travelogue: charleston, south carolina - part 4 - sullivan's island

My #1 criteria for our vacation spot this summer was that it had to have a beach. I needed the ocean. One of the reasons Charleston was so appealing was because it was surrounded by beaches - there's Seabrook Island (private and serene), Kiawah Island (pristine and luxurious), Folly Beach (young and eclectic), Isle of Palms (family friendly), and Sullivan's Island. Since we stayed in Mount Pleasant, we were right between Charleston's historic downtown and Sullivan's Island, and we visited the beach almost every night of our stay in the Lowcountry. From our first drive through the pastel houses Mount Pleasant's historic district and out to the island, we were in love.

My travel outfit: Ann Taylor tank, handmade necklace with 

charms from Michael's, and olive shorts. Love this color combo!

This beautiful coastline was our first taste of Sullivan's Island after arriving in Charleston - quiet, serene perfection. The island is just 3.3 square miles with more homes and rentals than businesses - Middle Street just a few blocks, is home to quirky restaurants like Taco Mamacita (which we loved) and the famous Poe's Tavern (Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie during his time in the Army).

Sullivan's Island has a vibe that reminds me of the Outer Banks - laid-back. One of the most interesting things we saw on one of our visits there was a group of volunteers working in shifts to monitor a sea turtle's nest.

Sullivan's Island offers a great view of the Charleston skyline and the Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge, which connects downtown Charleston and Mount Pleasant.

Most of the beach houses on Sullivan's are quaint and unassuming - I think this one is my dream house! I love the tin roof and double porch but I'm pretty sure the string lights were what really did it for me.

A newer Sullivan's Island beach house - I loved the teal color and the construction is a modern take on traditional Charleston style, including the great plantation-style staircase.

A casual night out: T.J. Maxx lace tank, handmade tassel 

necklace, Jessica Simpson clutch, StitchFix striped skirt, 

and Old Navy flip flops to survive the sand!

On our last night in Charleston, we had dinner at Shem Creek Bar and Grill, which was highly recommended by friends. It's a local favorite and the seafood did not disappoint. Afterward, we headed over to Sullivan's for one last beach walk before saying goodbye to the Lowcountry.

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 3 - boone hall plantation

While planning our Charleston trip, many people recommended that we visit one of the historic plantations around the city. Since Mr. Q and I love learning about history, I started researching the different options. The most visited plantations seem to be Middleton Place,  which boasts 65 acres of landscaped gardens, a house built in 1755, and costumed interpreters, Magnolia Plantation, which features a house tour, America's largest Romantic-style garden, and an Audubon Swamp Garden, Drayton Hall, preserved by the National Trust, and Boone Hall, which is still a working farm. Want to hear my educated, intelligent, sophisticated reason for choosing Boone Hall as our destination?

It was used as Allie's family's summer home in The Notebook.

Not only is Boone Hall still a working farm, the owners, the McRae family, also own and operate a Farm Market and cafe on Route 17 near the plantation. We planned to visit the cafe for brunch before touring the plantation, and were so impressed by how clean and cozy the market and cafe were. I chose the signature sandwich and most Southern thing on the menu, a crab and pimento cheese melt with fried green tomatoes on whole wheat bread served with homemade kettle chips. Mr. Q had the barbecue sandwich, which he said was great, but I don't think you can beat the combo of shredded crab meat, spicy pimento cheese, and a fried green tomato with a glass of sweet tea!

Dressing for the heat at Boone Hall in my LOFT palm print tee (similar), 

basic denim bermudas, my Old Navy bucket bag (similar), BareTraps 

sandals (similar), and Ray-Ban Jackie Ohh sunglasses (similar).

The Avenue of Oaks, planted in 1743 by Major John Boone's son, was the inspiration for the road to Twelve Oaks in Gone With the Wind. Driving down this famous road really was a dreamy experience.

A list of all available activities for the day is posted at the plantation's entrance gate and there is a radio station visitors can tune to. It was nice to hear some introductory information as we drove down the Avenue of Oaks to the parking lot. We visited the Hospitality Center first, where a staff member signed us up for a 12:30 house tour and pointed out that a presentation about African-American Gullah culture, unique to the Lowcountry, begin at 1:15. We headed up to the house for our tour - right through the gate Ryan Gosling crashed his car into as Noah Calhoun! 

