Vacation. Ahhhh, don’t we all just love it. This vacation was one we were really looking forward to – Charleston, South Carolina – a city full of southern charm, fresh seafood, soft sandy beaches, salty ocean water, and warm bright sunshine. And we indulged in each of those! We met John’s family for the holiday gathering and cozied up in a beautiful ocean side house for the week.

We had a ton of fun heading into the city and checking out Charleston. I had been there twice before, but the Koch family had never been there so we tried to hit all the hot spots, including the best food and a carriage ride tour of the city. Those homes have such charm! We loved to see all of the history and Ivy especially loved the horses :)

THE FOOD. SEAFOOD. My goodness, it’s just not quite like that in good ole SoDak. We ate at Leon’s Fine Poultry & Oysters and had the BEST fried chicken I’ve ever had! Everything was delicious (my mouth is watering thinking about it right now!).

Favorite bar was The Bar at Husk. When you walk in, there is century-old exposed brick all over. I knew John would be in heaven. And the libations?! Mmmm mmmm mmmm. They are known for their cocktails and their specialty sphere ice cube. Oh, and the burger. NOM NOM.

Lastly, we indulged in some fine seafood at The Ordinary. It was an old historic bank renovated into a restaurant. Beautiful interior! The old vault door was transformed into the door entering the kitchen and the old steel metal from inside the vault was used to make the bar. Love the history! And the seafood, OMG ;)

Of course, the restaurants were to die for, food is something Charleston is known for! But we can’t forget about our terrific hard-working chefs back at home! John’s cousin Mary is married to Joe, creator of The Plaid Penguin, a fresh-thinking branding and design studio, and Relish Carolina, a roaming dinner and activity club, and let me just say, this guy KNOWS FOOD. We were so lucky to get spoiled by his expertise and divine cooking skills. YUM YUM.

Can’t forget about Grandma Betsy and Grandpa Dan! They mastered the Thanksgiving meal and did a fabulous job! It was DELICIOUS! And Betsy worked her magic with the table setting.

Saving the best for last, THE BEACH. Our house was right on the beach and I loved being able to  walk just a few steps from the house to the soft white sand. Spectacular. The first few days were cloudy and foggy, but then it cleared up to pure sunshine and clear skies, so we could see forever across the ocean. Beautiful. We made sure to enjoy both the sunrise and sunset and both were equally spectacular! Ivy was a little unsure about the sand at first, but pretty soon she was hands deep in the sand and filled her bucket with seashells!