Our New Favorite City

Yesterday, we ventured down to Charleston, SC.  We really had no idea what to expect as we did no research before we went.  All we knew was that it was on the water and contained a lot of historical buildings.  What we found was so much more.  The city is absolutely gorgeous.  Palm trees line the roads, complimenting the old buildings beautifully. Interspersed among the palms are lovely trees that I currently call "southern trees" because I don't know the correct name for them . . . yet.  Gorgeous parks and walkways line the water, and it is a very active city.  There were runners, walkers, and bicyclists everywhere.  We spent a couple of hours just exploring, and had lunch at a bar where buffalo wings were the specialty, though James and I opted for burgers and Dominic had some peas&brown rice.  We also strolled through some shops and the open-air market.  At several corners were descendants of slaves who made intricate baskets out of sweetgrass, and were looking to sell them to the passersby.  Once we loaded ourselves back into the car, we did some driving around some of the areas that we hadn't walked through, but plan to when we return.  All in all, it was a wonderful family trip and we will be back down there, exploring the city further, as soon as possible.  I've posted a couple of pictures here and will post a lot more on Flickr later today.