Train Ride

First of all I have to say it is wonderful having Kent home again! He has been home for one month today and we still love him! ;)> We put off Nicole's birthday gift which was a train ride, so that dad could go with us. We found out he was coming home, but only new for sure when, about a week before. So we surprised the kids and it was really fun.

Since Kent too was having a birthday, he got to pick the place we would take the train ride to. So we ended up in Charleston, SC. Here is how it went....

So, we went on our train ride finally! It was good except that we couldn't get the WI-fie to work on the train and it said it would. I had downloaded movies so we wouldn't have to take anything but our electronics and they failed us. Going to Charleston was 4 hours and by the fourth hour Nicole was obnoxiously bored. We got there fine and got a cab to the airport to get a rental car and go eat. We were looking for Sticky Fingers, but never found it so we ate at O'Charlies instead. Then we went to the room and slept. Not too exciting the first night. Everyone liked looking out the windows on the train and liked that they could move around.  In Charleston we caught a ferry ride to Ft. Sumter and toured the fort. Along the way they told us some of the history and we watched the dolphins who followed the boat, the seagulls who dove for fish and turtles swimming in the water. Nicole loved it all! She wasn't as interested in the history of the Fort, but the rest of us were and wished we had had more time. We only got an hour on shore and never made it to the inside museum because we were exploring the outside parts. bummer! On the way back dad bought some "Charleston Chew" candy bars. We thought it was appropriate since we were in Charleston, KJ and Nicole didn't really like them too much. Oh well! Another dolphin followed the boat back and was right by KJ and Nicole's window. since they were on the bottom deck they got a real good view and Nicole said she could even see it under the water! KJ got a picture. We went and ate lunch at the Hominy Cafe. A famous place were many celebrities have eaten. I had an eggplant and goat cheese sandwich. It was actually quit good. I also ate fried green tomatoes and the best pecan pie ever! It was mostly pecan's all the way through mixed with the gel sauce stuff, instead of the gel stuff and only pecan's on top. You would have liked it. I wasn't sure about the egg plant, but I wanted to try something different since I was at this cafe that has been featured on TV and the cooking channel.  We couldn't find the outdoor market so we went to the Drayton Hall Plantation. It is the oldest plantation in the US still open to the public. It was fun and interesting. Nicole was a little scared for a few moments when the weather report came across with an emergency on the way to the place warning of thunder, hail and tornado's. We checked when we got to the plantation and the only thing we had to worry about was the heavy rain. Dad and KJ decided to try and take in a swamp walk before the rain hit, but failed! They were soaked! hahahah. KJ had my Disney rain jacket on so he wasn't as bad as dad. Nicole and I had gone into what they called their library to listen to a presentation because it made Nicole feel safer. Needless to say we fared well. They lent us an umbrella when it was time for our tour and we had to run over to the plantation house itself. By the time we were done the storm was just a light sprinkle. We signed up with the restoration society so we could go see more plantations at free or discounted prices all over the USA. Afterwards, we drove and finally found the Sticky Fingers restaurant. It wasn't as good as it had been at Christmas and we were a little disappointed. Oh well, we still enjoyed it. Next we went to find this huge tree called Angel Oak. It is so big it takes 12 men finger tip to finger tip to go around it. Possibly the biggest oak tree in America. The branches reach out across 1/4 acre of land and is so heavy that some are on the ground now and others are being held up with boards so they don't break off from the massive weight. We took some pictures outside the fence because it was closed by the time we got there. Luckily it was by the old dirt road so we were able to see it. Finally we headed back to our hotel room. By then my throat was beginning to get sore. We all took showers and just chilled. We fell asleep quickly when we laid down.