South Carolina. . . agree or disagree?

So am I falling off my blogging? Yup. I was doing SO good for a while and then, well, life took over. Which would make you think that I should be blogging extra since I'm having such amazing times, right? Right. I should be. But I can either live it or write about it at this point - so I'm not a multi-tasker! Sue me! :)

Last week my sweet momma and I went on a girl vacation to South Carolina. I know what you're thinking because I was asked the same set of questions by every person that found out we were going there: 1 - Oh, do you have family there? Nope. 2 - Oh, what's in South Carolina? I don't know. 3 - So you're just going for fun? Yes. Sidenote: this last question was usually accompanied by an awkward 'I don't understand' kind of face that made me feel like I was vacationing on the moon. It's South Carolina, people! What's the big deal? I'm not going to Guam!

Anyway, we made our way to the southern heat and hospitality last Wednesday and spent five fun-filled days in/around Charleston. It was a great time. So, by way of an "agree or disagree" list, I'll tell you how the trip went. You ready?

• Boiled Peanuts - Agree. Surprisingly. We ate these the first night that we were there and I was really expecting to bit into the nut and it would taste kind of like hot peanut butter? False. it doesn't even taste like a nut once it's boiled. It actually took on the flavor and consistency of a cooked pinto bean. Since I like beans, it wasn't so repulsive. BUT, fair warning, if you don't like beans, you may stay away from this little treat if you ever go south.
• Grits - Disagree. I know, people are going to be mad about this one and say that I "didn't prepare them right" but I just didn't love them. The place that we ate even had the market on grits (they were on the Food Network for their shrimp and grits meal so for all intents and purposes, I ate the Cadillac of grits). It's basically not bad but not good - it doesn't taste like much of anything which makes me wonder, "Why waste the calories?" Plus, you have to be suspicious about a food that people make with salt or sugar or butter or syrup or shrimp or. . . too many non-related options. Yuck.
• Houses - Agree. The architecture in Charleston is incredible. The houses are all right next to each other and look incredibly small but when you look at them, they go back FOREVER! They are gorgeous and old and large and every porch has ceiling fans on it. The houses on Rainbow Row there are so cool - each house is a different 'Easter' color and it makes for a stellar view on the waterfront. We also saw the house that was used as Allie's house on the Notebook and it's actually the largest single dwelling in all of Charleston. 24,000 square feet and 35 bedrooms, each with their own fireplace. It's huge!
• Animals - Disagree, mostly. I agree with the horses 100 percent. In fact one of my favorite things we did was take a carriage ride through the city. It was lovely and the horses were very impressive and large. What I don't agree with is how crazy people are about their animals. . . they LOVE them to an unhealthy point... and I love animals so if I'm saying that... OK, so they really just love things that LOOK like their animals. I can't tell you how many stores we went in that had mugs that looked like dogs and place mats that looked like cats and clothes that said really gross things: (If you know my unhealthy fear of animal hair, you'll understand why I think this is gross) "No outfit is complete without cat hair" and, this almost made me throw up "Chef not responsible for dog hair in the food". Are you sick? I am. Dry heaving. As we speak.
• Ghosts - Agree! I love being scared, a lot. So nothing tickles my fancy more than a ghost tour through the second most haunted city n the WORLD! That's right, more paranormal activity than any other place in the US. How cool is that? We took a night ghost tour through the city and saw some of the most haunted places in Charleston including a hotel that Robert E. Lee supposedly haunts to this day, a residence turned restaurant where an old woman fell down the stairs and died and now haunts the second floor, a park where a woman was hung and she is still seen wandering the park and the courthouse in her wedding dress and of course, the pirates! There was a group of pirates that were captured in Charleston and eventually hanged in the park. There is an old superstition that says that if a pirate dies at sea, he must be buried at sea and if a pirate dies on land, he must be buried on land in order for his soul to rest. Well of course we can't have pirate souls resting in peace! No! They are bad guys. So, after these pirates were hanged, their bodies were dropped into the ocean at low tide and carried out to sea so their spirits are still active and if you walk in the park at night with any sort of change in your pockets, the sound of the coins summon the pirate spirits! Creepy? Yeah. And SO fun!
• Missing Life - Disagree. It's funny to me that no matter how much fun I'm having on vacation, I always have some anxiety about being away from home and out of my routine. I must like my life an awful lot, I suppose because I always find myself longing for the things and people that I left at home. It's a weird phenom and I don't know how to get past it. . . but then maybe I don't need to.
• Beach - Agree, whole-hearted. On our last day my mom and I drove to Hilton Head and walked on the beach. The city is really beautiful and the beach was amazing. it was an overcast day but we didn't get rained on except in transit. It was breathtaking. My mom touched the Atlantic for the first time (other than the bay in Maryland) and it was great just to sit and put my feet in the sand.
  

Overall, the trip was a booming success. South Carolina = AGREE! The city was beautiful and we got to spend some rock-solid mother-daughter time for five days. I love to travel and it was fab to get another notch in my belt.

For you 'visual' people, thanks for putting up with the writing; I'm posting some pics so you get something out of this too!! :)

Hilton Head beach

Ghost Tour. . . we looked scared, right? Yeah, didn't think so either.

This is the giant house from The Notebook. . . 24,000 square feet!

I don't know who lives here but I think they must be important?

This was a pond at one of the plantations we visited. The bridge was bright red but my camera was not cooperating on the color highlight.

See. . . cool bridge. Oh, and cool mom.

Isn't this so. . . Charleston? Do you see the alligator? Me neither because if there was one, i would NOT have stayed to take this picture.

Drayton Hall. . . oldest preserved plantation house.

Those are cannonballs. . . OK, those are cannonballs that are welded together but I thought this was funny?

The first day we got there it rained and rained. . . and I saw this. it went from ocean to ocean over the city. Breathtakingly beautiful.

There are 187 churches on the peninsula of Charleston. . . which is no larger really than Kaysville. 187! And they think us Mormons over-do it?! This was my favorite.