Charleston, South Carolina for the week!

After leaving West Virginia on a Sunday morning, we drove down to Charleston, making a stop (45 minutes out of the way) to hit up the only Buc-ees in South Carolina.  It was bananas!  I mean I've never seen that many cars parked at a store or that many people shopping.  We spent a small fortune and picked up a late lunch to finish our drive.  

We got to the hotel, checked in, got settled and the boys and I decided to drive 20 minutes to Isle of Palms to hit up the beach.  Scott opted to stay at the hotel and rest and apparently watch the playoff NBA game.  The beach was awesome!  We checked out some of the restaurants right by the beach too and got a drink at Smuggler's Island (Randall Ridgewater drink was amazing) and some pizza at IOPizza.  Back at the hotel some of the other families had arrived so a few of us hung out in the lobby.  

Monday we met up with other families at the beach for most of the morning.  The team had the opening ceremony at 4pm at Shipyard so we needed to be back at the hotel to shower and get ready by 2.  We made a few stops on the way to the hotel to pick up some food/drinks for the week and to replenish our cooler.  After the opening ceremony (other post with baseball details), the whole team came back to the hotel to swim.  It was one of my favorite nights for sure!

Tuesday I woke up early with Sean to go shelling.  We went back to Isle of Palms again because we were familiar with it.  He didn't find any amazing shells, but we still enjoyed a peaceful morning together.  The team didn't have a game until 6pm so we opted to do the beach again and meet up with most of the team.  We grabbed the best smashburgers at Smuggler's Island before going back to the hotel to get ready.  

Wednesday the team had two games that took up most of the day so we laid low at the hotel until it was time to go.  We did lunch in between games at Swig and Swine at Shipyard with many of the families.  We went back to the hotel after and got cleaned up.  We decided to go just us to Shem Creek to get dinner.  I'm so glad we did.  It was beautiful!  Scott was having tummy troubles so he didn't eat, but the rest of us enjoyed our food and the views.  We went back to the hotel and hung out in the lobby again.  We had an 8am game Thursday morning, so I tried not to be up too late.  

Since the game Thursday was done early, we had the whole day ahead of us.  Some of met up to take the water taxi around the Charleston harbor.  We didn't get off at any of the stops, but it was a fun way to see the harbor and dolphins!  We then went to Sullivan's Island beach.  This beach felt more "local" and was more calm and less busy than Isle of Palms.  We had a great time and went out to dinner at an upscale Mexican restaurant.  

We had another early game on Friday.  But, it was nice having the rest of the day to explore.  The four of us went into Charleston to go to the City Market and to visit the Pineapple Fountain and Rainbow Row.  It was so hot so we didn't last super long.  We went back to the hotel and hung out with Shaina and Noah.  Then, we spent time packing the truck.  We had a fast food picnic in the hotel room and watched a Marvel movie on TV for our last night.  I think we were all tired!

Saturday morning we checked out and hit the road.  We wanted to go a different route and we hit more than traffic, but we went through Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains and we landed in Kentucky for the night.  Sunday we went to the 1:40pm Cincinnati Reds game vs the San Diego Padres.  We got to check off another ballpark on our map.  It was a very good game with a walk-off win for the Reds and we enjoyed the food at the park.  

New River Gorge National Park, WV!

We decided that on our way to South Carolina, we would stop somewhere to break up the drive and stay the night.  After a little research, we discovered that West Virginia was a great halfway point and then realized that there was an awesome National Park in the state that we could visit.  We booked a half day white water rafting trip through Adventures on the Gorge and learned that we could also stay there in a "rustic cabin" for two nights.  We left Friday around 8am and had a very smooth drive, stopping to get gas and Chick-Fil-A.  We went straight to the visitor's center for the National Park to take in the views, go to the overlook of the gorge and bridge, and to get a stamp.  The kids decided not to do the Junior Ranger program, which made me sad.  I guess they're growing up!

We then made a stop at Freefolk Brewery where we had some cold beers, thin crust pizza, and played games.  Then we checked into our cabin and made it our home for the next two nights.  We explored the complex for a bit and went swimming (not knowing they make everyone get out of the pool for the last 15 minutes of every hour).  Then it was a bonfire for s'mores and listening to the Tiger's game on the radio...until Randall the raccoon came to visit the site...

Saturday morning we got breakfast from one of the restaurants (cafe to go style) on the property close to our cabin.  They had delicious breakfast sandwiches on homemade biscuits.  We tried out the disc golf course on the property too.  Then it was time to eat a quick lunch with things from our cooler/food bin and time to head over for our white water rafting trip. 

White water rafting was amazing!  We got matched up with an older couple and it took us a bit to figure out who was going to sit where on the raft.  It ended up being Scott and the older gentleman, Randy, who took the front with Sean and I in the second row and Evan and the woman, Margie, in the back with the guide.  The rapids were more intense than what I remembered from Washington, but thankfully no one fell in!

We got back after dinner time so we made a fire and cooked hot dogs over it, had s'mores, and the kids did some sparklers.  We packed up the truck as much as we could for an early departure Sunday morning to move on to South Carolina.  We had a great visit!  For it being a "rustic cabin", it had electricity and an air conditioning unit in the window so we were very comfortable.  The bathrooms were a short walk and so were many of the things on the complex like restaurants and the pool.  I'd come back for sure!