A Carriage Ride

 On Tuesday we went into Charleston in the morning for a carriage ride. Tuesday was hot and humid!  It had rained already, but the humidity was still high.  We stopped first at my parents' friend's house and then walked to the carriage stable.  They live right in the heart of Charleston in a 200 year old house which is right on the street and has a small tropical garden in the back.  The house was charming.  It was a warm day, as usual and the walk caused us to sweat a bit.  When we got to the Big Red Barn we were ready for a ride.  We boarded our buggy and headed out with our guide Bob.  He was very knowledgeable and gave a great tour.  The boys had fun for the first 15 minutes and after that they were a little antsy.  It was pretty warm and boring for 4 year olds.  We learned a lot about the history of Charleston, the churches (over 200), and the beautiful houses and mansions we saw.  Many of the houses are over 200 years old and go for an average of 2.5 million dollars. Several of them claimed to have ghosts.We are gathered in front of our carriage getting ready to ride.

Chase and Owen loved the big horse and his soft nose.

Owen and Daddy on the ride

Mommy and Chase

Dad, Chase and Susie

Looking out at the passing buildings

Kate, Mom, Owen and Jeff

huge old mansion south of water street near the ocean

Old oat trees that can live to be 400 years old, with moss hanging on it.

The city

One of the cobble stone streets of Charleston

After our ride we went to lunch at a BBQ place and Jeff proclaimed southern BBQ to be much more hot then sauce in Mpls!  We came home for a well needed nap after that.

Mom and I hit the beach at low tide and right when we walked out there was a star fish sitting right on the beach!  It was just what we wanted to find.  We walked the beach, finding cool shells and walked out on the sand bars.  On our way back I found another star fish floating around in the water. We brought them back for everyone to see and all were amazed.

We ordered some pizza and went back to the beach about 7:00 for a late swim.  The air and wind were cool and the water was so warm-about 85 degrees.  The boys had a blast running up and down the beach and plummeting in the tide pools.  Owen and I went out into the big waves and jumped them and he giggled and giggled.  Lane was out boogie boarding and Jeff was around too.  It was so much fun.

We stayed up late again, watching the Olympics and playing Phase 10.