travelogue: charleston, south carolina - part 2

Today I wanted to spotlight some of the fun places we visited on our trip to Charleston. The first place we went to see in the city was the South Carolina Aquarium - I'm a life science nerd at heart, and after some online research, it was first on my list of must-see attractions. I was especially excited about the new Madagascar exhibit which included one of my favorite animals - lemurs! Mr. Q and I may have been one of few childless couples at the aquarium, but I have to say I think we enjoyed it as much as any of the kids.

The South Carolina Aquarium is organized by ecosystems, beginning with those close to home for visitors from the Carolinas (and to we Virginians), the Mountain Forest and the Piedmont. The SC Aquarium isn't limited to fish or even just to aquatic creatures - in addition to the aforementioned lemurs, the Mountain Forest exhibit included a Bald Eagle rescued from Florida and river otters (who swam way too fast for me to get a picture!). The next exhibit, the Coastal Plain, featured a huge albino alligator and poisonous snakes.

One of the SC Aquarium's cool features is that many of the exhibits, like the woodland stream and Saltmarsh Aviary, include open tanks so that you can really see the animals from every angle. You can feed a manta ray while also watching birds and turtles.

The Coastal exhibit upstairs featured large tanks with beautiful animals including slightly-creepy lionfish, eels, sharks, and sea turtles. The two-story Ocean tank was probably my favorite exhibit because it included a 220-pound loggerhead sea turtle! Downstairs, there were tanks of jellyfish and animals that live at the bottom of the ocean.  In addition to the impressive tanks, the SC Aquarium offers two touch tanks - upstairs, there's an invertebrate tank with hermit crabs, anemones, and horseshoe crabs native to Carolina tidal pools. Downstairs on the terrace, there's a new exhibit called Shark Shallows that we were really excited about because it's a touch tank with stingrays, cownose rays, and little bonnethead sharks! It requires patience - especially when little kids are splashing in the water or trying to poke the sharks - but eventually we got to pet stingrays (slimy) and a shark (rubbery)!

Since the temperature was going to be under 90 on Saturday, our second full day in Charleston, we decided to make that our beach day. Each of the beaches around the city is said to have its own personality, and I was really interested in checking out Folly Beach, which has a reputation as the "bohemian" beach. On the drive toward Folly, it became clear that we weren't the only ones who thought a beach day was a good idea, and the parking lots around the pier and main strip at the beach were crowded and expensive. We drove away from the pier to find a metered space that wasn't too bad and staked our claim on a stretch of shore. There was plenty of people-watching at Folly Beach, from surfers to cute kiddos, but it was so windy that the ocean was almost too rough to swim. After fighting with the waves for a couple of hours, we decided to get a bite to eat, and since parking was so limited on Folly Beach we headed inland away from the touristy strip (although I'd love to check it out again during the off-season or on a weekday!)

Is it tacky to write about seafood in the same post as an aquarium review? I'm going to say no because the SC Aquarium actually works to educate the public about sustainable eating. We stopped at Roadside Seafood on Folly Road in John's Island, which is a non-touristy area right between the beach and the city. It's a cute, clean diner specializing in fried seafood which was exactly what we wanted. I decided to try she-crab soup since it is such a Charleston culinary staple, and was really impressed by how good Roadside's version was! I also got the crab bites, which are like crab cake hush puppies served with remoulade. Mr. Q got the black fin shark bites with BAM sauce. The service was fast, our waitress was friendly, and we felt like locals.

For my shopping outfit, I paired my favorite LOFT geo print henley 

shell (similar) with a handmade arrow and feather charm necklace, basic khaki shorts, my Old Navy bucket bag (similar) and BareTraps sandals (similar). 

I love having a mix and match wardrobe when traveling.

The low point of our Folly Beach adventure was the ocean stealing Mr. Q's sunglasses, but we decided to make lemonade with a trip to Tanger Outlets, which is probably the prettiest mall I've ever seen. I'm always happy with a shopping trip, especially when it includes stops at LOFT and J. Crew outlets and frozen yogurt afterward!

