Kiawah Island

Always a fan of "experience gifts", we took Rob's parents to Kiawah Island this weekend to celebrate my father in law's birthday.  Kiawah Island is a little over an hour and a half drive from Beaufort (also roughly the same from Charleston!) and an easy drive for a day or weekend trip.  The drive itself is almost magical - tree tunneled streets, gorgeous mansion homes, and local fruit stands dot the sides of the two lane road to Kiawah.



While the drive is gorgeous, Kiawah Island does not disappoint either.  It feels a bit like a hidden island, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the real world.  The four of us had brunch on the patio of the the Ryder Cup Bar at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort, overlooking both the 18th hole of the Ocean Course and the ocean itself.  Between the sea breeze and the views, I can't imagine a better location for breakfast in all of Kiawah!  It's no surprise that the PGA championship will be held at this location in 2021.  After brunch, we explored the grounds and clubhouse before heading over to The Sanctuary hotel for more wandering and exploring.


On our way out of town, we had to make a quick stop at the Angel Oak on John's Island.  Said to be at least 500+ years old, this gigantic southern live oak is quite a sight to take in.  Although it was a bit more tourist-y than I pictured in my head (lots of visitors!), it is definitely something you have to see in person.

I say this constantly but South Carolina never ceases to leave me in awe.  This gorgeous state has so much beauty to offer and I feel so lucky to soak it all in.

Spring Break

While my mom and sister were nice enough to come visit last year in Mississippi (and claim they had a great time!), it's a lot more fun to have visitors when you live somewhere with lots to do.  Our house in Pensacola had a constant influx of visitors and I think (hope!) our Beaufort home will be the same.  We kicked off our visitor season with my mom and Syd coming down for Sydney's spring break.






Sunday was the only day we could be sure that Rob would be able to join us so we woke up early and headed to Savannah.  I made reservations at Lady and Son's, Paula Deen's restaurant, and it did not disappoint.  If the goal was to stuff them full of Southern cooking, this buffet was a necessary first stop!


We spent Monday exploring Beaufort.  We had lunch at my favorite spot, Low Country Produce, and then did some shopping on Bay Street.  Sweet tea floats (with homemade peach sorbet!) from Scout were an afternoon necessity, of course.  Later that night, we met Rob downtown for wood-fire pizzas at Panini's on the Bay.




We completed lucked out in terms of weather for the entire week.  Temperatures were in the mid to high 70s and it was sunny almost every day.  While I am spoiled living down here, I knew that they would definitely want t get some sun while in South Carolina.  We spent Tuesday at the beach at Hunting Island and Thursday at the beach in Hilton Head.  Totally different beaches but both great days.


On Wednesday, we took a quick trip to Charleston.  Our day started by meeting Rob's mom at Hominy grill for a table filled with "Charleston Nastys".  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Battery and on King Street.  Of course, both Callie's Hot Little Biscuits AND Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream were necessary treats!



The rest of the trip was low key and spent by the pool, roasting s'mores in the neighborhood, buying large amounts of moonshine for them to take home or eating a ridiculous amount of Bruster's ice cream!  It was so nice to have them in town for the week and to show them some of our favorite spots!

LDW in Charleston, SC

What are the chances that we would plan our second trip to visit Rob's parents in Charleston exactly one year from the last time we visited them there?!   I'm convinced a trip to Charleston is never a bad idea, although I much prefer flying!  This year because leave wasn't approved until the last minute and Rob was scheduled on Friday, we made the nine hour drive to Charleston.  While it was worth the trip, let's just say I don't plan on doing that again for a LONG time!

We got into Charleston past midnight Friday night so we said our hellos and went straight to bed.  Saturday we woke up and headed to brunch at Page's Okra Grill.  The weather all weekend was gorgeous so sitting outside with a carafe of mimosas sounded just perfect.  We did a little shopping and touring before heading home to watch college football.  Saturday night we did happy hour at Vendue's rooftop bar (hard to believe our first time here was when we were moving to Pensacola!) and then dinner on King Street at Magnolia.



Sunday we rode to brunch in Rob's parents' golf cart right on Daniel Island at Honeybee Cafe.  We did a golf cart tour of Daniel Island and then headed to Holy City Brewery for an afternoon drink.  For dinner, we ate at FishHouse which was an awesome restaurant at Patriot's Point that overlooked the USS Yorktown.

Monday came way too fast and we had another nine hour drive ahead of us.  Luckily, we left early in the morning to give ourselves time to stop.  We made a pitstop at Panera in Augusta, lunch and Trader Joe's in Atlanta, and Whole Foods in Birmingham.  These stops made the trip much more manageable!

Labor Day Weekend in Charleston

Is it acceptable to do a weekend recap on a Friday?!  We spent our extended Labor Day weekend in the Holy City and spent the majority of our time eating our way through the town.  Rob's parents are relocating to Charleston for the next couple months (maybe permanently!) and are currently renting out a beach house in Isle of Palms.  Always up for a getaway, we crossed our fingers that we could squeeze in a trip.  Erin was already planning to go for Labor Day so we were thrilled when the timing between moves worked out perfectly for us to join.


We flew into Charleston on Friday and settled in.  We walked around downtown and had dinner at Low Country Bistro.   Saturday was spent soaking in every minute of the return of college football.  We had a little tailgate complete with Cane's and watched the UVA game (for everyone else) then Hokies play (for me!).  I am so excited football is back and was pumped to see a VT win!  We had drinks at Bay Street Biergarten to catch the end of the Clemson-Georgia game.  We just couldn't get enough football!



Sunday, we relaxed at the beach all day and grabbed a late lunch at Poe's Tavern in Sullivan's Island.  Although there was quite a wait, the Black Cat burger (topped with chili and pimento cheese) made it worth every second of the wait!  Everyday we tried to squeeze in a PiYo workout to even out the amount of cheese grits consumed.  It was fun getting everyone involved in our workout routine!



We had brunch at Poogan's Porch on Monday which lived up to its rave reviews.  The fried pimento cheese was unbelievably delicious!  Afterwards, we took a harbor cruise to see Ft. Sumter, USS Yorktown, the gorgeous mansions in the battery, and a ton of dolphins.  It was a great balance of fun and information for me.  (I am not a huge history buff and have a short attention span when it comes to museums)  Afterwards, we drove around looking at houses and then grabbed margaritas and tacos at Taco Mamacitas.



Brunch on Tuesday was probably my favorite meal of the entire trip: a Big Nasty/Charleston Nasty from Hominy Grill.  Oh my gosh that sausage gravy was to die for!  For any Bravo fans, Whitney from Southern Charm was eating in Hominy Grill at the same time.  Of course, we had to snap a sneaky (err...creepy) picture!


We had a great trip and I'm glad we were able to spend time with them before our move.