South Carolina --> Florida

After birthday weekend in Asheville, we were very tired. We were heading towards Florida, but we had some time to spare, so we took things slow. On Monday, we laid around after work in the Walmart parking lot. We did not feel great. We aren’t as young as we once were! On Tuesday, we decided to lay low again, but decided to do so by the water. We went to Lake Murray where we found a great little park overlooking the water. T made a delicious salmon dish and we watched the sunset. A beautiful evening!

On Wednesday, we decided to get out of the van. The Salty Nut Cafe in Colombia, SC was having trivia night - our fav! The wings were super cheap and the bar had fun vibes. We were definitely in a college town. There were pitchers of beer everywhere. We were very thirsty, so our waiter also brought us a pitcher…of water! We really felt like thirty year olds. It was still a fun evening!

We checked another National Park off our list on Thursday! We went to Congaree National Park. Congaree was beautiful. We were able to tackle the whole visit in an afternoon. The park was mostly a walking path in the woods. We enjoyed being back in the wilderness. There were giant spiders everywhere! Gorgeous webs and spiders. We got to the park before lunch, so we were able to enjoy our lunch break exploring, then we finished the work day in the parking lot surrounded by the trees. After work, we went back to exploring until sunset. It was a beautiful evening! We finished the night by making tacos. They were delicious!

T and I decided at the last minute that Charleston was the vibe for the weekend! It would add an extra two hours to our journey to Florida, but Charleston is one of my favorite places in the country, so we decided it was worth it! Part of the reason we love going to Charleston is because of how easy it is to find somewhere to sleep! There is a parking deck right in the happenings of the city that allows overnight parking. The deck is made for buses, so it is tall enough for us to fit in. We were surrounded by RVs, vans, and skoolies that were also sleeping there. It’s the perfect spot and very cheap!

Right beside the parking deck is a bar named The Brick. We frequent The Brick because it’s a cool spot and because it has a bathroom! That is always our last stop of the night so we can take a final potty break, but we often make it our first stop before we take on the city. Per tradition, it was our first stop when we arrived on Friday. We walked in and someone called our names! Some of TC’s family was in town for a concert and stopped at The Brick for dinner. They were only in town for a few hours, and we didn’t even plan to come to Charleston until the day before so you can bet we were all so surprised to run into each other! It was so fun! The best surprise as we had not seen them in a long time.

You may remember from our very first blog post in 2021 that we also had a strange, serendipitous moment at our first ever visit to The Brick. A guy I went to high school with, in my one stoplight town, was our bartender; and the folks sitting beside us were traveling the country full-time and had been in Raleigh the week before and had visited the kid’s museum where I worked! Crazy, weird connections at The Brick!

After visiting The Brick, we went to Ink Rooftop bar. Very fun atmosphere, and it was a great night to be on a rooftop. We only spent a few minutes at the rooftop before we headed to our fav spot - John King Dueling Piano Bar! Y’all know we love a piano bar! We fell in love on a dance floor at a piano bar, so we steal every chance we can to make it back to one. We even got them to play Shakedown Street by The Grateful Dead! We were grooving!

For brunch on Saturday, we went to Felix. It was delicious and the place was very cute! We mostly spent the day wandering around the city and enjoying the sun. We stopped in the park for a quick rest and then spent the later afternoon watching the sunset at The Battery. The end of the night had us back at The Brick where T taught me to play darts. I had never played before and I loved it! Now, we always have our eyes watching for a dart board at a bar.

Our Sunday morning started the same way our Sunday mornings always start in Charleston, at Big Bad Breakfast! The place is delicious. I always get the same dish. An open-faced biscuit with fried chicken, eggs, cheese and gravy on top. Delicious! And I always have enough to have a second serving the next morning.

After Charleston, we had an important stop to make in Edisto Beach, SC. Our friends from Raleigh, Tripp and Krysta, were there for the weekend with their sweet little baby! We had not met their baby yet as he was born the week after we moved out of Raleigh, so the timing worked beautifully! He was so precious and we loved seeing Tripp and Krysta after not seeing them for months! We stopped by to dip our toes in the ocean before we left.

Monday started our quick journey towards Florida. T and I had to do some research to prepare for Halloween the following week. We had plans to spend Halloween with our niece and nephew in Disney World! I’ve been afraid of Halloween my whole life, but in recent years I have been facing the fear. We decided this year was the perfect opportunity to do a joint Halloween costume. We chose Mike and Sulley from Monsters Inc. To get into character, we spent Monday night watching Monsters University! I just love MIke and Sulley - the two best friends!

