Charleston & Folly Beach

Our trip to Charleston, SC was a great, relaxing, fun getaway. We started out the trip pretty rough with a sick Emilia who had a 104.4 fever, croup and intermittent episodes of vomiting... It wasn't looking good - but after a trip to urgent care the night before we left, we were assured it was nothing time wouldn't heal. So off we went at 4:30am in the cab to the airport...

The flight went great. Emilia was just perfectly content and never complained. She loved watching out the window as we took off and exclaimed, "Target!" when she saw the big Target logo on the roof of the store we flew over. During the rest of the flight - she shuffled among out laps, held onto her baby and blanket, looked through the airline magazine and watched a little Elmo on the DVD player.

We got to Charleston, squeezed everything into the rental car (I'm still not sure how that was accomplished) picked up the booster seat I found on Craigslist, headed for lunch at a Southern gem - Chick-fil-A and picked up some necessities at Target including a hot pink sand pail. From here - it was off to our final destination - Folly Beach - "The Edge of America." Folly Beach was the perfect vacation spot for us...super laid back, everything in walking distance and the beach just blocks away.

We got into the townhouse, rearranged Emilia's room to set up a make-shift toddler bed and checked out the rest of the pad before we got Emilia down for a nap. We stayed in for dinner that night since we didn't want to push our sick little baby anymore than the day had already. She was getting to the end of her rope and we couldn't blame her. That night was more croupy cough and more vomit...this time it had me gagging too. Poor girl.

Home for the week :)

Tuesday was another low key day. The guys headed out to their Truxton Tour and Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum...boy stuff. The girls stayed back and walked out on the pier and attempted the park but Emilia was just not up for it. She napped while my mom and I soaked up some sun (me a little too much) up on the top deck. Wow...my skin didn't know what to do with the UV rays - I'll never learn. When the guys got back - we drove up the island to get out feet in the sand, pick up some shells and see the Morris Island Lighthouse. For dinner - we enjoyed buckets of crab, shrimp, corn and potatoes at the Crab Shack along with some local beers. I LOVE vacation :)

Morris Island Lighthouse

My beach babe - all smiles!

Ready for dinner!

These little crab legs are gonna get you...

Wednesday, my Mom and Dad told Jeff and I to get out and enjoy ourselves a little while they stayed back with the miss. So we headed to Charleston, walked around downtown, checked out the market and candy shop and went to lunch at the Southend Brewery. We enjoyed a yummy lunch - me: fried green tomato BLT and Jeff: BBQ pork sandwich accompanied by a beer flight of their micro brews. Fun times :) We got back to a well rested little girl who was FINALLY turning around! She enjoyed some corn dog and applesauce before we headed out to check out the pier. After walking the pier and seeing some fish swimming in buckets, we headed to Woody's to pick up some pizza for dinner. Emilia even enjoyed it with us! Getting her appetite back is always a good sign :)

A quick photo opp by a palm tree just her size :)
Up, up and away - on the pier.

So many shells to collect for her pail!

Thursday was my birthday! My Mom and I had hot stone massages scheduled at the Stella Nova Spa in downtown Charleston. The place was great and the hot stones felt amazing - they didn't come in contact with my burn from Tuesday, thankfully! Afterwards, we picked up some decadent cupcakes at a cute little bakery nearby, appropriately named, Cupcake. The cupcakes were fun and my Mom "treated" Emilia to a sweet little shirt with "Miss Cupcake" on the front. Perfect. We got back to the townhouse and my Mom, Dad and I headed to Snapper Jack's for a cold drink and a great view on the rooftop. Jeff volunteered to stay back and wait for Emilia to wake up.

When she woke up, he loaded her into the wagon and we met up at Taco Boy's for a light lunch before heading to the beach!! We were so excited to finally get Emilia in her cute little swimsuit! Unfortunately, she was NOT excited about the sand or ocean water on her feet! Her legs were spring loaded...when we tried to get her to walk in the sand - she curled her legs up and whimpered - begging to be picked up. She was happy once we stopped trying and just set her on the nice clean towel and handed her shells for her pail. What a girl!

