Weather

Three more days to go before our trip to Arizona.  The weather forecast looks great so far!

Arizona for the holidays

Our next trip is right around the corner.  Brian and I will be visiting family in Arizona for the holidays.  My parents and my sister and brother-in-law live in Phoenix and Brian's brother, his girlfriend and our soon-to-be-born niece live in Yuma.  So, from December 23, 2011 to January 1, 2012, we will be in ...

Cruise Booked!

It's official!!!  Brian and I are booked on Emerald Princess on May 23, 2012 for:

11 days Scandinavia & Russia Roundtrip From Copenhagen

Our ports include:

Oslo, Norway
Aarhus, Denmark
Warnemunde, Germany
Tallinn, Estonia
St. Petersburg, Russia (overnight)
Helsinki, Finland
Stockholm, Sweden

I am so excited!!!!

Road Trip from Chicago to Charleston - Day 5 - 9/11/11

Boone Hall Plantation

We had to leave to drive home on the last day so we went to Boone Hall Plantation before we left.  This place is famous for the Avenue of the Oaks.

Several movies have been filmed here, most recently, The Notebook

We enjoyed a nice day taking a tour of the home and grounds before getting back in the van and heading home to Chicago.

Road Trip from Chicago to Charleston - Day 4 - 9/10/11

Relaxed afternoon followed by Ghost Tour

On Saturday, we spent the day separately boys and girls.  Dave and Brian went golfing while Kim and I did some shopping and took a carriage ride tour of the city.  We went to Charleston Crab House for dinner and Brian got quite the meal ...

After dinner, we did a Ghost & Graveyard Tour that actuallt took you inside a locked graveyard after dark.  I caught some orbs on camera ... can you see them?



Road Trip from Chicago to Charleston - Day 3 - 9/9/11

Fort Sumter

We took our friends to see Fort Sumter, followed by a day at Folly Beach.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at the beach ...

We went to dinner at Poogan's Porch that night and went to the Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn for drinks.  We had a fabulous time and the weather was just perfect.





Road Trip from Chicago to Charleston - Day 2 - 9/8/11

MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

My 29th birthday started with the end of the road trip at the Irvin House Vineyards and Firefly Distillery on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina.  The place is very off-the-beaten-track and the power was out when we arrived but it was a highlight of the trip for all of us.

The vodka tasting was only $6 for 6 tastes and they have a wide variety to taste.

Dave, Kim, me and Brian enjoying ourselves in the tasting room ...

Then, next door to taste some Mescadine wine ...

I have to say, the wine is not really my flavor, but since there are only a limited number of grapes that can grow in that climate, the wine was interesting to taste.

We followed up our visit to the vineyard with a few of my Charleston favorites.  We checked into King Charles Inn, had some drinks, and went to dinner at Slightly North of Broad (SNOB) before taking a walk down to the Battery.



Road Trip from Chicago to Charleston - Day 1 - 9/7/11

The Road trip begins

We set out from Chicago at about 7:00 in the evening.  

We hit some traffic along the way...

By dawn, we were coming out of the mountains

And we stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel where my friend Kim and I played a little dress up



Honeymoon - Day 9 - 6/1/11

Magnolia Plantation

Our last fullday in Charleston.  Sad face!  We decided to take a tour by Adventure Sightseeing to Magnolia Plantation.  We had a fun tour guide named Earl who drove the bus and gave us a quick tour of the gardens.  The gardens are so beautiful there.

This was taken at a bridge in the gardens.  Again, just so beautiful.  A few pictures of the grounds:

We then had a nature tour on a tram.  We got to see some great wildlife including this alligator:

We also had a tour of the house but no photography was allowed.

When we retunred to Charleston it was time for lunch!  We went to The Noisy Oyster and had some of the best She Crab soup.  I also had a Shrimp Po Boy that was just delicious.

From there, we walked down Market Street and saw this sign:

Okay, I love most wines and will always try something new.  I would not recommend this wine to anyone.  South Carolina may be first in my heart for many things, but wine is not one of them.

We tried to go to the Old Powder Magazine, but it had just closed.  Hopefully I can go there next time and have more info.

We did make it to the Old Exchange and Provost.  This was worth the low price of admission.  The building dates back to pre-Revolutionary War days and they hosted President Washington there in this room:

The basement was used as a prison pr Patriots during the Revolutionary War.

This is what Brian and I look like in prison:

Scary, huh?

We then found the greatest craft beer store I have ever been in:

And a place we bought lots of Firefly:



After buying a handle of it, I had to stop at a bar and get a glass or the Sweet Tea Vodka.  So yum:

We then enjoyed watching some boats sail in the harbor before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

We went to Slightly North of Broad (SNOB) on our last night.  It was one of the best meals (they were all incredible)

Thus ended our honeymoon.  We woke up early the next morning to catch a flight back to Chicago.

Honeymoon - Day 8 - 5/31/11

Fort Sumter

We got up early and walked to the ferry boat for Fort Sumter.  The walk was a little longer than we thought and it was HUMID out.  Luckily, the welcome center was air conditioned.  We didn't ahve to wait long for the boat.

If you visit Charleston, Fort Sumter is a must.  They've done a good job preserving it and it gives an interesting perspective to a very important time in American history.  I am a history buff and I was luck enough to marry someone who loves it, too.

A few pictures of Fort Sumter:

We had so many pictures, it's hard to pick just a few.



After we returned to the peninsula, we walked back to a resturant on the water called Fleet Landing.  The food was amazing and its a very casual atmosphere.  It was a Tuesday afternoon but it was packed.  Great Shrimp & Grits!

From there we walked to the Battery, Rainbow Row and the Gardens.  Charleston is just such a beautiful old city.  So much to marvel at.



We also stopped at a place called Kaminsky's for a sweet treat in the middle of the day.  This place has fresh desserts every day and lots of great drinks.

We went to Poogan's Porch for dinner.  This place is supposedly haunted but we had no encounters, just great food.  I can't believe how good the food in Charleston is!

We ended our evening at Waterfront Park on the pier.  A romantic place after dark.