Trip to Charleston

We just returned from our anniversary trip to Charleston, SC....and to sum this city up in one word...CHARMING! What a great place. We walked and we walked and we walked the streets looking at beautiful, enormous homes and quaint, manicured gardens. When our feet just wouldn't walk anymore, we rented bikes and toured more neighborhoods on wheels.

The architecture is just amazing...such grand homes and most of them are older than my home state! We took a carriage ride through town, toured the Magnolia Plantation and ate wonderful meals at some really great restaurants. What a great trip...we can't wait to go back.

First stop, the Magnolia Plantation...according to our Southern Belle tour guide, the original house was burned to the ground by those pesky Union Soldiers during the "War of Northern Agression."  The rebuild is not too shabby.  The grounds were amazing, in need of a little love and a lot of pruning, but still amazing.  We learned that the front of a plantation house actually faced the river (as that is the way most visitors and residents would arrive). 

Next up...the streets of Charleston.  Amazing. Charming. Historic. Did I already say charming?

A special thanks to Grandma Betty who manned the home front with Natalie so her parents could escape to the low country. It was our first time leaving her overnight. On the third day I turned to Corey and said, "I really miss her today for kind of the first time". He looked at me, horrified, and said, "I've missed her since we left...what's wrong with you?" I guess it just took me a little longer to get Natalie-sick but when it hit I was so ready to get home and squeeze her!