Water Festival

I have heard about Water Festival ever since moving to Beaufort and I can officially say it lived up to the hype!  Water Festival is a week-long event, held each year in July and has been a lowcountry tradition since 1956.  It is THE event of the summer in Beaufort.  Between concerts and parades, fireworks and races, there is truly something for everyone, and more than anyone can possibly do in a week.





During the days, the place to be is on the water.  Thousands of boats are out on the river or anchored on the sandbar .  I have never seen anything like the sandbar parties in Beaufort - one day there was even an impromptu concert on the sandbar!  In the evenings, the festivities occur on the waterfront downtown.  We kicked off our first WaterFest with a LoCash + Canaan Smith country concert on Saturday night.  It was a blast!  The festivities continued throughout the week, with a live band featuring a different style of music each night.  We sat out on the porch of Panini's on Tuesday night and enjoyed wood-fired pizzas while listening to the awesome 80's band that opened for the Beatles Tribute band.  Live music and cold drinks on the water make it easy to feel like you are on vacation!  Finally, we finished the week out at the 80s + 90s cover band concert at Friday night's River Dance.

Sandbar concert photo courtesy of ESPB

It was such a fun week and run extremely well.  The weather turned out beautiful (for South Carolina!) all week and I can't even complain about the price of drinks -- $3 tall boy ciders/beers inside of a concert?!  Beaufort - you are wonderful :)

Boating in Charleston

By land or by water, Charleston never ceases to impress.  This gorgeous Sunday we spent the morning out on the boat in the Charleston harbor with Rob's parents.  We cruised in awe of the mansions in the Battery, had brunch on Isle of Palms, and enjoyed the gorgeous weather along with a few dolphin sightings.

4th of July

4th of July might be one of my absolute favorite holidays.  It's no secret that I am a big fan of America and everything patriotic...so adding in sunshine, cookouts, and fireworks just makes it even better.  Rob had a 96 this holiday weekend (four day weekend) so we made sure to fill it up with all things "American"!


On Saturday after our usual trip to the Port Royal farmers market, we headed up to Charleston to watch the Riverdogs take on the Augusta Greenjackets.  Although the Blue Wahoos have the number one spot in my heart, I am sucker for all minor league baseball and this was no exception.  The team might have lost but the food was definitely a win.  Although it was tough to narrow down the options, we tried the shrimp and grits corndog dipped and fried in hush puppy batter, chicken and waffles, buffalo chicken sweet potato fries, and the deep fried pecan pie cheesecake on a stick.  When in the South on the 4th of July, eat all things deep fried right?! ;)  Luckily the baseball stadium is located right beside the Citadel so we were able to walk off some of that delicious food and check out the campus.





Brunch is clearly an American necessity so Sunday morning we headed to The Americano.  A Miami inspired restaurant located in Mount Pleasant, this place is an instagram dream.  I could not get enough of the bright colors, the huge palm leaves, and the succulent wall.  I had the chili infused plantain french toast and it was super unique.  I am looking forward to coming back to grab drinks for Happy Hour as they have an awesome drink menu.



Anytime we make the drive between Beaufort and Charleston, a stop at Carolina Cider Company is a necessity.  Do you know that their pecan pie was voted the BEST pecan pie in the entire state of South Carolina?!  That is saying something!  A pecan pie square and a peach cider from here make the perfect summer roadtrip snacks.





We kicked off the actual 4th with a parade in our neighborhood.  Nothing says small town America like a golf cart parade led by our neighborhood fire truck!  After the parade, we headed to the pool for the afternoon before washing up for the cookout.  We started the night at our neighborhood cookout back at the pool.  Responsible for a side dish, I brought red, white, and blue pasta salad.  10 Market, an awesome restaurant right in Habersham, cooked the BBQ and the neighbors provided every possible delicious side.  (Trust me, I tried as many as I could fit on my plate!)  After dinner, we headed to our friends' cookout in a nearby neighborhood for dessert and fireworks on their dock.

Currently in Beaufort

The other day I stumbled across an Instagram caption that talked about how their days had recently been filled with things that didn't really matter to other people but mattered to them and I thought YES, that's exactly how our life has been recently.  We haven't been taking any big trips, we haven't been eating at any fancy restaurants, but our days have been filled with little moments, doing things that matter to us.  Doesn't make for exciting posts but does make for a full life!


Doing:  Last weekend, we rented a boat from base and spent the entire weekend out on the water.  It was perfect!  Sunshine and being near the water are crucial to my sanity ;)

Reading:  Recently finished The Girl on the Train (super late to that one!) and Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline and just started Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes.

Eating:  We spent the end of May and most of June completing the Whole30 (100%, did it!  So proud!) but since then it has been a breakfast sandwiches from the farmer's market and waffles cones of chocolate raspberry truffle.  Balance, right? ;)

Drinking:  Honey Lavender iced coffees from a new little coffee shop in Port Royal, Pluff Mudd.

Listening: To this and this and this on repeat!

Writing: In my new planner which FINALLY started this week!

Socializing:  This month's squadron coffee was a fun one.  The ladies planned a two hour sunset boat tour on the Prince of Tides.  We loaded up the boat with wine and snacks and had the absolute perfect weather for the evening.  I brought these cheesecake stuffed strawberries (but chocolate cheesecake and dipped in dark chocolate) and they were a hit.

Watching:  The season finale of The Office, again.  Rob and I started The Office over from episode one when we moved to Beaufort.  It has been so fun to watch an episode or two every couple of nights and rewatching some of our favorite moments.  Turns out, knowing what is going to be happen doesn't make the finale any less emotional - I cried like a baby...again.  (If you really want a good cry, check out the cast read the final episode for the first time...it's too much for my heart to handle!)

Prioritizing: Real life > Facebook.  Deleting FB from my phone has been (as always for me!) the best decision.  (Still love instagram though!)

Celebrating:  The last hurrah of the Spaghetti Club.  One of the restaurants in our neighborhood closed down (and is being replaced by an awesome Indian restaurant in a few weeks) so of course we had to eat, drink, and dance there one last time.  They had an awesome band and a buffet/open bar for the final celebration and being able to walk just a few steps home made the night even more fun.

Looking forward to: July!  I'm excited to spend the holiday weekend with good friends, good food, fireworks, baseball, and brunch.  We also have some fun things on the calendar for July so I'm excited to soak up South Carolina summer!