Charleston, SC

Clay's mom, Deanna, came out to help us celebrate our Anniversary. She stayed with the girls so we could get a weekend away. We left on Thursday around lunch time and started to drive south. We arrived in Charleston, SC late that night. 

We got an early start with breakfast at Toast. We had omelets, grits, and biscuits. While enjoying our food we took a little time to discuss and plan out our day. We headed to the Visitors' Center and booked a carriage tour for later that afternoon. We took the first ferry to Fort Sumter. It was so cool to see canon balls still embedded in the walls. 

We walked down to city market to look at the local wares. Bought ourselves a new ornament for our Christmas tree. We walked in and out (a few times!) of Charleston's Candy Kitchen for free samples of fresh warm pralines. So good. We stopped for lunch at Cru Cafe. We were lucky enough to get one of the last seats available. The food was excellent! We had tomato bisque and falafel pita.

We took a carriage tour of Charleston. It was great to get some history of the town and see some great homes. Though it was very hard to take any pictures while riding in a carriage. So we walked around to see things better. Here are some of the things I loved about Charleston. 

All the homes had window boxes and pots with beautiful plant arrangements. Loves the piazzas -porches running the length of the home to capture the cool cross breezes. I would LOVE to have a home like that. Every home has this little narrow strip of land that they created beautiful gardens for their own enjoyment. Each home also had the ever-burning lanterns waiting for a loved one's safe return. There were just so many things to make this such a charming city.

 This is Waterfront Park with it's famous pineapple fountain.

 The city has lots of great parks. Even the cemetery was lush and green.

We finished our day at Five Loaves for dinner. They had food type quotes on each table. I liked this quote from Julia Child. We had Mexican chili, red pepper zucchini basil and Gouda soup, salmon and curry chicken. Very good food. We also stumbled upon this old furniture store by the name of Chase. Wonder if they are related somehow...