Vacation in Charleston

We had a nice little vacation in Charleston, South Carolina last weekend with no kids. They stayed with the grandparents while we spend four days seeing the sites, going to the beach, and so forth. Man, it was relaxing! We were happy to see the kids when we got home, but it was a nice break.

We had a chance to go surfing a couple of times at Folly Beach, and we didn't realize how many surfers there were. It's quite the little local surf spot, apparently. The waves were small, but we had a blast. They were big enough to catch, and reminded us of Florida; how we miss having the beach so close!

We checked out a WWII era aircraft carrier, took a carriage ride, visited Fort Sumter and things like that. Charleston is an old city, and so we wanted to see all the old homes and buildings. We took another walking ghost tour, which has sort of become a tradition when we visit historical cities.

Smoky Mountains

We went camping with Cassandra and Nathaniel together for the first time. Craig came up as well and we "hiked" (on a paved trail) to the top of Clingmans Dome, which is in the Smoky Mountain National Park along the Tennessee/North Carolina border. The Appalachian Trail joins up with the paved trail we were on for a few feet before it breaks off in another direction. At the campground we let the kids play in a nearby creek and roasted marshmallows and made smores over the campfire. It was a nice little get-a-way, although we'll have to try it without Cassandra next time. She's a little too young still because she cried for our attention too often, which made it a little difficult at times.

Dollywood

Dolly Parton has a theme park called Dollywood located here in East Tennessee. So, we got season passes and took the kids a couple of weeks ago. Cassandra loved playing under the mist fans, and she really like the train ride. Nathaniel loved the little roller coaster and a ride that drops you real fast. They were both beat at the end of the day.