We went down to Charleston to celebrate my birthday (which is actually today). My husband is very thoughtful and invited some friends of ours to come along...
The McCartys...
...and the Tunmores...
...and us. :)
We headed down early on Saturday so that Tara and I could hit the outlets. Graem and Arch had very little interest in outlet shopping, so they entertained themselves by visiting Dick's Sporting Goods and a very large pawn shop!
After scoring some good deals, we headed downtown to browse the shops on King Street and the market. I was on a mission to find an Easter basket for Roper. I wanted one of similar size and design as Mason's. As expected, there was quite a selection!
Mission accomplished.
I'd say they are pretty similar!
We got together for a glass of champagne at the hotel courtyard (again, thanks to my hubs for planning ahead)...
...followed by a delectable dinner at Hanks. Graem and I started P90X last week, and Tara, Arch and Auralee are on the South Beach diet. I don't know about everyone else, but the food was so delicious that I didn't even miss having dessert!
The next morning, we headed over to our favorite breakfast spot. Graem had the foresight to make reservations, thank goodness -- look at the crowd!
We debated on whether to walk or drive, the sky was cloudy and rain was in the forecast. We decided to walk. I'm so glad we did! On our way back, I wanted to come down Queen Street so that we could look at all the flower boxes and peek into the quaint courtyards and cemeteries.
For some reason, I'm a stranger magnet. I feel like everywhere I go people always stop me and talk to me. I like to think it means that I'm approachable. :) Anyway, a sweet elderly lady stopped us on Queen Street and invited us to join her for worship at her church. She said she has been a member at her church since the early 80s when there were only 30 members. Now, they routinely have a packed service and often run out of bulletins. How could we resist her invitation?
The service was beautiful and the message was wonderful. One interesting thing is that some of Graem's ancestors were French Huguenots. They emigrated from France to the SC Coast in the early 1800s before later moving farther inland to Aiken County. I couldn't help but wonder if some of his ancestors had once worshiped in this church.
Our new friend was a wealth of information regarding our beloved Charleston. She gave us the full history on her church and on the Dock Street Theater, across the street from the church. According to her, the first theater in America was performed at this intersection. The Dock Street Theater just underwent $29 million in renovations.
She invited us for lunch after the service. I can't put into words how disappointed I was that we had to decline. By this time it was 11:30 and our hotel check out was at noon, so we really had to get back to pack up and check out.
We promised her that we'd come back to her church on our next trip to Charleston. Next time we will dress in our Sunday morning duds instead of jeans + t-shirts! Charleston is so beautiful...each time we leave I look forward to our next trip.
2 comments:
That sounds like one awesome trip. I hope you had a very happy birthday.
Stranger magnet would be the Nandaddy coming out in you...he never met one either! :) Happy Birthday!
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