Charleston to Orlando

So sorry about the delay in a post. Blogger was down for maintenance! So here is our post from Thursday:


This morning we headed out to Boone Hall Plantation. Boone Hall is also one of America's oldest working, living plantations. They've been continuously growing and producing crops for over 320 years, and while the house that stands there now is not the original, it is still beautiful.

The current house, built in 1936, and plantation have been used in many movies including North and South, Queen, and The Notebook. In 1743, the son of Major John Boone planted live oak trees, arranging them in two evenly spaced rows. Live Oaks are evergreens which means that they are green year round. AMAZING.

Oak Alley

Absolutely gorgeous with Spanish moss and resurrection fern growing on them. Spanish moss attaches itself to the tree, but is not a parasite. And resurrection fern (also not a parasite), grows only when it rains. When it doesn't rain it dries up, but when it rains it becomes green and lush- hence the name! 


We also took a coach tour of the property and our driver (a funny 60 something gentleman) invited us to have mint juleps or Jaeger bombs at his house. We, being the youngest people on the tour laughed when a grandma said, "What's a Jaeger bomb?". His reply..."Red bull and Jaegermeister. It makes you run around the house three times!" Needless to say hilarious.

Slave quarters

Afterwards we headed over to their farmers market for lunch, and picked up some tasty treats to take back home. We also tried boiled peanuts (not our thing...) and peach cider. 

Later we checked out Poe's Tavern, an Edgar Allen Poe themed beach bar. Very neat!

Poe's Tavern

Friday adventures:


We left for Orlando today, stopping in Savannah briefly for a trolley tour of the city. Our trolley driver was very nice, but overly talkative. For example, she pointed out the "JJ's where you can get good sandwiches"....she was talking about a Jimmy John's....Hahahah. Oh trolley lady.

Southern lunch: Moon Pie and RC

Savannah

Savannah

Savannah

 So now we find our selves in Orlando with our friend Kristina, her dog Honey, and her 3 cats. Off to Universal tomorrow! 

Fish and Chips in Charleston

After our quick nap today, we headed downtown to see what Charleston was all about. We drove past Rainbow Row (very colorful), and some amazing looking houses. We parked by White Point Garden and checked out the sites. 

We also checked out Waterfront Park, before eating dinner at The Griffon. Awesome little pub with dollars stapled to the walls as per a tradition dating back to when men, before leaving on a sea voyage, would put their name on a dollar bill, attach it to the wall and could use it when they returned to buy their first drink. We of course had to add our own to the wall! If you're ever in Charleston, go to The Griffon and see if you can find it!

We had some delicious fish and chips- amazing really. KJ had never had fish and chips, and Chunk had only had sub-par versions, so this was truly a great experience. We also enjoyed a couple of local beers before heading out. 


Can't wait for our adventures tomorrow!

On to Fort Sumter and the USS Yorktown

Currently we're taking a midday break from our Charleston adventures, since we spent the morning visiting Fort Sumter and the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum on board the USS Yorktown. 

We took a boat ride to Fort Sumter with a group of lovely people and a group of antsy school kids. Is it necessary for everyone to make squeaking noises with their shoes? The answer is yes. Anyway, after visiting the site of the shot that started the Civil War, we headed back and got aboard the USS Yorktown to check out the museum.

As the headquarters for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum, the USS Yorktown was pretty interesting. The Medal of Honor Museum was really state of the art and nicely done(with narrations by Tom Brokaw), and afterwards we toured the rest of the ship. We also got to go in the USS Clamagore- a submarine! And boy was it close quarters!

USS Yorktown fun facts:

• In 1958, Yorktown was designated an anti-submarine aircraft carrier (CVS), and would later earn 5 battle stars for service off Vietnam (1965-1968). 
• The ship also recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts and capsule (December 1968). 
• Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970 and placed in reserve.

Chunk taking a picture of KJ, taking the next photo. Hilarious.

Chunk was really excited to see the planes (as you'll see in some of our photos). So far we haven't encountered anyone too stupid (like last time), however we think it'll start soon. Especially after encountering a woman telling her son that people didn't ride in space capsules. Only monkeys rode in there. Bahahha.