Taco Boy! Ole'!

Safely planted on the towel...no dirty toes for this girl...

A hot pink pail...does it get any better?

Family pic on the beach :)

For dinner, we had planned to head back into downtown Charleston for a fancier dinner at Hank's Seafood Restaurant, but the laid back Folly Beach lifestyle had worn off on us. We decided to skip the fancy stuff and stick to another great restaurant on Folly - the Center Street Kitchen. It was the perfect birthday dinner! We sat outside and listened to a blue grass band and ordered up as much "Southern Grub" as possible to really get a taste for what it was! It was totally revealed that I was "not from the south" when I asked the waitress what a hush puppy was... Ha!

My birthday, my guy :)

Friday was my Mom's birthday and on the schedule was a delicious southern breakfast at the Lost Dog Cafe and a walking tour of downtown Charleston - pirate style! We decided on a "treasure hunt" type tour through the Brass Pirate. I was a little skeptical at first but once we started to understand the "pirate lingo" we were flying through the clues, learning a ton and really exploring the history of Charleston! We scored near perfect on our answers and received the grand prize...a Jolly Roger Flag! How fitting! Emilia was the best little "Pirate in Training" never complaining while being pushed around in her stroller during the 2 hour walk. She was rewarded with the cutest little t-shirt in the shop that says "Pirate in Training" on the front with a little skull that changes colors in the sun! It's going to be a HIT this summer!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Just looking cute, as always :)

Entertaining herself by finding her belly button during the walking tour!

The most perfect weather and a GREAT tour of Charleston!

The Brass Pirate - "arrrr!"

That night - there was even more excitement in store - a wild adventure on a Dolphin Boat Ride that started out at the Cherry Point Seafood dock. I have to say - I was NOT excited about the HUGE fish heads I saw cut off and in a bucket on our walk down the dock to the boat...but, once on the boat, we poured ourselves some wine and it was smooth sailing from there. We headed out with just the captain and the 5 of us to explore the area and see the dolphins in their natural habitat. Spotting that first dolphin family was so exciting and hearing Emilia say, "there it is!" was just the icing on the cake! Also on the trip - we saw a HUGE eagles nest (4 feet tall, 2 feet thick) and a Cormorant, drying its wings. After our ride, we got back in the car and headed to the Angel Oak Tree - estimated to be 1500 years old! The park was closed but we were still able to see the magnificence through the fence surrounding it. WOW! It was amazing!

Cheers!

The boat crew!

Since the day had been so filled with activities - we skipped Emilia's nap. We didn't know how much more we could push her, but wanted to have a fun dinner for my Mom's birthday. So we headed back to Folly and walked down to Rita's for our last vacation dinner :) The food was good - more shrimp for me and my Mom...but Emilia was DONE. We tried to enjoy ourselves as much as possible before heading back to get Emilia down and pack up for our departure the next day. It always seems that right when you have it all figured out on vacation - it's time to go. Oh how I wish there was more time for the good stuff in life!

This is what DONE looks like...

Saturday morning, we hodge-podged our way through breakfast with whatever was left in the fridge...my Dad and Jeff we happy to finally get a corn dog! Ha! We loaded up the car again and headed out for one more tour...the Hunley - the Confederate submarine sunk in 1864 and recovered in 2000 - 136 years later! Pretty cool stuff, especially for a couple scuba divers.




After our last little adventure, we headed to the airport and flew home. The flight was easy, breezy. Emilia was asleep as soon as the plane left the ground. We were in the back of the plane on this flight and the two open seats behind us were the perfect place for her to rest her pretty little head for 2 hours.

Thank you Mom and Dad for the PERFECT vacation! It's so much fun to share in all these experiences with the ones you love!

For more vacation pics - click here :)