Charleston- Beach Time

On this trip to Charleston we stayed at Folly Beach, which was like visiting an old friend.  Folly is the beach where we hung out back when we were locals.  It was nice to see that is hadn't changed too much.  

The beach house we rented was a dream- the decks on the front of the house overlooked the ocean; the decks on the back of the house overlooked the marsh.  We had breathtaking views of all the sunrises and sunsets.

And loads and loads of beach time

Charleston- Charles Towne Landing

Charles Towne Landing is one of our favorite places to visit when we are in the Low Country.  It is a re-creation of the original English settlement in South Carolina with miles of beautiful walking trails, a wildlife park, and a replica of a colonial cargo ship.

 

Charleston- The Charleston Aquarium

We visited the beautiful aquarium and communed with many wild creatures, including albino alligators, lemurs, and eagles

Also mermaids

And Moray eels.

Charleston- Cooper River Bridge Run

We lived in Charleston during my high school years.  Charleston is a beautiful city that makes you wonder why anyone would ever live anywhere else.  Every year there is a 10K run over the Cooper River Bridge which spans the Charleston Harbor.  I ran that run several times... but that was (ahem) many years ago.

  

We love  to go back to Charleston every chance we get.  My brother goes back almost every year to run the Cooper River Bridge Run.  This year (long story short) I ran with him.

It was an amazing experience.  I was mostly amazed that I was able to run most of the 6.2 miles.  It helped that we paused for a few rest breaks to take selfies.

I was amazed to see this hero running in full gear... and to find out that his name is Smiley! (No, I didn't recognize him from the family reunion; it was printed on his uniform).  We greeted each other as cousins and ran together for a bit.

I was truly amazed to bump into my amazing friend, Stephanie, who was a resident at Children's Hospital a few years ago and now lives in Charleston. She ran dressed as shark for some reason (I didn't ask. I just figured that was something awesomely athletic people like her do).

We celebrated with some of my favorite kind of selfies: 

Finish Line Selfies!