Our South Carolina Tour

We had a wonderful tour of South Carolina last week! It really made me want to move back to the Carolinas. Nashville is a wonderful place to live but too far from our family and friends - including our friend the beach. All four of us are big beach fans and we would love to be closer.

After Evie's graduation, we hopped in the van for a 615 mile trip to Pawleys Island.  Way too far away from beach.  We drove from about 3:00 to 10:00 stopping once for dinner. Our kids are rock star travelers! Give them a movie and some snacks - they are golden. We spent the night in Columbia to break up the trip. Our kids love hotels and were in heaven in the Embassy Suites.

Wednesday morning, we hopped back in the van for the rest of the trip to Pawleys. Three hours felt like nothing after the previous day. We were all thrilled to arrive at the beach. We rented a house with our friends the McDonalds! It was a blast. Their kids are 3 and 5 which is perfect for built in playmates. Lots of delicious meals, beach time and good conversation. Carl and Ben were Kappa Alphas at the College of Charleston and some of the guys came over to visit with their families. 

Friday around lunch time, we headed to Charleston to visit some of Carl's family. Aunt Anne and Uncle Rusty hosted us all for a fun poolside dinner. Aunt Anne introduced us making her one of my favorite people! Evie and Henry had a blast playing with their cousins. Neither one of them wanted to  wanted to leave! Evie and I had a little date together when we returned to the hotel. I took her to Kaminski's for dessert- delicious cafe on Market. My Mom still raves about the place 10 years later! It's that good. Evie selected a black/white cake and we had some good girl talk. Hope she continues to love being with me because I sure love being with her. After cake, we took a rickshaw ride through the beautiful city of Charleston. Evie was super impressed by the old City jail and kept asking me to tell her creepy stories. It was a night that I will remember forever!  Carl and Henry hung out together and their big event was getting ice. That thrilled Henry's heart and they got some good bonding in too!

Everyone slept super late the next morning, we barely made checkout but sleep was important after several late nights and car naps. We took the kids to check out the College of Charleston. I would love for one of my kids to be a Cougar one day! Evie was super impressed! Carl and I felt super old walking around campus but it seems like just yesterday that were students there. After our walk down memory lane, we headed to another cousin's house for a BBQ lunch and some good conversation. It's amazing for me to see how quickly time passes. Courtney's kids were my kids ages when I met them and now they are in high school! Slow down time, I am not ready for my kids to grow up quite yet.

After lunch, we headed to our final destination - Lake Keowee to visit Carl's parents. His brother came too with his family. Evie and Henry love their cousins, Mary and Lucy so much. We had lots of pool time, yummy meals and even had a photography session. Cannot wait to see the pictures. Henry did not exactly cooperate but he rallied for a few pictures. Henry loved going on the boat and they both enjoyed the fireworks. It was a super fun weekend with Carl's parents! I did not take pictures because I was too busy having fun.

We left early on Memorial Day to head back to Nashville! Kids did great again - we are so grateful for our little travelers. Glad to be home for awhile but already counting down to our next beach trip!