Places to Go (Vacation) - Charleston, SC - Part I - Fort Sumter. The Third (and Final) Stop on Our Roadtrip of the South.

About a year ago, one of my best friends, Laurie, moved to Charleston, SC with her husband. So for the last stop on our roadtrip, we decided to spend a few days with them. (Laurie also has a blog, full of her adventures and thoughts, click here to check it out and see her post about our trip).

For our first full day in Charleston we adventured to Fort Sumter (where the Civil War began). In many ways this was the perfect outing, my husband loves military history and, since the fort is on an island, we had to take a boat to get there, making it a wonderful adventure for the kids as well. Once we arrived at the island, we didn't spend much time learning about the fort's history, instead we caught up with "Auntie" Laurie while checking out the views and running on the lawns, what a fun way to spend a morning.



The boat to the island has two levels - the top is open air and offers wonderful sea breezes and views. Unfortunately, it fills up fast. So we ended up in the air-conditioned bottom level, which had old chairs and random paintings (it reminded me of a church basement). But still, the views were quite pretty.



After the boat ride, we walked by a farmers' market in the square next to our hotel. Which had a bouncy slide. This made for some crazy happy kids. Crazy happy. Regarding our hotel, we stayed at the Embassy Suites Charleston, which is located in the original citadel building. The glass elevators mesmerized the kids (yes, we did have a few elevator races, but only when nobody else was around). My husband and I really liked the nightly manager's receptions (free wine!!) and made-to-order hot breakfast, which we ate in a beautiful courtyard full of lilacs. The pool was also a plus. But by far the best thing about the hotel was its wonderful service. We were 150+ miles towards home when we realized that T's favorite blankies (yes, BOTH of them) were still in the hotel room. Luckily the hotel found and overnighted them immediately (we received the blankies within 12 hours of arriving home). So yay! for the Embassy Suites (a Charleston historic hotel).