road trip part 2 - Charleston

 We arrived in Charleston with much anticipation. Wars, beauty, and grandeur make up this enticing, harbour front city. After walking around for a bit, we learned that this city is not appreciated by children. Pointing out beautiful gardens, and cast iron gates just didn't "do it" for little people. We needed a plan. As we stood at a stop sign and tried to figure things out, two teachers from our school came walking down the road - one of them being Liam's teacher! They had been busy touring Charleston and suggested that we go for a horse and buggy tour. That spurred us on and off we went in search of a tour. We didn't need to look far, because Charleston is full of horse and buggy tours and for a good reason. Going on a tour is worth EVERY cent! Riding down the old cobble roads behind a horse and buggy...amazing! The tour guide pointed out things that you would never find in a tour book. 

We spent the night in a cute, nautical Inn just outside of Charleston called, "Shem Creek"  a lovely name for a really neat little town.

We spent a full day touring the USS. Yorktown Aircraft Carrier, a destroyer, and a submarine. The boys loved it and found it all very exciting.

The chocolate chip cookie recipe is hard to read, but it gives the ingredients for a 10,000 cookie batch! The poor cooks!

The navy personnel slept in small cots stacked three high. These men had little room or privacy.

Touring the submarine was even more shocking. Long and narrow, moving from room to room required flexibility. The submarine was dark and stuffy and we were not sure how those men lived in a submarine for months at a time without going crazy.

Leaving Charleston, we headed to the mechanics to pick up our sprinter which was fixed while we were in Hilton Head. We sure missed the space of the sprinter while we rented the mini van for a week. When the sprinter broke down on the way to Hilton Head we had to transfer everything into the mini van and the only way that worked was to put the boys in the van and then load up all of our belongings around them and in some cases on them. I had packed lightly for the trip but I had not packed efficiently thinking that I had more than enough space. By the time we were done loading up the mini van, we could only see the boys' eyes! 

Leaving for Home!

Tips and Tidbits:
*Old Navy had a sale and I bought matching bright t-shirts and a sweater for each boy. This was a great help especially when you had to do a fast head count which happen A LOT.
*As Adam was packing, he purposefully threw in matching t-shirts too. He knew what I did not know- he could of been a tour guide. He was a man in motion, exploring and teaching the boys (and whoever else happened to be listening) history lessons. There were times when I included him in the head count too!
*Adam had booked our hotel stays on PriceLine where you place a bid for your night. Our stays included breakfasts, and by the time we were done eating, we were not sure if the hotel made any money off of our family!
*The best days were days when we had a plan. We had to be flexible with a baby, but when the boys knew what was happening, the day seemed to run smoother.
*We were thankful to God for the opportunity to spend time together as a family.