Wait for it....

It doesn't happen often. In fact, it has happened once in the past 6 years- and didn't happen before than since I was in highschool- no wait since sophomore year of college- then highschool. What am I talking about? Family vacation. Sit back and learn what it is like to be the only child (27) and go on vacation with your parents (68 and 54).

Destination: Charleston, SC Duration:2.5 days (trust me- that is enough)

If you have ever rode with my deddy, you know that it is standard protocol to check your pants on the assigned bathroom break to see if you did indeed poop in your pants from his driving antics. The OH CRAP handle gets used more than once, as well as the passenger side brakes (your cars don't have these?). My momma refuses to sit up front because of the wild stunts White Cosby pulls. Either he is an adrenaline junkie or is completely oblivious to oncoming traffic. But, I am more than happy to ride shotgun with White Cos. On the way up we listened to my ipod loaded with lots of classic rock and roll and some rhythm and blues. I made my parents guess who sang the songs. I must say my mom only got 1 wrong. Well, technically, she got it right, but was referring to the band that covered the song, not the original. White Cos knows the words to all these songs, but wasn't as quick to the draw as momma. The trip up wasnt bad at all. Only 1 minor argument before we left Milledgeville, so I dont really count that.

We had dinner at the Crab shack somewhere near our hotel. It was nice to just sit and talk to my parents. I dont get to do that very often when we are home- because 1 of 2 things is happening: both arent in the same place at the same time and- if Mowgli is present- I dont exist. So- we had some long serious talks about my present life and future life. No one got mad and we agreed on a lot of things- mark that down in the history books. 

For the record, let me just say I booked a sweet hotel on expedia. Holiday Inn and Suites in North Charleston- you won't be disappointed. We went back and watched a few hours of the movie story and had solemn conversations. Off to bed with my lime green ear plugs my mom brought for me- since BOTH my parent's snores could wake up the dead. 

Saturday- oh how busy I kept them. We took a bus tour around Charleston and it was really good information- but too quick to snatch a lot of pics. I took some that I will have to post later. After the bus tour, we headed to Ft. Sumter by Ferry. This was an exciting trip for my dad and I- as one of our distant relatives was involved in the first firings of the CIVIL WAR. You get that? The first shots. It was really cool to step back into history and know that my family had ties on this pretty small island and inlet. 

The one thing that all three of us have in common is that we all have a love for history. My mom and I have been on many a house tour and my dad has taken me a lot of places involved with our family (cue West Virginia trip over Thanksgiving break in college). Everyone loves to look at things from different eras and learn how life was back then. It was cool to see my dad get excited about reading some of the stuff on the island. We even found a picture of our distant relative on the wall. Pics posted later. 

Lunch at Sticky Fingers- which is quickly becomming a favorite of mine- then off to the next tour. When you are 27- you can go and go and go. When you are the parents to a 27 year old...your get up and go has left the building. So, after begging to go to this place- we made it there as they were closing. BUT- it was most assuredly the highlight of the trip for me. Middleton Place- America's largest landscapped garden. One thing my dad and I share is a LOVE for a pretty yard. I didnt get the green thumb gene (was blessed with the black thumb, because everything dies when I mess with it)- but my dad mustve gotten the green hand gene because our yard is spectacular in the spring. This place- was just garden after garden of amazing use of space. If I had the nerve to do it- Kevin Pope and I would be getting married here. It is a photographer's DREAM.  We just walked the old plantation and took lots of pics and read lots of information about each space. Beautiful doens't begin to describe it. More pics later.

Wait- I am forgetting the LOVELY time we had with the brand spankin new GPS Garmin Nuvi I gave to my dad for Christmas. Lemme just say: White Cosby didnt quite get the jist of following comands from that thing. We made A LOT OF wrong turns and turnarounds.. insert a few arguments here.

We then headed to waffle house for dinner- so exciting right? At this point we were so tired and hot and GROSS I didnt care about eating. One major argument here and it was a bad one, but I did feel bad about it and apologize. Off to bed then off to the beach Sunday morning.

The beach was a nice relaxing time. Everyone just chilled and kept to themselves because I think we were all still asleep at 9am when we got there. Folly Beach is a nice beach. Go early before all the crowd gets there. Lunch at the crab shack again- this time crab legs and it was a really good lunch. No one talked. Not that that makes it good, but the food was way better this time. Tanger outlets for a few hours- then home.

Oh glorious home. The best part of vacation: leaving to go somewhere. The worst part: the ride home. More so the last hour and a half of the trip. Home so close you can taste it, but so far you are going to die if you dont get out of the car. A few major arguments, I apologized again, and some near crash calls because of the need to pass a slow driver to be faced with a transfer truck coming at you!

This is already longer than I intended- so I will wrap it up. I am glad that my family had the opportunity to spend some much needed time together. More pics posted later.