We toured the gardens before our house tour, which was led by a very knowledgeable guide in period costume. Although the house is not the original plantation house, it was constructed to help visitors learn about life in a planter family's house in Charleston during the the pre-Civil War period and the McRae family have been hosting tours since the 1950's. Since the house is still a private residence, only the first floor is open to the public and photography is not allowed indoors. The tour included the library, dining room, patio, and gun room, and our guide was a delightful young lady.

After our house tour, we toured the original slave cabins on the property -- there was a brickworks on the grounds so the nine "cabins" are actually brick houses -- and attended the Gullah Culture presentation. I appreciated that Boone Hall does not gloss over the history of slavery and that the slaves' stories are actually told by their descendants.

Afterward, we visited the polo ponies in their paddock, then headed over to the Butterfly Pavilion to see the flowers and butterflies and to board the motorized carriage for a tour of the Plantation and farm. Although at times the carriage tour felt like an extended commercial (Eat Boone Hall Farms produce! Visit the Boone Hall Farms Restaurant! Come in October for the corn maze! Have your wedding here!), we learned quite a bit about South Carolina history and agriculture. 

The property is beautifully maintained, even the farm fields, and the staff is very helpful and friendly. We really enjoyed our visit to Boone Hall Plantation.

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

our williamsburg, va vacation - part 4 - premium outlets + jamestown settlement

With the threat of Hurricane Arthur taking over the local television and radio stations in Williamsburg, we decided Thursday would be ideal for shopping at Williamsburg Premium Outlets - the perfect rain or shine activity.  Heavy rains and wind woke us in the middle of the night, but Thursday morning, the sky was clear, the sun was shining, and the temperature had cooled down at last!  We started the day at the Astronomical Pancake House, which we chose pretty much solely because of its awesome name.  I try not to be the cliche blogger who Instagrams all of her food, but LOOK AT THIS PANCAKE.

Williamsburg Premium Outlets, I love you.  We visited the Banana Republic, GAP, J. Crew, Ann Taylor, LOFT, and Fossil outlets, and almost everything was 50 to 70% off!  I felt like such a savvy shopper.  

Then, on Friday, it was on to Jamestown!  Visitors have two options for learning about the heritage of this historic place: the Jamestown Settlement, which features a museum and living-history park, and is operated by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, and Historic Jamestowne, which is located at the original site, featured an archaeological museum, and is maintained by the National Park Service.  We decided to start at Jamestown Settlement.

Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in the galleries at Jamestown Settlement - a shame because the exhibits truly are impressive.  I would say the galleries are on par with those in larger museums such as the Smithsonian; everything is very modern and clean, and there's a great mix of actual artifacts behind glass, hands-on replicas and statues that can be touched, and multimedia features.

Upon exiting the galleries, a path takes visitors to the living history park.  The first stop on the path is a Powhatan village where visitors can see the inside of a traditional wigwam, grind corn using a mortar and pestle, and explore.

Jamestown Settlement also features replicas of the three ships that original settler's ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and the Discovery.  Costumed guides are onboard to share information and answer questions.  I was struck by how small the ships actually were.  I can't imagine going across the ocean on one, much less with 70 other people onboard!

The final component of Jamestown Settlement's living history park is a life-size recreation of James Fort.  If you attended fourth grade in the state of Virginia, odds are you built a model of the fort out of popsicle sticks.  This is much more cool.

After visiting Jamestown Settlement, we drove over to Jamestown Island to explore the beautiful, protected forest and marshland.  It's easy to imagine that the environment hasn't changed much from the landscape the earliest English colonists encountered.  We drove the three mile loop, which features several pull-off spots with information about the island's history.  In addition to being an ideal site for a colonial fort, Jamestown was a key defensive site for the Confederate army during the Civil War.  Spending time in such an important place, with so much history running through it, was a great way to spend Independence Day.

