Welcome to Charleston

"We're in Chaaaaaaaarleston!"

When Dillon told people he was in Charleston, he got an instant recommendation to eat at Hyman's. Then, when I posted something about being in Charleston on Facebook, we got a few more recommendations for the restaurant, so it was definitely our first stop in The Holy City, as Charleston is called.

Apparently, anyone who is anyone in sports, politics, or entertainment has eaten at Hyman's, and our table had hosted AC/DC, Raven Simone, and Pat Conroy. The walls were full of autographed photos of the likes of Oprah, Neil Armstrong, and Samuel L. Jackson. When our food arrived, we could see why it was such a popular spot. We all enjoyed boiled peanuts, fried green tomatoes, alligator sausage, coleslaw, shrimp, scallops, and crab.

We also got our first taste of Southern hospitality, as everyone we came into contact with was overwhelmingly friendly. The manager came over and asked if our kids would like some free ice cream and then offered to go to the store next door to get some for them. Avonlea Jane was eating her ice cream as we left, and we walked into another storefront. She was upset that she had dripped a little on the floor, so an employee came to wipe it up and to cheer her up, he went in the back to fetch her a chocolate bunny.

The offering of sweets to the kids continued the whole time we were in the South, as it seemed as if Avonlea Jane was given free ice cream at every turn.

Avonlea Jane posed with the framed picture of Michael Bolton, as he provided much of the soundtrack for our trip; Dillon and I share a deep love of power ballads.

Catching up on his reading before bed

On our first full day in Charleston, the first stop was at the U.S.S. Yorktown and the Patriots Point Naval Museum.

The destroyer U.S.S. Laffey

Avonlea Jane in a tiny cockpit

The Yorktown served for a while as a retrieval ship for NASA missions like Apollo 8.

Exploring the ship's naval life museum

The Yorktown briefing room

The flight deck

"Mama, you wear my hat."

In the captain's chair

Fort Sumter wasn't very far away from Patriots Point, but because of the amount of time it takes to get there by boat and Will's level of patience, we decided against making the trip, but we appreciated being able to see the starting point of the Civil War from a distance.

The ship also boasted a Medal of Honor museum, and we learned about the youngest, oldest, first female, first African-American, most recent, father-son, and double recipients of the medal. (We were amazed that there were double recipients. They have been awfully brave, because if they survived the second occasion, we're sure they heard earfuls from their mothers about getting in such dangerous situations.The father-son teams were the Roosevelts and the MacArthurs.)

Touring the destroyer

Our next stop was at Fuel, a cafe we saw featured on the Food Network for their Southern/Caribbean fusion cuisine. The famous Southern hospitality was definitely present here, as our server was dedicated to making sure the kids had the best time possible, even offering to provide drinks and a snack for the road if they were still hungry.