The South: Part II - Charleston and Rachele's Wedding

Welcome to our second blog of the night, which is low on text but high on visuals.

After Savannah, we ventured north to ... 

Charleston ... a city rich in heritage and horse poop. On our first full day in the city, we took a horse-drawn carriage ride through the historic old city where we captured photos of the kids not paying attention and of very quaint houses. Although Charleston doesn't compare to the beauty of Savannah, it is a cute and very livable city with a number of fountains and very old, cobblestoney streets (some of which have houses that still have shoe scrapers out front (for the horse poop, don't you know)). We had a wonderful time and would recommend the city for any visitor.

One of our excursions in Charleston was "Charles Towne Landing," the site of the original city, which has been remade into a tourist attraction that includes a native animal zoo (in the below image, Kate and the kids are looking for a black bear) and a homestead complete with a stockade (for when you've been bad) and a sand bowling area (for when you've been good). It was a huge park with few bathrooms, but the kids enjoyed it.

E "Bug Queen" Ward puts a lady bug on H. H "Squeamish" Ward does not like said bug. Humor ensues. 

We also had a picnic breakfast by the Angel Oak tree, a very old tree not far from Charleston. 

The Wedding ... We only took a few photos here because we were too busy having a great time slash drinking slash having a great time. Although H talked all throughout the ceremony (we needed to go for a walk in the middle of it so the audience heard Mike's vows instead of "MY CHOO CHOO GO VRRRRROOOOM!" or "WHY MY 'SHHHH'?"), they got hitched without a hitch and celebrated afterward with friends, family and a beautiful sunset. It was a great event.

The Drive Back ... was actually OK. Amid rain showers, we stopped on the way out of Charleston to visit the Cypress Gardens, where we paddled our way through the gator-laden swamp, visited a butterfly garden, and had too much fun in the playground (see video, below). Instead of stopping somewhere in Virginia on the way back, we gave the kids happy meals (yes, happy meals!) and pressed on until Bethesda. 

He gets two photos because, well, he deserves them. 

It got a little crazy in the car on the way back ... we survived, let's leave it at that, OK?