Linking Up:

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our williamsburg, va vacation - part 2 - yankee candle village store + busch gardens

Onward with the vacation recaps!  On Sunday, our first full day in Williamsburg, we spent some time exploring our resort and enjoying the adult pool.  In my post last week, I shared a few photos from our trip to Yorktown, but what I neglected to tell you about was our delicious dinner at Peking restaurant in Williamsburg.  It's not your typical Chinese buffet - they also have Mongolian barbecue, Thai food, Japanese Hibachi and a SUSHI TRAIN.

Monday was especially exciting for me because Mr. Q and I met my cousin and her family in Merchant's Square for lunch.  Merchant's Square is right between the College of William & Mary and Colonial Williamsburg.  We are at The Cheese Shop on Duke of Glouchester Street, which is famous for its fresh bread, delicious sandwiches, and secret recipe dressing, and then took my little cousin (and ourselves) to Wythe's Gourmet Candy Shop, which was full of drool-worthy goodies.

That night we visited the Yankee Candle Village Store, only because one of my best work friends had told me it's a must-see in Williamsburg.  The store lived up to the hype, mainly because my mother-in-law and I had found coupons for FREE DIPPED CANDLES in the local tourist magazine!

I am super proud of my rainbow candle.

The Village Store has several sections: a traditional Yankee Candle store like you'd find in a shopping mall, the WaxWorks, where visitors can dip candles and make wax molds of their hands and such, a middle section with mainly home decor items, and a Christmas village with a faux night sky and soap-bubble "snow" every four minutes (only around that one lamppost though).  The Christmas village had German beer steins and Black Forest clocks, nutcrackers, all kinds of ornaments, caroler figurines, and a whole room of Department 56 Christmas and Halloween miniatures.

On Wednesday, we decided to visit Busch Gardens since the forecast for the rest of the week was looking questionable.  I hadn't been since high school, but I think I appreciated the park more as an adult - it's considered one of the most beautiful amusement parks in America and I don't think I really noticed all of the attention to detail and pretty landscaping when I was younger.  We arrived right as the gates were opening and the park was not too crowded.  If you've never been, Busch Gardens has a European theme and as you walk through the different zones in the park the scenery changes from England, Ireland, and Scotland, to Greece, Italy, Germany, and France.  I remembered some advice from an old travel guide to go left rather than right at theme parks to avoid crowds, so we headed to Greece and started the day with one of my favorites, Escape from Pompeii.  It's basically a log flume ride, but with added fire and falling statues, and while the drop at the end is scary it's not actually painful at all.  

Mr. Q and his sister rode the hilly roller coaster Apollo's Chariot next; I passed on that one because I don't really enjoy drops on coasters.  After that, we cooled off on the Roman Rapids (which is a disappointment compared to White Water Canyon at King's Dominion).  After that, I was ready for a roller coaster, and one of the park staff members had recommended Verbolten.  I thought I would enjoy it because my favorite roller coaster of all time is an indoor coaster (Flight of Fear at KD) and Verbolten is an indoor/outdoor hybrid.  Verbolten's theme is a ride on the Autobahn and through the Black Forest, so it starts out very smooth on the outdoor track and then goes crazy with a linear launch into the indoor section.  The ride is completely pitch black at some points and has spooky lightning effects that light up the track just enough to show riders that a drop is coming.  I was completely surprised when the car came to a stop and then dropped straight down as if the floor had given way, then flew out of the building and down a pretty steep drop.  My legs were shaking when I got off, but I loved it!

Apollo's Chariot and Verbolten

We were getting tired (and anxious about the USA vs. Belgium World Cup match), so we ended our visit with a jaunt on the park's Skyride, played in the Sesame Street Forest's water area just to cool down, then headed back to Scotland where we visited the famous Budweiser Clydesdale horses and had lunch.  I will also admit that I was so exhausted from the heat that I slept through most of the soccer game, but woke up in time to see the US team's valiant effort.  That night, we kept things low-key and had pizza night with takeout from Old Towne Pizza, and rested up for Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown Settlement!

Linking Up:

Let Your Light Shine Thursdays at I'm Perfectly Human

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