesting, and far larger, than we had planned on. Turns out my kids have a thing for cannons. Unfortunately we had only a few minutes to explore before we needed to head off to our ferry tour of Fort Sumpter (Fort Day!!) and the kiddos reluctantly dismounted the cannons and headed back to the car. On our way out we realized that we'd accidentally sneaked in to back entrance of the National Monument without paying. Oops. My sweet, rule following children were aghast. I promised them we'd pay next time.
Off to the ferry!
It had a snack bar. Totally the best part according to the kids.
We enjoyed seeing the USS Yorktown and in another surprising turn, Jack got all excited about seeing the Vietnam War Experience exhibit next time we're here. Who knew I had a military buff on my hands?
Brutal winds and glorious sunshine marked our visit to the shell of Fort Sumter.
Ivy was desperate to learn how cannons worked, so loved this exhibit of the "tools of the trade."
In the souvenir shop (best part of the Fort according to the kids) they were excited to find and purchase a tiny replica of this cannon, their favorite type.
Also a compass. Jack could be seen in this position for much of the rest of the trip.
Our return trip across the Ravenal bridge was perfectly timed. Amazing engineering, backlit by an amazing sunset.
Final day....
We "checked out" of Kate and Marc's early, as our hosts both had to work. Dragged my kiddos out to eat at a "real" restaurant. Which was a super delightful place if only we weren't running late for our Dolphin Tour and rushing through the whole thing. Sigh. Story of my life. Next time, leisurely brunch on this lovely patio, maybe in slightly warmer weather...
Another day, another trip through Charleston Harbor in freezing winds...
We got some great views of the old salt mines and mansions along the battery...
And kept busy dashing from one side of the boat to another, looking for elusive dolphin fins...
There they are! Can you see them? They don't photograph very well but they were really really really cool.
We had just enough time after our boat ride to make one more visit to Folly Beach. Aside from the sand being blown in our eyes the whole time, it was lovely. We'd put on suits in hopes of a swim but had to settle for sand and the sound of waves...
See you next time, ocean!
Homeward bound. It was a fun trip with my awesome little travelers, if a bit colder than we'd hoped. Charleston was absolutely enchanting and we will definitely be back!
