Jay and Michelle's Blog: charleston

Monday, May 25, 2009

2009 Memorial Day Vacation in Charleston

For the second year in a row (rare for us), we made our way across Eastern Georgia, the South Carolina Piedmont, and the Low Country to Charleston for a (very) long Memorial Day Weekend. It's great for us because we can bring Haley & Murphy - I think they like it more than we do.

We started each morning with a little exercise on Isle of Palms:
Haley needing her morning coffee

Sweet Murphy enjoying the morning sun

Michelle and her shadow (Murph)

Haley loves getting the frisbee, so much that we had to bring one or she would go after the other dogs' toys!

The favorite beach and the favorite t-shirt

We walked across the Ravunel Bridge a few times. It's about a five mile walk, and has great views of Mount Pleasant & Charleston.

Michelle halfway across the bridge

...and me

The views were so gorgeous up there

Looking out to Patriot's Point on Mount Pleasant

We did sneak a little beach time in... We found a great spot in front of the Windjammer on IOP.

We ate at some great places this year - some old, and some new. We always enjoy Red's Ice House and Vickery's on Shem Creek. We tried the Pub on Daniel Island for lunch, which we both enjoyed. We also tried Water's Edge, which had the best shrimp & grits I've ever eaten, and Michelle loved her chicken pasta. This place made the list... On Monday night, we wanted to find a place on the water, so went to Fleet Landing in Charleston. Not bad - not bad at all.

Getting ready for Red's

The Pub on Daniel Island

Michelle at Fleet Landing in Chucktown

Standing outside of Fleet Landing in Chucktown

After dinner on Monday night, we knew that the city would be empty, as most of the vacationers would have left town. We thought it would be a great time to walk around the historic district...

It was tough to come home, but I know we'll be back.

Chucktown

We took a much needed break to Charleston the last week of July. I finished my last summer exam in Accounting and we were off!

Downtown Charleston, on the water

We enjoy taking one "far away" vacation a year, and one close beach vacation, where we can take the dogs. It was nice to get away and at the same time, we didn't spend a ton of money. When we first pulled into Charleston, I think we were both a little disappointed. We didn't realize that the shipping industry had taken over so much. They always show pictures of downtown, but leave out the HUGE cranes that load stuff on to the boats. Anyway, it really grew on us and we enjoyed spending time on Daniel Island, Mt. Pleasant, Isle of Palms and of course, downtown Charleston. Here are a few pics.

Driving over the bridge to Mt. Pleasant

This picture is funny for us, we literally went to five different meters before we could find one that worked. There is barely any parking in Charleston and it is impossible to find a spot. Every time we thought we found a spot....nope!...either it was "resident only" or the meters didn't work. We should have taken the hint. It was about 110 degrees with the humidity...we didn't last long at all once we finally parked. We ran back to the car, totally drenched, and about to pass out!

Isle of Palms - We went every morning from 6:30 to 8:00 a.m. The dogs could run free, then we had the rest of the day to do stuff while they were passed out back at the house!

Haley loves the water. She stood out in the middle of the waves and rarely left the water the whole time were were there.

He is checking to make sure I am still right there!

They had so much fun

The little poodle out ran Smurphalicious, Haley out ran the black horse-sized poodle dog.

Our morning drive to Isle of Palms

Crossing over Sullivan's Island on the way to Isle of Palms - my favorite part of Charleston. I LOVED the greens and blues and the pure serenity of the marshes.

Crossing over Sullivan's Island on the way to Isle of Palms

At the house in Mt. Pleasant - I think this is the night we went to the Library (downtown bar).

At the house in Mt. Pleasant

"Street of Trees" that is famous from Gone with the Wind at Boone Plantation.

Walking the pooches

The only slave street still standing. It was hard to see.

Even though this place had a horrible past, the grounds were beautiful. We walked around for a little while, but not long, it was blazing hot!

Rushing back to the car.

Boone Plantation House

I begged people to take our picture in front of the house. All of our vacation pictures are of either Jay or me. The woman was sweet and took a few.

We took a wrong turn and crossed over a swamp that was only large enough for our four wheels to cross over. I'm sure it was full of alligators. We realized once we turned on to it that it was for a small trolly that takes the tourists around the plantation. I was freaking out the whole way across, then we came up to this flower patch. After this, we had to turn back around and go back. Yikes!