This year my baby sister is turning 30. To celebrate her advancing years, mom, Hillary, and I took along weekend trip to Charleston, SC. It was very fitting for such an occasion, because we had a blast doing old people stuff... Touring old homes, gardens, plantations, and other historic things!

When we arrived on the first day, we found our resort, got settled in, and headed back out to find some fresh seafood. I am not a geography scholar, and I did not think about that Charleston is right on the coast... This was the first time have seen the Atlantic outside the Gulf of Mexico! The view and fried shrimp at RB's was fantastic!






The next day we decided to take a carriage tour to get acquainted with Charleston.



There were lines of carriages at the market waiting to take groups on tours of different parts of the historic district. The market was an open air flea market type place, with all kinds of good souvenirs.



Our tour guide was interesting, and we quickly learned that Charlestonians do not have porches... They have piazzas, and these piazzas were considered an extension of the home.



We admired piazzas all over the peninsula! Interesting to note... They would put the piazza on the south or west side of the home to shade the home's interior and to catch a cool breeze! (remember, these were built way before air conditioning!)

After our tour, we did lots of walking and window shopping. I'm telling you- our idea of a great vacation was probably one and the same as a Josh Duley nightmare! Walking all day long... Learning about the architecture of 150 year old homes... And window shopping! His torture... Our delight!

For dinner we ate on the patio of a restaurant located in an old home.



What was on the menu? For me, it was shrimp 'n grits! Yummy!