We decided to book a vacation rental so that we could cook more often than not. We actually saved quite a bit of money with a last minute booking. Phew! We got a great little place in Seabrook Island, about 40 minutes from downtown Charleston. It was in a private, gated community; and, they had great beaches! The day we arrived, it was late; so, we unloaded what we needed and settled in. The next day was a Sunday, so we enjoyed the beach! On that day, we played for a few hours and watched dolphins swim not far from shore.
On Monday, we visited the Magnolia Plantation. It was reasonably priced; so, we added on the "Nature Boat Tour". It was a HOT day (as it often is in Charleston; but, this was early May...and, "not as humid as it gets" in the summer months, according to locals). We walked around a bit, ate our lunch and got on a pontoon for our tour on the river next to the Plantation. What interesting history! We learned a lot, got to see a lot of wildlife (birds & 'gators) and enjoyed the boat ride. The grounds were really pretty; but, we did not do all of the tours. We (especially my 5yo) LOVED the petting zoo-there were even pet deer! My 5yo asked me if we could get a pet deer. *sigh (he needs a pet)*
On Tuesday, we went to the beach again. On the other shore, we watched lots of pelicans. We LOVE the beach. We are so glad we stayed closer to the beach instead of staying in downtown Charleston (like I had planned).
On Wednesday, we went downtown to explore. Then, we went to pick up "Daddy/my husband" from the airport! Then, we went back downtown (now, we had our bearings) and, after we parked, we took a FREE shuttle to the open market and perused (the boys did not like that until we bought a treat), then we got on the last horse-drawn carriage ride of the day. We really enjoyed that! We all learned MORE about Charleston's history and wealth and saw some of the city. The carriage driver even gave us a recommendation for dinner at Fleet's Landing. It wasn't exactly what we wanted; but, it was good, they accommodated our allergies and the setting was lovely--right on the water at sunset. Then, we found another nearby FREE shuttle stop and took the shuttle back to our car to drive back to our rental.
We had originally planned to take off for NC on Thursday morning; but, we wanted my husband to experience the beach. So, it worked out for us to stay another night. So, Thursday, we got to go to the beach with Daddy. So beautiful! So glad we made the change!
Friday morning, we cleaned up, packed up and headed into Charleston to pick up groceries at Whole Foods for our next leg in NC. I figured we would be fine, right? We had enough coolers and the car was air-conditioned. Well, that didn't last long! I noticed that the a/c wasn't feeling as cold about halfway through the day. EEK! We made a pit stop to an auto parts store and "recharged" the Freon for the a/c. Good to go!
We stopped in some lovely towns along the Atlantic on our way up to the Outer Banks of NC. As always, we stopped about every 90 minutes. We stopped in a nice little town to eat our lunch (Washington, NC, we believe) and strolled around (and bought some books at an independent bookstore!) and we met a nice couple who asked if the boys wanted to see their boat (of course they did!). I love how boaters share their boats! Then, we stopped in another nice town for dinner at a restaurant, where my 8yo drank 3 full glasses of water with a straw! Then, we stopped about every 30 minutes to go to the bathroom. LOL. This drive, after sunset, was the "buggiest" drive we had (ewww!)! We made it to our next rental late, both boys asleep. So, we got what we needed and settled in. More to come about NC!
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