Charming Charleston

At 8:30 the night before I planned on leaving for Charleston, I was still undecided whether or not the trip would be worth it. But after talking to another Farragut friend who was also going with her kids, regardless of our husbands' schedules, I decided to just go and make the most of it.

Grace was perfect during the drive up because I left right before her naptime and she slept most of the way. We arrived early in the afternoon and checked into our hotel which was in a perfect location, right in the middle of downtown and only a few blocks away from where the ship was docked. After settling in and checking in with friends, Grace and I ventured out to explore downtown a bit before bringing Mike dinner on the ship. It was a great start to our Charleston weekend.

The next morning was when the real adventure began. I startled awake at 5 in the morning and wondered whose alarm clock was blaring that loudly and why in the world wouldn't they just shut it off already. Then it dawned on me that it wasn't an abnormally loud alarm clock, but the fire alarm!

With my heart in my throat, I made a mad dash around the hotel room grabbing our shoes, jackets, and my purse. It was then that Grace woke up and sweetly said, "Good morning, Mama." And then with bewilderment at the alarm, "What's going on?"

I picked her up and rushed out of the room, down the five flight of stairs, and into the cold, dark morning. Where we waited for nearly two hours. Come to find out, there was no fire, but a glitch in the alarm caused by a water leak and neither the hotel management nor the fire department knew how to turn off the alarm. Fabulous.

I learned two things during that morning adventure. One, I will now always be prepared for such an event whenever we stay at hotels- make sure all of your essentials are in one place, readily accessible, in case you need to escape quickly. Two, Charleston firefighters are super cute! Where were these cute young firefighters when I was a twenty year old EMT riding on ambulances? All the ones at my station were definitely not Charleston quality.

Seriously though, the good thing about the whole experience was that it definitely started our day early and we were able to go out to breakfast with our friends and hit up the Aquarium as soon as it opened, before the crowds started pouring in.

By the time we were done with the Aquarium, it was time for Grace's nap, and Mike was able to get off work shortly thereafter. The rest of the day we spent walking around downtown and looking at all the gorgeous, historic homes in the area. We ended the evening with dinner with Mike Teeple and his lovely family, one of Mike's Navy buddies/roommates from back in his bachelor days and one of the groomsmen in our wedding.


SATURDAY


Grace looking at Daddy's ship- we had a great view of it from the Aquarium.


Bridget and Alicia- I probably would not have made the trip to Charleston had these two lovely ladies not gone as well.

I was completely charmed by these Citadel cadets. When we asked if we could get Grace's picture taken with them, they were so accommodating and even said they get asked for pictures all the time, but Grace was the prettiest little girl they ever had the pleasure of being in a picture with. Like I said, completely charming! And so polite! If only they wouldn't refer to me as ma'am and make me feel like I was a hundred years old....

As we walked around, we all picked out our favorite houses. This was my pick- so sweet with it's framed entrance, little porch, and ivy covered walls.

This one is Mike's choice.

And Grace giggled with delight when she saw this cute little pink house, which she called her 'pink princess castle'.

I love how all the houses had these pretty flower boxes.

Walking down Philadelphia Alley, one of the many quaint little alleys that have tons of history behind them.


Grace and the three Michaels- her Daddy, Mike Teeple, and his adorable baby boy, little Michael.


SUNDAY

Mike had to go into work Sunday morning, but he was back by the time I had packed up all our stuff for check out and Grace and I were dressed and ready for the day. We spent the morning walking around and exploring again (I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful houses!) and even found a Kid's Festival for Grace to check out. After that, it was off to visit with the Teeples for a bit before heading back downtown to grab some dinner, return Mike to his other lady, and then head on back to Jacksonville.

It was a wonderful weekend filled with much more family time than I had anticipated. I'm so glad we went and I'm already planning for the next time we go back. We are definitely coming back, Charleston. You charmed the Augustine family and we can't wait to visit again.





Getting a hula hoop lesson from Daddy.

We found this fountain, took off our shoes, and jumped in. It was freezing!

This picture makes me laugh. I don't know why.

Michael and Grace enjoying the swings.