The Other Sister: first beach trip

We went to the beach last week for an extended Memorial Day/last week of Maternity Leave trip. We had a blast! It was so fun to share one of our favorite places with Elliot. And, to top it all off, my older sister Lauren and her husband Jon were able to make it up for the long weekend! We don't get to see them that often due to our crazy schedules, so it was really sweet to have some sister time too.

People warned us that we'd be carting around a ton more stuff with a baby in tow. In all reality, we probably packed less with Elliot. We took the bare necessities for ourselves to make room for the baby gear. We normally would've packed clothes for every possible occasion, multiple fishing rods, beach cruisers, road bikes, guitar, ihome, food and more. This time it was more like one fishing rod, too few outfits for casual events only, jogging stroller and baby gear. Here's a picture of the car:

I'm glad that we put Elliot in the car first
otherwise, I'm not sure we would've had room for her!

Our first stop was to Taco Boy. We discovered Taco Boy on our last trip to Charleston courtesy of our friend Grant. He's always got info on the latest and greatest restaurants and this one did not disappoint. The atmosphere is great and the food even better! It was so fun to relax on the patio, margarita in hand. Ahhh, the vacation had finally started!

And, what better way to start out our first full day of vacation than with breakfast at Village Bakery?! Yum. I ran from the Sullivan's Island (where we were staying) to the bakery. This is a must do if you are planning on eating anything at the bakery. The portions are huge, tasty and buttery. We were joined by the local preschool graduating class :)

french toast casserole, yummmmm
if all casseroles tasted this good, we might eat more of them!

Then, it was off to the beach! We hit up Isle of Palms first, because their beach has a little bit easier access. We weren't sure what we'd need with a baby at the beach, so we hauled it all! We're used to taking a bunch of gear to the beach, so it was just a matter of carrying different gear. Instead of fishing gear, tent and cooler it was baby gear, tent and cooler.

like all first-time parents we were nervous
was the wind too strong?
was she somehow getting sunburned without us knowing?
was she hating it?

i don't think elliot much cared
she may have actually slept better on the beach than in her crib!

Lauren and Jon got in late friday night after a long drive from Birmingham, AL. But Lauren was up bright and early the next morning for a trip to the Charleston Farmer's Market. With the tons of merchants, food vendors, flowers, clown parade (yes you read that correctly) and pony rides (what?!) it was just a bit different that our local farmers marked in North Carolina!

Jon and Josh hung out while we were at the market. We're so lucky that everyone gets along so well. Jon is like the brother Josh never had and Josh is like the 5th brother Jon never had.

And a trip to Sullivans Island would not be complete without a trip (or three) to Poe's Tavern. Josh, Jon and Lauren all enjoyed burgers while I got a veggie quesadilla. I'd never gotten the quesadilla before, because with amazing burgers why would you ever need a "veggie" anything? The last time I was at Poe's I got a chicken sandwhich, attempting to convince myself that eventhough I had been a vegetarian/vegan for about a year (at that time) that I wouldn't get sick. The chicken sandwhich was phenomenal....the pain afterwards, not so much. So, I'm happy to announce that I enjoyed the appetizer menu and was happy as a clam thankyouverymuch. On a side-note, Elliot found the crazy-yell-across-the-table-but-i-can-still-hardly-hear-you environment pretty soothing and slept almost the whole time.

We also got to spend some time checking out some of Lauren and Jon's favorite places. Jon moved to Charleston while Lauren was in medical school. Its where he pursued music full-time and where he and Lauren got married (still probably one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen.) We snapped a few photos at the Battery Park. Like most of the rest of the trip, Elliot slept through it all.

this, my high school friends, is a pay phone. this is how you'd call someone if you weren't at your house. you'd insert these things called quarters to pay for the call. strange i know!

battery park is where jon proposed to lauren
he was (mostly) a good sport when i asked him to recreate the moment
he did get down on one knee when he actually proposed