Charleston, SC: Spring Break, Day Three

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Spring Break 2010 included a day trip to Charleston, a trip to the beach. I called Patti, "Hey, you guys wanna go to the beach?"

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Ummmmm.... I think it's a yes.

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South Carolina really does have it all. Within a couple hours drive, we can be at the beach or at the mountains, rafting madly down a river, strolling riverside in Savannah or hip-hopping our way through the streets of Atlanta.

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Our favorite beach is Isle of Palms, just outside Charleston. There's public parking and a public restroom with outdoor showers. A little hamburger and ice cream shack and beachside restaurant are there, too.
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I know April is still too windy and cold on the beach for laying out, but the unusually hot weather we had upstate bewitched me and I forgot. So we went thinking we'd lay out, we got all set up and within minutes I was wrapped up in a towel, freezing. Look closely, my teeth are chattering. Some people (including Eva) were actually in the water though.
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We lasted a couple hours, then packed up, got dressed and headed away from the beach.

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I drove along the shore, taking the long way (via Sullivan's Island) into Charleston. I was looking for a playground for Eva and a place for our picnic lunch. Isle of Palms is ritzy, touristy. It has condos and beach houses and vacationers, probably no playgrounds. Sullivan's Island has an "old neighborhood" feel, this is where real people live, probably year round. There are a lot of vacationers, too, but it's down to earth - families riding bikes, playing basketball, etc. I found a playground, no problem.

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After our picnic, we headed across the bridge into Charleston, taking a left on East Bay. Passing the market, I headed to the pier and battery area and took a few minutes to find a place to park. We walked down to the bay and watched for dolphins.
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Eva swam in the pineapple fountain for quite awhile.

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She wasn't the only one to enjoy cooling off in the pineapple.
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But then Something Happened as Somethings always do.
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But it's so unusual for Eva's mommy to look like this, it made Eva wonder . . . .
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Where is she getting this???
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And she looked into mommy's reading pile and found "Making Children Mind without Losing Yours" by Dr. Kevin Leman.

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We continued walking along the bay down towards the pier. Eva posed for this picture so I could show you the walkway along the bay, it's such an enjoyable walk.
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And at the pier, Eva found another fountain to play in. This is about 4-5 blocks from the Market. That's a nice walk, too, if you're shopping and it's lined with art galleries and restaurants.
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We love the swings on the pier!

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After the pier, we went back to the market and shopped the small stalls, picked up some praline pecans for you-know-who, and ate dinner, of course, at Wild Wings. Eva finally got her long promised ice-cream with an afternoon visit to Ben and Jerry's. Yum-O.

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For more Charleston Info, click on the red links above. For Charleston Food, click here. For my Charleston Plantation tour, click here.