Charleston Getaway

Last week this time, I was in Charleston, SC celebrating my 10th anniversary with my better half. Even though the locals were complaining about the rain and cold, I thought it felt heavenly compared to NW Ohio. We were there for 3 days (which was not near long enough) and it rained 2 of them. The 3rd day was sunny but only in the 60's.

The weekend prior to Charleston, we as a family traveled to Harrisonburg, VA to my brother's wedding.

My handsome brother and his beautiful bride.

Then from there, our 3 boys went to Maryland with my parents and DH and I started south to Charleston. We arrived at our motel in North Charleston late Sunday afternoon and left Thursday morning. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we tried to hit some of the highlights of Charleston but with the weather not cooperating, we ended up doing some antiquing. (Which is not a bad thing :) ) I found something for my Etsy shop which I hope to list soon.

Here are some of our pics (not in any particular order):

 Angel Oak Tree above and below DH is standing by the trunk to give you an idea how HUGE it is.

 Monday evening the weather cooperated enough for us to go on a dolphin watching tour. It was very hard to get a still shot but I did get several good videos. Here's one of the few shots that show more than a circle on the water. :) Also, some other 'water' shots.

 Charleston is called the city of churches. Here are 2 of the many we saw. Gorgeous old architecture!

On Tuesday it rained pretty much all day so we went to an old plantation house, Drayton Hall. Drayton Hall is being preserved, not restored. Therefore, there is no running water or electricity. The rooms are huge and grand. I didn't take many pictures because it was cloudy that day and there is only natural light in there but here are a few:

(Sorry this is so grainy!)

The only original plaster ceiling - hand carved!

And a few shots of some of the gorgeous flowers:

And finally, my better half and I:

Our anniversary isn't actually until the end of May so I'm hoping to celebrate again. ;) With at least a dinner out.

Those of you who may still be looking for pics of the kitchen, I haven't forgotten. We still have the countertop to finish and install. We talked about several options for them, one of which was concrete, but we ended up going with wood. DH is making them in Uncle's shop. We hope to have them finished soon.

From the Farmhouse,