Ch-Ch-Ch-Charleston

I'm here to blog about a recent weekend trip to Charleston and Isle of Palms, South Carolina. RA had a meeting in Isle of Palms, so we spent a long weekend out of town. It was glorious! I am backdating this post because I can!

We left town on a Thursday morning, hoping to get to Charleston around lunchtime. As we pulled into Charleston, I got out my phone to text a friend who lives there. As I texted "Welcome to Charleston," we got rear-ended. It was jarring. We were trying to avoid blocking an intersection, and the person behind us didn't realize we were stopping rather than going through the intersection. The car that hit us was only going 10 mph, I'd guess, but it was shocking. I was certain our car had significant damage. However, much to our surprise, it didn't look too bad at all. The guys that hit us were so friendly (Anybody named "Shands" has to be nice, right?) that we didn't call the cops or anything. We just went about our merry, fender-cracked way.

On Thursday night, we stayed at an amazing hotel, Harbourview Inn, right on the water. I absolutely loved the place, and you're about the learn why. Most people know that food is a focus of mine, and this hotel made sure we were well-fed. There were complimentary snacks from a local company, including chocolate-covered pretzels, trail mix, etc. I love snacks! There was also an hour-long wine reception, complete with cheese trays and fruit. The lobby also had a candy dispenser. Ahh! At night, they serve warm cookies and not-warm milk in the lobby. Although the hotel was small and did not have its own kitchen, we were able to make a breakfast selection, and a local bakery delivered the breakfast at whatever time we specified. Awesome! It was truly a top-notch place...one of my all-time favorites.

Pardon that tangent. When we got into town, we ate lunch at a nearby place called Fleet Landing. I got a crab cake sandwich (Yummy!), and we also had some fried green tomatoes. As we finished eating lunch, we learned that a long-time friend who lives in Charleston (MJ) was about to get off work. We walked and met her, then headed to Mellow Mushroom to sit on the patio. We got to spend some time catching up while we waited for her boyfriend (JA) to get off of work. We headed to the wine hour at the hotel before we went to dinner at a place called Pearlz, which was delicious! Of course I was focused on making it back to the hotel in time for cookies, and I enjoyed a late-night snack of white chocolate chip cookies!

Friday morning, after devouring our delicious breakfast, we packed up to head to the Wild Dunes Resort at Isle of Palms. We made it to Isle of Palms in the afternoon and suited up to go to the beach/pool. The beach was pretty darn crowded, so we only lasted a few minutes before we headed to the pool instead. There were several pools, all of which were gorgeous. We enjoyed some tasty food at the poolside restaurant and stayed out for quite a while. Some folks were heading into Charleston for the night, but RA and I were quite exhausted from the previous day's activities. We went to dinner at the restaurant at the resort golf course. I had an amazing salad with spinach, goat cheese and strawberries. We also ordered a side of macaroni and cheese, which was phenomenal!

RA had his meeting on Saturday morning, so I slept in sort of late. He finished up earlier than expected, and we went for a quick jog. We then headed to pick up MJ, who was going to be able to join us at the pool for the day. After picking her up, we stopped and grabbed lunch at R.B.'s, which was recommended to us. I got a crab cake sandwich (again!), and it was great. When we returned to the hotel, we immediately headed to the pool. It was sweltering hot, and we enjoyed catching up and lounging around. MJ's boyfriend headed to meet us after he got off work, so we enjoyed a few hours of pool time with him as well.

There was a nighttime cocktail reception for RA's group, so we tagged along for that. There were delicious little appetizers, including chicken tenders, crab cakes and cheese cubes. After the cocktail reception wrapped up, the four of us headed to the poolside restaurant to sit and eat an official dinner. I ordered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I don't care if it's child-like!), and it was incredible! After we finished eating dinner and listening to some live music, we headed back to our room to play some cards. It was a fun-filled day. I sure wish MJ and JA lived closer!

We headed back to town on Sunday morning. One would think I wouldn't have an appetite after all of that eating, but we stopped and got Mexican food on the way home. It hit the spot! The drive home was easy and accident-free. I really loved Charleston and Isle of Palms, and I would love to go back at some point. What a great trip!