To NC… and beyond! 1

It was finally here.  We had been brave enough to spend an entire day alone- no kids- in Vermont.  We even left the kids with strangers for the first time.  But now we were standing at the brink of another milestone.

We had a wedding in SC to go to, for a very dear friend of mine, but kids were not invited.  We were lucky enough to have Auntie A and Uncle N offer to watch the duo for the weekend, so we could go spend a couple of nights in SC for the wedding!

It didn’t take too much convincing before we happily accepted their offer.

As usual, we drove straight through the night, but this was our first trip straight to Wrightsville Beach.  We had always headed west, to Cary, before.  It was approximately the same distance, so it didn’t make too much of a difference, but we still got there pretty early in the morning.

We arrived on a Wednesday, and the wedding was a Friday, so we had a couple of days to get the kids used to their Aunt and Uncle before we would be off to SC.

Once again, the kids proved to be superstars, and by the time we left on Friday morning, they barely noticed we were gone.

We picked up another newlywed couple friends of ours at the airport in Charleston before heading to our AirBnB.  We choose a ‘charming bungalow’ just outside of the downtown area for our stay.  The house had two bedrooms, each with a queen/king bed; and one bathroom.  It was the perfect size for the two couples.

Once we had found the place, it was time to head downtown to find a late lunch.  We had some time before heading to the wedding, and had heard wonderful things about the city.  All true.  What a beautiful waterfront.  I had reached out to some other friends of mine who had moved to the area, and they recommended Fleet Landing.  It could not have been a better experience.  The service, the food, the view… all deserve 5 stars.  There was nothing to complain about. We all loved our meals, and we just couldn’t get enough of the view.  Our server, the bartender, and the hostess were all friendly, while remaining professional.  We had found a gem.

Eventually, it was time to head back to the house to get ready for the evening.  The wedding was at the Island House, on John’s Island.  What a beautiful venue.

Go ahead.  Follow the link.  Check out some pictures.

I’ll wait.

I’m serious.  Go, now.

Am I right?  Beautiful.  The weather was gorgeous, the sunset was perfect, the water was calm.

But on top of that… the wedding was simply perfect.  My stunningly beautiful friend, and her wonderful fiancé were surrounded by the love of their family and friends.  The food was delicious.  The music was lively.  Such a wonderful night.

In fact, it was so lovely, that TT Dad and I made it through without being obnoxiously annoying to Auntie and Uncle, asking about the kids every few minutes!   (Of course, this is my opinion… theirs may differ!)

Before we knew it, we were calling our uber, and heading back to the AirBnB.  We settled in, and all slept well.

In the morning, we headed back downtown to find Brunch.  Or breakfast.  Or lunch.  Something… we weren’t picky.

Most places weren’t open yet when we arrived, so we had plenty of time to peruse each of the menus to pick the perfect place.  We had received a few recommendations from other friends in the area, but we were getting hungry, and nothing was open yet!

Finally we chose a restaurant that was open, and looked good! It was good.  I just don’t remember exactly where it was.  To be fair… we looked at a LOT of menus that morning.

After lunch, we went back to the house to pack up our things, and we dropped our friends back at the airport.

A whirlwind trip, to be sure.
Before we knew it, we were back in NC, walking in to the house, with two toddlers running towards us.  Their excitement wore off quickly, and we were back to being second class citizens.  That night definitely built a bond that has yet to be broken.

Even to this day, G always wants to talk about ‘Mimi’ (Auntie A) and asks to go to the beach to see Mimi.  Z is a really big fan of Uncle N’s and loves to laugh and play with him.

We took a chance the next day, and left just after an early lunch.  It would be our first planned day time long drive. Eeps.

The trip itself wasn’t a great experience.  There was definitely a lot more traffic, construction, and general slow moving this time, but the kids did really well.  We drove through their nap, and they were happily chatting away in the back seat for a while.  They started to get a little bit irritable just about the time we were headed into a ‘red zone’ on google maps, and it was getting close to dinner time, so we stopped at a plaza.  We enjoyed our Chipotle, and then we took a family walk (Marley, too!) around the parking lot.  They seemed to get some of their wiggles out, so we put their jammies on before getting back in the car, and crossed our fingers!  We actually made it the rest of the way without any issues.  When we made it home, we were able to get them out of the car, and into their cribs, without waking them.  This was another first.  Two thumbs up!  It took 18 months, but we finally made a daytime trek!

We are so grateful to Auntie and Uncle for taking the kids overnight.  They had a wonderful time, and we were able to relax and enjoy our first overnight without kids.