The rest of our Charleston vacation

Believe it or not, we actually did a few things that were NOT wedding-related when we were in Charleston!  Or at least sort of not wedding related.  First, when we got there Wednesday, I went to Brie's bachelorette party in the evening.  We did a lingerie shower with champagne and strawberries and cheese in the Marion Square Park in Charleston.  It was SO much fun. 

Next, we hit Basil for some Thai food. YUM. Delish! After, we took a rickshaw to a bar that I can NOT for the life of me remember the name of.  We drank $2 PBR in a can.  You just can't beat that!  Then it was off to the Market Street Saloon for some dancing.  Well, what happens at the Market Street Saloon STAYS at the Market Street Saloon!  Just kidding, it was all innocent fun, but I just want to leave y'all guessing :-)

The next day for lunch, we all went to Triangle Char and Bar for lunch.  More YUM!  (Please someone give me some grease!!!) I love to eat, and Charleston has some awesome restaurants.  They had killer sweet potato fries with apple butter for dipping.  Even Natalie liked it.  After lunch, she wanted to go sit with Brie, and we snapped this picture of the two of them, looking super cute.

The rehearsal dinner was a lot of fun too.  It was at Magnolia's downtown.  VERY good food.  Brie surprised Cory with a special personal message to the happy couple from Craig Finn, the lead singer of the Hold Steady.  Mindy, Brie's sister, has a friend of a friend who knows him (or something like that!).  Anyway, they recorded him giving a shout out to Cory and Brie.  It was super cool.  The Hold Steady is one of his favorite bands, so he was ecstatic! 

We also got to spend some time with my mom's family.  I was with Brie and the girls most of the day Friday before the wedding, so Todd took the kids over to the Holiday Inn where my family was staying so the kids could FINALLY meet some of my relatives.  In the picture below, Aunt Patti is getting some quality Grant time in, with Aunt Barbara and Aunt Sara.  These are my mom's three older sisters.  My mom is the 4th of 7, right in the middle!

We also went out to dinner with the fam Saturday evening.  We went to the restaurant at the top of the Holiday Inn, which was pretty good and had amazing views of Charleston.  Here, we put a napkin on Natalie's head and called her Little Brown Riding Hood.

AND we had lunch with my cousin Stasi and her funny (and taller than Todd) husband Adam!  Here, he's wearing Natalie's shades...

Next, we enjoyed a horse and carriage ride in Charleston on Sunday.  It was so nice- the weather was beautiful and warm.  We got the most "desirable" route along the battery and Rainbow Row.  Apparently, there are like 5 or 6 companies that run horse and carriage trips but the city only allows a certain number of the carriages out on the road at any given time so it doesn't clog up traffic so much.  They also have different routes so they are evenly spread out through the city.  So when a carriage is ready to go out, it has to go by this little stand and get a ball from a bingo machine.  That ball dictates what route the driver will drive, and there are 7 different routes.  Pretty cool!  You can pick up a carriage at the Big Red Barn.  Natalie got to meet a chicken on our way there.

The house below was in the movie The Notebook, which is one of my favorites.  You know the scene where Rachel McAdams character Ali has a big fight with her mom and storms out?  That was filmed just inside this doorway.  Obviously a bunch of other people wanted to go see this too!

We also got to go to dinner with Cory and Brie Sunday evening.  We went to the Fat Hen and it was awesome!  I had the pork, and Todd had the skirt steak.  We would like to go back to Charleston just for the food!  Coco got some quality niece and nephew time in.  Don't Cory and Grant kind of look alike in the picture below?

Natalie told Cory that they had to walk down the ramp together, rather than taking the stairs.  So of course, he obliged.  I thought this was a very sweet picture of the two of them.

Lastly, we tried to go home on Monday, but once we got to the airport (and through security), we found out that due to bad weather in Atlanta, some of the passengers were re-routed through LaGuardia, which was our destination.  When riding standby, if the planes are full, we don't go anywhere. So my mom advised us to go to Cory's house because that would have been far better than sitting in the airport with two little ones.  But Cory and Brie were home sick, so we couldn't go there.  Talk about FRUSTRATING!  Meanwhile, Natalie decides that she really, really, really wants to go on an airplane and since she can't, she has the biggest tantrum EVER in the airport. Yep, we have become THAT family!

So we found a hotel near the airport with a shuttle, a bar, and a pool.  Thank you Radisson, for saving the day!

Natalie decided to sleep in the extra queen bed "like a big girl" while Grant took the pack and play. I honestly don't think there was room for another pack and play in our room thanks to all of our luggage.  So to make sure Natalie didn't fall out of bed (she's a WILD sleeper, all over the place), I placed pillows on one side of her, and I slept on the other side.  Well, I was head bunted in the head once, in the ribs once, I was bit, I was yelled at (in her sleep), and basically did not sleep at all.  And somewhere in the 2 am hour, Grant took a massive poop and I had to change his diaper (he is not a fan of wallowing in his own poo).  As if I wasn't tired enough! 

But in the morning, in the shuttle on the way to the airport, I heard Natalie say to her daddy, "I liked sleeping with mommy last night!"  I mean, what can you say to that???

I will leave you with one final pic from our vacation to Charleston.  A picture of one handsome little dude!