WARNING: THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN A MILLION PICTURES, THAT REALLY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING BUT THE FACT THAT THE BLOGGER HAD A HAY DAY WHILE ON VACATION AND COULDN'T STOP.
Well, after weeks..... and weeks.... and weeks, of 14 hour-a-day hard labor, we decided it was high time we went on a vacation.
So we packed a cooler,
fixed the flats on our bikes
and took off in our cruiser, with a few cds and new book (for me to read while Justin drove - thanks honey - speaking of honey it was "The Secret Life of Bees", a gift from my friends Lauren and Karen, you should all pick up a copy) to Charleston South Carolina.
We have been wanting to see it for a while and are seriously running out of time, so we just did it! And let me just warn you now- we took 700 pictures, and I am not exaggerating, 700! Yikes! So, as you can imagine, it has taken me a while to narrow them down and I still have too many! But it is my blog, so if you don't want to look, its your choice!
Our first walk around town
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Its all in the details....
Even some modern architecture. 
Great romantic atmosphere...
Don't get your feet too wet!
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We saw some fun fountains.
Let's Eat
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Dining out was a fun time. The very first night we went to Hymans. YOU MUST GO TO HYMANS! I loved my meal so much that every meal thereafter, I was tempted to go back and have the same thing. After I had taken a few bites, I realized it had to be documented, for posterity's sake and so here it is -Shrimp and Grits like nothing else in the world:
(and also quite possibly the best hushpuppies in the world)
We also found a Bubba-Gump's Shrimp and like the tourists we are we went. It had a fun touristy atmosphere and the food was decent but I must admit I don't even really like this movie, although I do love the soundtrack! 
Southern Belles
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There are all sorts of beautiful Estates and plantations in Charleston. Although most if not all of the original plantations were destroyed during the civil war, there are some great survivors. We actually toured one huge garden/estate and about 5 houses.
My favorite was the Aiken-Rhett House. Although that may not be anyone else favorite and is a bit of a strange choice, because they decided to not actually update anything in the house. They have just left it in the condition they found it, so it is a mish-mash of styles and in several states of disrepair- but it is totally my kind of house. It reminds me of remodeling our first house and the fun things you find under layer after layer of junk! (But we weren't allowed to photograph any of the interiors of the houses so you will have to content yourself with the Middleton Garden)
Middleton Place
The Spanish moss is so beautiful. Although it is neither Spanish, nor moss so I always think that is funny, they should call it Southern Lace.
Yes, look at that HUGE spider. This is maybe the 5
th HUGE spider that I saw in a total of 10 minutes. In fact, upon entering the garden, literally no more than 5 feet in I saw a spider twice as big as this one with a body 2 inches long, and I am NOT exaggerating, I was creepy-crawly for about 30 minutes.
Justin captured this picture(below). I LOVE it! This couple is hilarious. I don't know what he said to her, but he's in the dog house for sure! I'm thinking chocolate might do the trick.
The owner of Middleton place did not build his home in the usual southern plantation style. When asked where his colonnade of pillars were, he planted this huge row Magnolias to fill the bill.
I feel like I look really old in this picture! Weird! Am I really an adult? I guess I shouldn't ask this question, I am sure my dad is saying no, you are not. (love you dad)
I love this picture, the colors are fabulous!
This is actually the only part of the house that remains, the main house was burned and the left hand flanking building as well. This is the right flank, or something like that.
Drayton Hall
We actually were allowed to take pictures in here. But I think I am only sharing one.
Catch a Wave
and You're sitting on top of the world
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We spent an afternoon on Folly Beach. I love the beach!
The Cooper River Bridge
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This was the bridge to the next little town where we stayed, Mt Pleasant.
Hey, it was cheaper and we got to do more stuff! We dream on a budget, but at least we dream!
Where the war began
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We went to Fort sumter on a ferry. It was an interesting trip and we got to learn a bit about the beginnings of the civil war.
This is me pointing out the UFO over Charleston.
This is the UFO.
Here it is again in case you think we somehow did something weird to get the image.
(okay, so actually it was a U.S. naval light that aligns with Fort Sumter for positioning from sea or something like that, I was hoping it was something cooler, and it was a bit strange to see such a bright light in the middle of the day....)
We shamelessly ripped off the idea for this picture from a friends blog! Thanks Kim and Corey! (We salute you!) for the great idea, although we may have to work on it to perfect it. Yours was much cooler!
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