jmac + kmac: Summer trip {Day 2}: Charleston!

On our second day in Charleston, we woke up bright and early to explore the city. We heard that the open-air carriage tour was the perfect way to see the quaint streets downtown, so that was first on our list!

We piled in, and set off on our horse-drawn carriage for a fun little tour, and we loved it! The tour guide told us all sorts of spooooooky stories about haunted buildings in Charleston, told us some awesome bits of history about the city, and gave us a heads up as to how much houses in the area are selling for these days (!!!!! a lot. Holy cow.). Though there are a TON of walking tours that go all over Charleston, I'm really glad we picked a riding tour. Because guys, it was HOT. And my boys' cute chubby legs just wouldn't have made it if they had to walk. They loooooved the "horsies" too!

^^I was dying over the quaint (but PRICEY) homes. So darling!^^

^^Someone wanted to fall asleep...^^

On the carriage tour, they mentioned this cute little grocery/ candy store that had been around for ages, called Burbage's. They said that Burbage's sold groceries...but they also sold the best pulled pork sandwiches around!

Um, hi.

I was all over that one. As soon as we hopped off the tour, we high-tailed it over to that place to get ourselves some pulled pork!! And wow, was it good.

^^drooling.^^

^^found this hottie by the old jail. RAWR.^^

After lunch, we drove to the harbor and hopped on a boat tour! And guys. Let's just talk about how this was not the smartest moment of our trip...like at all. Number one, our children were hot and sweaty, and had just done a tour. Number two, IT WAS NAP TIME. Number three, we basically decided to throw our children into a confined space on the water for an hour and a half with complete strangers. And did I mention it was nap time? Just checking.

So yeah. I mean, the harbor tour had it's good moments too, and Boston actually really loved it. He especially loved Fort Sumter. He kept saying, "Hey mom, army guys lib there?" He thought it was awesome! Also, he was convinced he was a pirate the entire time we were on the boat. Which was basically the cutest thing of my life. So that alone made it worth it!!

Next time, though, I think we'll try and keep it to one scheduled tour a day... and try to avoid nap time. Haha!

^^And THIS PHOTO. This photo also made the whole ordeal worth it. I mean, heart-melter!^^

^^"Hey mom! Dis is my pirate pose. It's pretty awesome."^^

^^Fort Sumter^^

^^Chubby sailor number one^^

^^Chubby sailor number two^^

^^"Daddy, I see you!"^^

After the boat tour, we dragged our beyond-tired, sweaty babies to the car, and they crashed immediately. Car naps are a blessed thing! At that moment, Jordan turned to me and said the words every girl dreams of hearing...

"Hey babe, let's go find The Notebook house!"

Ummmmm, OKAY! Twist my arm! Haha. So we found the address to the house from the Notebook on some random fan (more like stalker) website, and we were off. And let me tell you what... it was not easy to find. It was out in the backwoods BOONIES of South Carolina, on a dusty dirt road, through the thickest green trees you have ever seen. But we found it!!

Even though the movie studio once owned the house, someone bought it and lives in it... so I was certain that I was going to get shot when I hopped the fence to snap a selfie. But man...WHAT A RUSH! Seeing that bad boy in person! I've never felt so aliiiiiive!

Jord earned one thousand points for taking me out there, for sure.

^^I'm telling you...the drive out there was in-SANE!^^

^^HERE SHE IS! Noah & Allie's house, in all its glory. (I had to really brighten it up so you could see it...but you get the idea)^^

^^I was so stinking excited. I was freaking out inside!^^

What an awesome moment. So much fun. On our drive back into civilization (but seriously), we grabbed our suits at the hotel and headed to eat at the beach! We ate at a little place right off the ocean called Rita's, and it was so cute. We ate outside with live music playing, the ocean breeze blowing our hair, and our kids running around all over the place destroying things (as usual).

I ordered like a complete man, and loved every bite. A salad just wasn't going to cut it, you know? So I opted for hot wings & a giant bucket of cheese fries, obviously. Uh, YUM.

Then we hit the beach! The sun was setting, the water was warm, and it was just perfection.

^^This man. I cannot believe I somehow convinced him to marry me. He is THE BEST.^^

^^Sand-squatter^^

^^I love this little sand baby!!^^

^^Some random guy built this sand castle and then yelled to us, "Hey! Come let your boys destroy my castle!" and then proceeded to drink five beers. It was awesome. Thank you, random stranger!^^

^^just eating sand for the fifteenth time. So delish.^^

^^He took his shell-collecting duties very seriously.^^

^^bliss.^^

(I KNOW I KNOW! This is like the longest blog post you have ever read in your life and you're going "Okaaaayyyy.... wrap it up. But hang with me!! We are almost there. I swear!)

The next morning, we packed up and got ready to head to Savannah, Georgia! But before we could hit the road, I forced my family to take photos by the boats in the marina. Because I'm a jerk like that. "Oh, great honey! You've got everything packed and ready to go? Perfect! Now lets de-rail all of our plans and drag our sweaty kids down to the marina for picture time." (Jord is such a good sport for putting up with my crazy antics!)

^^"I see the SISHEES, Mom!"^^

We made one final stop at White Point Garden before heading out of town, so that we could look at the gorgeous surroundings and get some wiggles out...but mostly so Boston could play some catch with his dad. That boy loves his baseball!

The park sits right on the water, so the view was just beautiful. I was dying at some of the nearby gigantic homes!