The Steaks: Charleston 2011

Time for my annual blog about our annual trip to Charleston, South Carolina!

The drive to Charleston is long, but we were rewarded with gorgeous weather as we got further and further south. By the time we arrived, we had the kids in light jackets, if any jacket at all. It was in the 60s.

We had to actually find a new house this year since Andy's cousin's house was rented, much to our chagrin; we like Joyce's house a lot. But Damian found a killer house in the elite section of the Isle of Palms called Wild Dunes. That meant we needed a 24x7 car pass to get on/off the resort so we had to stop at the rental office to get the pass first before continuing on to the house. The house was gorgeous, and the resort (what we could see of it) was gorgeous. The house even had a rooftop deck that the kids loved to visit.

Leo and DJ looking over the rail on the rooftop deck

Damian, Jenn, Leo and Andy arrived at the house a few hours earlier than we did, and had hit the grocery store for some essentials and snagged dinner from Longhorn by the time we arrived and got settled. The kids went to bed early that first night, and we planned to go to Patriots Point the next morning.

The next morning arrived (Sunday), and the weather was meh... and it was projected to reach nearly 80 degrees on Monday, so we decided to bail on doing anything but go to the grocery store and Target. Plus, the kids were having fun being in a new place and playing with "new to them" toys. It was a nice lazy day.

On Monday, we made our annual pilgrimage to Patriots Point. The kids love climbing all over the USS Yorktown and running the length of its flight deck. Time for pictures!

The USS Yorktown

Andy, Damian, Jenn, Steve, Evanthe with the kids: DJ, Leo and Elektra

Elektra, Leo, and DJ in the engine room

The kids were exhausted from the millions of stairs (and steps) they walked, but no naps were to be had. We had an early dinner, and then took the kids to get ice cream and DJ's Perfect Potty Reward from a store called Discovery Ice Cream. Getting the ice cream was as exciting as eating it because a robot created DJ's ice cream treat! For $4, he got 3 layers of soft serve and added a layers of M&Ms in between each layer. The robot did all sorts of tricks and twirls with the ice cream, and it held the attention of each child and some of the adults, too. It was pretty cool.

On Tuesday, we decided to go to the local playground because it was another gorgeous day outside. The kids still seemed tired from the day before, so this was perfect "down time" for all of them to do something non-structured. Elektra had some fun with Leo on the see-saw, and DJ spent most of his time playing with the wood chips. Otherwise, Elektra hung out in a swing, and Leo scampered across most of the playground apparatuses. The playground also offers some awesome candid picture opportunities!

Elektra on the see-saw

Elektra on the swing

Andy throwing a frisbee with Damian

Leo, Elektra, Steve and Jenn on the see-saw

DJ proudly displaying his pile of wood chips

Leo at the top of the tallest climbing apparatus

Andy, I'm not sure that's made for big kids...

self portrait!

Wednesday, we went to Charles Towne Landing. This is the first permanent European settlement in the Carolinas, and it was a beautiful State Park. They even had a replica trading ship docked in the marsh with park rangers that would talk about why the settlers picked that spot (easily defendable), why they befriended the local natives (the natives wanted the European guns with which to defend themselves from a rival tribe, and the Europeans needed help to survive), and what route (through the bahamas to barbados) and cargo (wood traded for sugar) the trade ship would take. It was really neat, and the kids walked a ton.

As we kept walking, we came across a sign that explained how the State Park really was a vision of one woman.

Ferdinanda Legare Waring

The Waring estate...

Finally, we came towards the end of the State Park, and there was a sign: "Caution Alligators." There was an alligator statue on the ground next to a relatively large turtle, too. I strode purposely towards the turtle to take its picture... when the alligator statue moved its back leg.

Oh #*%^@!!!

That's NOT a statue!!!

Caution... LIVE Alligators

The turtle sunning itself next to the alligator

This bugger was no less than 6 feet long. The turtle was pretty big, too.... Yeah, ok, I'm an idiot.... a very LUCKY idiot.

We asked the lady at the Visitor's Center if they had any restaurant recommendations. She said, "I can't recommend anything, but I really like to eat at Manny's." Manny's is a Greek bar and grill, and we ended up eating there for lunch two days in a row because their food was that good.

Thursday, we went to the Children's Museum of the Low Country because the weather was pretty chilly. We went there last year as well, and the kids had a ball. The massive water table captured DJ immediately (I brought a change of clothes for both DJ and Elektra - and we needed them, despite smocks!) and Leo explored the pirate ship and the castle. Elektra did a little exploring of the "grocery store", but she also enjoyed the water table area immensely.

After the Children's Museum, we went to see the Angel Oak tree again. This thing is HUGE and OLD and gorgeous.

Steve, DJ, and Elektra walking around the Angel Oak

At 4:30, Damian and I rented a tennis court. No, we didn't drive all the way to South Carolina to play tennis. But Andy had seen that the courts in Wild Dunes were being watered, and we realized this was our chance to play on a court other than asphalt. It turns out that the courts were clay!! Despite the hurricane-like gusts of wind, Damian and I had a blast hitting tennis balls at each other on the clay court. That was worth the price of admission!

On our last day, Friday, we went to the South Carolina Aquarium. It turned out to be a ball for the kids and the adults. The tanks and exhibits were beautiful. DJ and Elektra were fascinated by the big fish swimming so closely. We even saw an albino alligator!

Then we got to the touching tank in which there were stingrays and horseshoe crabs there to be touched by the kids. It just so happened to be feeding time, and the stingrays knew it. They would swim up the side of the tank, out of the water, flapping furiously because they knew food was to be had!! DJ got to feed a horseshoe crab by putting the piece of shrimp directly into the crab's belly opening. Then we watched as the crab would take its legs and stuff the shrimp into its belly to eat it. It was pretty wild!

We also saw a 4D movie short of Happy Feet. This was our first (ahem) 4D experience... for those of you who don't know, that means you are watching a movie in 3D and then during the film, you get sprayed with a mist of water, snowed on, your chair vibrates, etc. to corollate with the scene you're watching. Elektra wanted out now now now (I couldn't blame her... Steve and I were both surprised by the extra sensory effects), but DJ did great with it. I think he really liked the 3D effects; it was his first time seeing a 3D film!

Saturday came too soon again, and it was time to drive home. Both DJ and Elektra were sad on Sunday that we weren't going to see Leo or "the big ship". Unlike last year, where the kids got on each others' nerves by the end of the week, the kids had a ball with each other this year. And the adults had a good time, too. We look forward to doing this again next year!!

Just beware of the alligator.

And now for some extra pictures: