Wednesday, November 5, 2014

South Carolina X 3

View of Intracoastal Waterway from our hotel room's balcony
Hi all!  Long time, no post.  Again.  I'm not doing too well and keeping a regular schedule anymore.  Sorry about that!  I mentioned last time that I'd post about my trip to Charleston in April.  Figured since I've been to South Carolina three times this year (and never before that!) that I might as well post about all three trips to the Palmetto State.  Here goes!

The first time I visited South Carolina, my husband and I drove to Charleston.  In early July, we drove to attend a family gathering near Aiken.  A couple of weeks later, we drove to Myrtle Beach to stay at Marina Inn at Grande Dunes resort right on the Intracoastal Waterway (see photo above).  Talk about a lot of driving back and forth from Virginia to SC!

I had a lot of fun on all three trips but had to work remotely during our Charleston journey so that put a damper on the vacation.  We stayed at the historic Francis Marion Hotel downtown for one night and walked around the city a lot.  The location of our hotel was perfect!  We ate a lot of good food and really enjoyed the college town atmosphere.  Savannah Bee Company was a fun store to check out and we lucked out on the weather.  We moved to a hotel in the suburbs to save money after our first night in town and that was a really good decision on our part.  It put us closer to the beaches and we had access to a pool and more space.  I'd recommend the Town and Country Inn and Suites because we enjoyed our stay but I wasn't crazy about their breakfasts (too expensive).

I'd say one highlight of our trip was the horse drawn carriage tour of the historic part of downtown Charleston.  Another would be our ride out to Folly Beach.  Lots to do, the beach was gorgeous, and you can fish!  See photo below ~


We both loved visiting the Aiken area because it has a totally laid back vibe and it was less crowded than the coast.  Apparently, this is horse country!  I wanted to see inside of a Hobby Lobby store because I'm a crafter and it was overwhelming and fabulous.  A must see for anyone who loves craft stores!  We also ate some great barbeque and enjoyed wandering around getting to know the area.

Myrtle Beach was a must-see for me because everyone down South talks about going all of the time.  We stayed at a Hilton property that has its own private beach access and we LOVED the resort.  I'd recommend it to everyone.  The only downside is the traffic.  Eight million people on the roads and not enough traffic lights equaled chaos.  There was a wait everywhere we went (except for the beach) and it was loud, loud, loud.  We're older, quieter folks.  Myrtle Beach is great but not for us.  I'm SO GLAD we went and I can see why it's so popular but next time we are going to pick a less stressful destination spot on the water.  Here's the giant crab in front of one of the many seafood buffet restaurants (expensive but a must see):

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