Charleston and Columbia

I spent a few days in South Carolina visiting my cousins last week (before the horrendous train ride). They live in Columbia, so most of my time was spent there just hanging out and then one day Marty and I took a trip to Charleston. 

My first couple days in Columbia, everybody had to work, but that was just ine with me. I spent the days relaxing and half heartedly looking for jobs online. I spent a good deal of each day just walking around their neighborhood, which was really nice and I really like Carolina houses. haha I think they are adorable. The first night, Marty, Jeff, Melissa, Chad and I all got to meet up for dinner at this delicious pizza joint and the next night we went over to Melissa's and watched her cook. Marty pretty much had to guide her along, and it was something I imagine my sister and I doing one day. haha Melissa and Kristen seem like they would be very similar in the kitchen. But dinner turned out wonderfully and it was delicious. 

The next day, Marty took off work and the two of us went on a mini road trip to Charleston. Charleston is what you would imagine a post civil war city on the water to be like. Very Southern, very cute. It kinda reminded me of New Orleans, without the Mardi Gras-ness, if that makes any sense at all. We got there and had lunch (crab cake sandwich, very fitting) and walked through the old market and looked at the crafts and things. I can't remember exactly, but I think it's a tribe that weaves these absolutely baskets. I should probably look it up. Anyways, they were everywhere. Then we took a carriage tour through the city and saw the biggest houses I have ever seen and learned about Charleston green (a color, that looks like black, and something to do with the civil war) and saw some of the biggest houses I have ever seen. After the carriage tour we wandered around King's St. and did some window shopping and stopped at a candy shop to buy a bunch of yummy pralines! Then we headed back to Columbia and met up with Jeff for dinner!

The next day, Marty and Melissa both had the day off and we met up for lunch at Groucho's, which I loved mostly because of it's atmosphere. It was all college kids, packed, and reminded me of sandwich places in Waco. Then they drove me through University of South Carolina campus and around town. I saw where both of them worked and where some people used to live during college. Then we went to a baby boutique to get Melissa's diaper bag. That night, everybody came over for bbq and to hang out and watch the X games! Then I packed and got ready for the train ride to DC and the rest is history. haha Anyways, South Carolina was very fun and it was so good to see my cousins!