Charleston, SC

Mom had a great idea - let's take off to the beach for the weekend. We live only a few hours drive from the Atlantic coast. In the four years we've lived here, I'm ashamed to say we've never taking a beach trip. I was all for it - my dad, hesitantly so.

So Mom and I researched hotels and actually found availability at a Marriott in Charleston. (We found out after arriving that the fall class at The Citadel was starting this week and all the families were in town to drop off their sons.) On a whim we decided to just make the drive that night and then we'd have all day Friday, Saturday and then come home Sunday. It was a little over three and a half hours to our hotel. Dad was feeling wary at that point.

Friday we got up and went straight to the beach at Isle of Palms . It was amazing! The water was warm, there was lots of beach, it wasn't crowded and we spent four hours sunning ourselves and just enjoying the breeze. I thought North Carolina was hot. But South Carolina and particularly Charleston puts us to shame! It was SO humid and SO hot, the beach was so welcome. We dined at Bubba Gumps that night on delicious foods: mahi mahi, coconut shrimp, crab dip and fish and chips. We took a walk around old Charleston, strolled the boardwalk to the pier and had an ice cream cone on the walk back.

Saturday we got up and headed off for a little bit of history with a visit to the USS Yorktown. It was amazing to be up on that ship and to read about all the other ships and carriers that fought in wars for this country. I was particularly impressed with the faces of the men in the photos. They looked so young and my dad commented that most were the same age as our missionaries who go out in the world, preaching the gospel. How great was the burden heaped on those young men and women. I'm so grateful for their sacrifice.

We decided after the tours and splash in the gift shop to find a place to eat and just started heading towards the beach. We passed a small restaurant called Momma Browns Pit BBQ and decided to stop. It looked as if it was in an old gas station or converted 7/11. For $7.99 you could get the all you can eat buffet: three kinds of pulled pork, delicious turkey, three kinds of beans, fried okra, slaw, salad, sweet potatoes, lemon bars, banana pudding, fresh bread... It was definitely one of the highlights and we'll dine there again the next time we go to SC.

After that awesome meal we went back to the hotel, got our swim gear on, made a stop at Target for more beach towels and hit the beach. We played until nearly 9pm when we headed back to the hotel to get a good rinse in the pool there. It was getting stormy looking and we had an amazing heat-lightning show. Phil describes them as it looks like God is angry - the sky is basically continually lit with lightning and there is little thunder. It rained pretty hard that night, which was a much needed cooling down.



Sunday we got packed and headed off to the Magnolia Plantation. What trip to the south would be complete without a visit to a plantation? It was such a beautiful place but also VERY creepy. There were spiders, lizards, alligators and other insects all over the place. I felt like I was ducking the whole time, afraid that I'd rub a tree limb and something would crawl in my hair! We enjoyed a train tour through swamps and gardens, a boat tour through the flooded old rice fields and tour of the home. They had a petting zoo as well that was a treat for the kids that included peacocks, deer, pics, chickens, roosters, snakes, turtles, pheasant, alligators, etc.

The journey home was long - with a detour to the Columbia temple. I love the smaller mini temples - they are so beautiful and the grounds were well kept of course. I was glad that my mom and dad could see our small temple. We got in late and spent some time visiting with Phil - who had been locked out of the house after our hasty departure on Thursday. He was a good sport.



But the highlight for me by far was the comments and looks from my dad. He seemed to really enjoy himself, making the comment that he never imagined himself in a place like that. It was fun to see him at the beach and in the south - braving boiled peanuts and surviving the humidity. Thank you dad for the fun weekend - it was such a great time and we made some great memories.