Sidney Lowe and Brian on King St in Charleston!
Naylor and Lalon enjoying dinner with Ava James Friday night!
Beautiful Live Oaks lining the drive of Boone Hall Plantation.
Dan our carriage tour horse; a Belgian Draft horse.
Me and # 3; 6 months pregnant
Brian and I just before we left Charleston.
***DISCLAIMER***
I got a bit long winded on this entry, but wanted to cover it all - enjoy!
Friday afternoon, I loaded up the car with bags, pack n plays, booster seats and kids and Brian and I were off to beautiful Charleston via Clinton. Christie and Jamie were getting the kids for the first part of the weekend and Annie and Pa were lined up for duties throughout. Too bad for Christie, we literally dumped them out, threw a few bags in the door and were on our way after a very quick visit. We made great time though and rolled into Charleston around 9pm. We agreed on the way down to have a light snack (luckily I had packed a bunch) and push through to get there and eat something local instead of McD's on the way! After checking in and a quick re-fresh, we walked over to Hank's where we had dined with a friend before and had a great meal (including the deepest / tallest pecan pie I'd ever laid eyes on). Then, with me being pooped and full, we headed back to the hotel to crash.
Saturday was a day of adventure. We've been to Charleston a couple of times and decided this time to visit a local plantation as well as walking the Market area downtown and taking a carriage ride. I'm glad that we went to the plantation house, the trees lining the drive were beautiful (think Twelve Oaks from Gone with the Wind, which we later found out were actually painted glass all made in Hollywood), but other than that we were a little disappointed. However, it was something we wouldn't ordinarily do and I'm glad we tried something new. So back to Charleston it was and Brian is on the edge of his seat driving as he's seeing the NCSU v UNC-CH game score tied in the first few minutes. Once back in downtown, we decided to find a quick bite to eat at a local place a friend suggested that should have the game on. As we're making our way, Brian sees Sidney Lowe (NCSU's basketball coach) on the street just inside a store and freaks out. So we go back, he says hello and gets his picture with him - on Cloud 9! Then we learn from Sidney that "all of us" (meaning a ton of NCSU folks) were at the bar we had just walked past, so we went back. It was packed full of State fans and every tv in the place was tuned to the game. Brian did his thing and we found a small place to sit with some nice folks, we got some sandwiches and almost had several heart attacks watching that game; I once thought I may go into labor... WHAT A GAME!! If Brian were typing this, he'd be sure to mention 4 yrs in a row that we've beaten Carolina, so B, that's for you. :) After the game, we learn that just by chance, we had come to Charleston the same weekend of a bball tournament that NCSU was playing in - small world. So the remainder of the weekend was filled with random high-fives and "Go Pack!" as we walked around. Afterwards, we headed for our carriage tour with our horse Dan and a quick peek in the Market (most of it was closing up by the time we finished our tour) and then to the room for a rest. As much as I had hoped to sleep in, I guess I'm trained to be up early now, because I was wide awake around 7.30 am, but unlike other days where I can nap when the kids do as needed, we were going, going, going so by 7pm I was like the walking dead! The baby quickly corrected our downtime though and reminded me we needed to eat (the appetite is full on just in the past week, I'm sure my weight gain is more where the doctor's have been wanting it by the time I go to my appointment next Monday), so we changed and headed back out. Another great dinner experience, this time at Magnolias where the food was divine - best part for me was the mixed berry cobbler (oh yeah, I boxed up my dinner so I could have dessert, don't worry!). Then again to the room to crash.
Sunday morning I was able to "sleep in" until about 8.30 and it was quite delightful. After leisurely getting ready and packed up, we headed just a block down for breakfast at Joseph's (which has been featured on Rachel Ray's Food Network show?!). While waiting for our table, we're talking with some NCSU fans that were also waiting and then I realize - hey, we sat next to you at the bar watching the game - crazy! Two real nice guys from Wilmington. We then proceeded to eat and I had, without a doubt, the largest portion of French toast known to man... and it was perfection! Brian did help me out and we almost finished it... I'm going to attempt to duplicate at some point. Then a little more walking about the shops and Market and we were ready to hit the road to see the kiddos. We did drive down to the Battery and walked around there before we left too.
Sounds like the kids had as a good of a weekend as we did. I know Naylor had fun with his cousins because all morning today he's been calling for Anna (I guess maybe he thinks she's upstairs or something, because he keeps yelling for her!). On the way home last night he said "Pa, Robert, trucks, dogs" almost the entire ride... From our quick report, Naylor got to go with Annie & Pa to Phil Hudson's Farm Day (a neighboring farmer) and see tons of cows, horses (he has those huge Draft horses) and ponies and even got to go on a pony ride! Lalon and Ava James stayed home for naps and Anna was at clogging, but Anna did get to go later in the day. They played with Annie's dogs (she has 2 new CUTE Yorkie pups that are adorable and they are blonde!); they saw the cows a couple of times (I understand this was Lalon's favorite part, almost jumping out of her seat she was so excited) and playing outside. I think Naylor is definitely ready to head back down for Thanksgiving and see the cows some more. After the reports we were getting via text while on our trip, I told Brian that they wouldn't want to come back home with us!
A fun trip all around and it was great for me and Brian to have a quick get away to one of my favorite places! BIG THANKS to Christie, Jamie, Annie & Pa for tag teaming and keeping the kids safe and happy for us - we knew they were in great hands. Now they can all have a small break before they end up tag teaming again (at least for a few days) when # 3 gets here... I didn't mention that part to them when they signed up for this past weekend - ha!
No comments:
Post a Comment