On Tuesday, we did our favorite Tuesday night activity. We went bowling in Brunswick, Georgia! We spent Thursday watching the NC State game at a Buffalo Wild Wings in St. Augustine, Florida. Friday night, we slept in a Cracker Barrel parking lot beside the Daytona Speedway. We woke up to revving engines. What an experience!

I called my parent’s earlier in the week and they told us they were driving down to Florida a day earlier than we expected! YAY! We spent the day with them on the beach. Due to unexpected King Tides, it took us a long time to find somewhere near Daytona Beach to actually sit on the beach. I'd never even heard of King Tides before. We ended up at New Smyrna Beach. It was a beautiful day, and I was SO excited to get one-on-one time with my parents and TC before the rest of the family arrived!

My parents suggested we go to Aunt Catfish’s On the River for dinner. They had been there several times before and said it was delicious. The food was great, but the views were even better! We got lucky and were seated right by the window at the river. A group of Porpoises came up to the window sticking their fins out. It was SO COOL!!!

On Sunday morning, we made breakfast in the Target parking lot before heading to DISNEY WORLD! We originally did not plan to stay in the resort on Sunday night. We were planning to meet the family first thing Monday morning. After barely sleeping Saturday night because of the Florida heat, we decided to go ahead and add on an extra night at the hotel. We didn’t want to start our Disney vacation already exhausted from lack of sleep. One of the signs on the way into the Pop Century Resort said “Air Conditioned Rooms!” It made us giggle, because that was exactly what we were looking for!

The rest of our family arrived Sunday night! We celebrated our niece’s 3rd birthday at Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs. So fun! After, T and I stopped by Ghirardelli. When I worked at Disney, my friend and I went almost weekly to Ghiradelli to get ice cream. It’s one of my favorite memories from my time at Disney. I’d also told T a lot about how much I loved the ice cream, so I wanted him to try some. SO GOOD! It lived up to my memories!

After ice cream, we rushed back to the hotel to sing Happy Birthday to our girl and give her presents. I had to put some final touches on our costumes. It was a mess in our room after cutting up the boa we used for Sulley’s spots. We went to sleep early and slept SO good in the air conditioning.

We had the absolute BEST first day at Disney on Monday! We spent the day at Magic Kingdom. It was fun getting to show T where I worked. We rode the highlight rides: Dumbo, Magic Carpet, It’s A Small World, Teacups. We also had to stop by the Monster Inc. Laugh Floor. While at Disney, T discovered that he likes roller coasters! He's told me for years that he hated them, but after a few smaller ones, he was willing to ride the big ones! After everyone went back to the hotel to go to bed, T and I sprinted to Hollywood Studio. We rode Toy Story Mania TWICE! And we even got on Slinky Dog. SO FUN! I was able to ride Toy Story Mania the last time I was at Disney, but I did not get on Slinky Dog. T had not been on either. We were so excited!

On Tuesday, we celebrated ALL the October babies at Animal Kingdom! My niece, nephew and I had matching birthday shirts. We all share October as a birthday month. We started the day at the safari seeing all the animals. After the safari, we got to meet Mickey and Minnie! Yay! My sister, T and I were able to get on Avatar Flight of Passage which is my all-time favorite ride! I love it so much! We had a blast! My sister, Dad, and I road Everest; which is a fav of ours! It's tradition that we always ride together. After everyone went home for the night, T and I went to Epcot and had hibachi in Japan. It was so good!

Wednesday was Big Kid Day! The Big Kids went to Epcot to drink around the world while the grandparents kept the kiddos back at the resort. It’s not often the big kids get to hang out. We had an absolute blast together! We walked around, rode a few rides, and ended our time with dinner in Mexico. It rained a little on us, but it didn’t stop us from seeing the show at the end of the night. So thankful for this time together with my siblings!

Thursday was our last day-so sad! We spent the day back at Magic Kingdom & it was decorated for Christmas!! SO FUN to see the change from Halloween to Christmas in such a short time. My event-planner brain was going through all the logistics of this change. While the kids were at nap, T and I did wander back to Hollywood Studio for another ride on Toy Story Mania. We ended the evening by watching the fireworks together as a family.

Leaving was hard. I cried a lot. I love being on the road, but I miss my family so, so much! They’re my people. We get along so well and always have the best time together! I’ve never lived this far away. Our week together at Disney was a dream come true! We had the absolute BEST time! T and I absolutely love being an aunt and uncle, and are thankful for all of the time we get with our babies! I am blessed with the best family! I started counting down to Christmas the second we left the park!

We grabbed a Starbucks in Magic Kingdom right before the fireworks started, because we had to start driving to our next destination- Key West!