Y’all, I still can’t believe how much we did and saw today. And the kids honestly did really well with it all. Even the yammers. They’re troopers.
Also, as a quick aside, our Charleston Airbnb is a 2,000 sqft house in an awesome neighborhood. We were all kind of sad to go back to our 1200 sqft Charlotte Airbnb at the end of our trip. And also a little sad that we didn’t get to enjoy the house a little more. Here’s Logan, hanging out in the screened-in porch, which looks out on the pond in the backyard.
Fort Sumter- Where the Civil war began
We have seen multiple museum exhibits dedicated to the Civil War and have discussed it extensively with our kids while we have been out east. And so, seeing Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began felt like a natural choice.
We left the house at about 9:15 to be on time for our tour. The fort is only accessible by boat, and we opted to take a boat from Patriot’s Point which has a ton of other things to do and see: the Naval and Maritime Museum which includes several ships that you can tour (a submarine, an aircraft carrier, and a destroyer), there were various exhibits as well including the Congressional Medal of honor exhibit.
The boat ride to Sumter takes about 30 minutes. And of course, we all enjoyed that. We even saw some dolphins!! So that was pretty darn awesome also.
Once we arrived, we had about an hour to tour the fort itself, to go through the museum, and to check out the gift shop before we needed to catch the boat back.
On the way back, we opted to ride in the interior of the boat so that we could sit down. More snacks were passed around.
By the time we got back to Patriot’s point, everyone was feeling refreshed and ready for the next phase of our day.
White Point Garden
White Point Garden is located right in the middle of Charleston’s historic district. So I was really looking forward to this.
The Gardens are located right next to the Charleston harbor, so we got some beautiful views of the water also.
Historic Charleston
Basically, if you like beautiful old buildings and houses, Charleston will make you so darn happy. I drooled my way through the historic district as we walked and drove and when I made Jonathan stop driving so I could see something better.
Folly Beach
After we finished our (not long enough) tour of the historic district, we decided to go to the bigger beach: Folly Beach. It was about a 45 minute drive (yay, traffic) which actually worked out perfectly, because the twins were both able to get in a little power nap.
Unfortunately, someone left all of the beach gear (including towels and swimsuits) at the Airbnb. It was me. I’m that someone. #fail
We decided to just go for it anyway. And I feel like we actually did pretty well, all things considered. The boys swam in their boxer briefs. And Clara just took her pants off. We looked a little bit white trash….But, we will never see these people again, amiright? And this was one of the major highlights of our time in Charleston. We all loved it. What a difference warm water makes (the water it was in the low 70s.)
We only saw Clara and Jonas from a distance for most of the afternoon. They had an amazing time swimming and playing in the waves.
Evie was initially content to just remain on the beach, looking for shells and playing in the sand. It didn’t take long for her to start wading in the water. Shortly after that, the shorts came off, then the shirt, and once her diaper was too waterlogged, she went commando. She had an amazing time. I loved watching her delight. Kids really do make things magical.
Logan hung out with Clara and Jonas for a while, until he got cold. And since we didn’t have towels, Jonathan sent him to go lay in the warm sand at the back of the beach where the water never reaches. The first time he did that, he basically covered himself head to toe in the warm sand, and he began to realize having sand everywhere isn’t that comfortable. So Jonathan helped him clean off, and then for the rest of the afternoon, he alternated between the water and his warming spot (though he no longer covered himself in sand)
Isaac came a long way today; usually, he doesn’t get in the water at all, whether it be pool or beach or lake. He hates baths. He is content to stay high and dry. And that is what happened for most of the time, and he spent a fair amount of time fussing about his sandals having sand in them. But eventually we convinced him to take said sandals off. And then we got him to wade in the water with us. And by the end, he was down to his diaper and had an amazing time in the water.
We ended up staying at the beach for about 3 hours. And we would’ve stayed longer if everyone hadn’t been ravenous. We had finished off all the snacks I brought.
There were a lot of seashells. 
Pals. 
(Pretend David Attenborough is reading this caption): The Caca-too remains at sea for long stretches of time. But eventually, she is driven back to the shore by hunger. Finally, she is driven back to shore by hunger. 
Commando children in oversized shirts. 
More commando children in oversized shirts. 
We survived! 
And everyone was very happy.
Once it was time to go, we had to improvise clothing quite a bit for the 45 minute drive back to the Airbnb. Basically, there were a lot of commando children wearing oversized shirts. Fortunately, the twins also had diapers.
In Conclusion
I cannot believe how much we crammed into this day.
We ate McDo on the road, got home, bathed everyone, and then slept like the dead.
It was an amazing day.