Linking Up With:

Style Sessions at Style Elixir

Manic Monday at More Pieces of Me and The Daily Express

Let It Shine at Still Being Molly
Mix it Mondays with Fizz and Frosting

Passion 4 Fashion at Rachel the Hat

travelogue: charleston, south carolina - part 1

When planning our vacation this summer, Mr. Q and I had several criteria: we wanted to visit a city we hadn't been to together before, I wanted to enjoy time at the beach, and Mr. Q needed it to be within a half day's drive. Charleston, South Carolina was the perfect spot to meet all of our criteria, and after reading several online travel guides (this one from Cosmos Mariners was probably the most helpful) and becoming a TripAdvisor addict, I couldn't wait for our trip to begin. Even though we live in the South, there's a huge cultural difference between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Lowcountry!

We opted to stay in the town of Mount Pleasant, which is just over the beautiful Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge from Charleston - and by staying out of the city we saved about $100 per night! Mount Pleasant is a suburban area with plenty of grocery stores and restaurants, and it's right between Charleston and Sullivan's Island.

On our first full day in Charleston, we decided to explore the city. After a visit to the South Carolina Aquarium (more on that destination next week!), we headed down Calhoun Street to pay our respects at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church, which was the site of the tragic shooting last month. There were many church groups visiting as well as individuals and families leaving flowers (both real and woven from sweetgrass, a Gullah tradition) and signing the banner and wooden sign in front of the church. We had already begun planning our trip when the shooting occurred, and it was important to us to show the church some love while we were in Charleston.

We reached the historic Charleston City Market and walked through the many shops and kiosks that line the halls in the main building and several brick outbuildings, with vendors selling everything from pottery and sweetgrass baskets to Vera Bradley purses and Stetson hats. The market was much less crowded than, say, the Pike Place Market in Seattle, but much busier than our farmer's market stalls in Roanoke!

After lunch at a health-food and smoothie bar called Whisk, we kept walking south to the Four Corners of Law at the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets, so named because the buildings on each corner represent federal, state, local and ecclesiastical law. Behind the Charleston County Courthouse is a beautiful garden that we had to check out!

The walk down Meeting Street from the City Market to the Battery and White Point Gardens took us into the French Quarter neighborhood and past some of the most beautiful Georgian buildings I've ever seen, dating back to the Colonial period and many painted bright candy colors.

In the French Quarter, many of the houses don't face the street! Instead, they face beautiful gardens and the porches have doors onto the street. We learned that this style of home is known as a "single house" because they are one room wide, and that when families left their porch door open it meant they were ready to welcome visitors.

We reached the Battery and White Point Gardens, and spent some much-needed time relaxing on a park bench beside a Union Army cannon and looking out into Charleston Harbor, where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers empty into the Atlantic Ocean. We could see Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney in the distance and watched some folks who were having a sailboat race.

Walking back along the waterfront on East Bay Street, we passed The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon and the most photographed buildings in Charleston, Rainbow Row.

It's a good thing Mr. Q enjoys photography because I demanded an outfit 

picture in front of this fountain! I paired my Papermoon blouse from Stitchfix 

with khaki shorts, my Old Navy bucket bag (similar) and BareTraps sandals 

(similar) and it was the perfect travel outfit for the hot, humid day.

Our final stop on our tour of Charleston was the Waterfront Park, which is beautifully landscaped with plenty of palmetto trees and includes two fountains - one for kids to play in and this lovely pineapple! We found a swing to relax in while we watched stormclouds roll over the harbor. We had definitely fallen in love with the Holy City and were already planning our next visit.

Linking Up With:

Manic Monday at More Pieces of Me

Passion 4 Fashion at Rachel the Hat
Let It Shine at Still Being Molly
Mix it Mondays with Fizz and Frosting

Style Sessions at Style Elixir
Weekend Snapshots at Her Heartland Soul

Fall Color: Olive and Pumpkin

Autumn seemed very late in coming this year - up until this week, my students were still wearing shorts and flip-flops to class (either it was still warm outside or middle school is the new college).  Then, all of a sudden  - the trees started to slowly change to red, chrysanthemums started to bud, and the first frost hit yesterday night.  It's finally here, and fall color finally seems appropriate in all its cozy, warm familiarity.

View this set on Polyvore

Look #1: Old Navy khaki scarf, LC Lauren Conrad lace sweater from Kohl's, H&M boyfriend jeans, Herschel toiletries case from Zappos

Look #2: Tinley Road stud earrings from Piperlime, Sonoma chambray shirt from Kohl's, Banana Republic hobo-style handbag, LOFT skinny cords, Banana Republic bow ballet flats

Look #3: Mango polka dot sweater from John Lewis, J. Crew chinos, Mossimo ballet flats from Target (similar from Body Central)