Flashback...back it up...back it up....First Family Vacation!

Vacation!!!
Yeah!!! Melissa, Madeline and I were fortunate enough to take our first vacation as a family the last weekend in February. We decided to get away from the deep freeze that was WI and hit up Charleston, SC. We chose this city because of its temperate climate as well as its historical significance, and really it had a huge opportunity to really walk everywhere which made it Madeline friendly. It was also a "test" to see how our little girl likes vacationing since we love it...and lets face it..whether or not she liked vacationing on this trip..it is part of our lives..so she better get used to it from an early age!

Here is a synopsis of our itinerary...

Thursday, February 24, 2011
- Surprise at Dane County airport. Flight was a half an hour early...how this could happen given the original time was 6am was beyond me...but really gets your blood flowing in the morning doing an all out sprint with a huge backpack, suitcase and baby luggage. But we made it!
- Madeline's first plane trip could not have gone any better. She slept the whole time from Madison to Chicago...but then....it was party time at O'Hare...OH MY were there things to see!!! She smiled at everyone and especially liked eating cheerios at the gate while boarding.
- Maddie's second plane trip (the longer one) also was without incident. She did GREAT! Pretty much dozed the whole time to Charleston. And we must have had a heck of a tailwind because we arrived 45 minutes early!
- We secured a taxi and got to our hotel downtown in the historic district by 1130 am so we had the whole day to walk around and explore. We decided to get a map and walk down to the Aquarium which is the launching point for Fort Sumpter (where the civil war began.) On the way we took in lunch at a New York style deli called East Bay Deli which was delicious...Melissa and I had roast beef, Maddie had fruit and cheerios.
- It was a beautiful day outside so we boarded the boat to Fort Sumpter. It was a two hour trip including an hour on the fort (an island) as well as a harbor tour. We heard great history of the Fort and took some great pictures. Maddie was very interested in all that was going on and had her first afternoon in our umbrella stroller which she LOVED. Overall GREAT tour!
- Of course on the walk back we hit up a local grocery store with quite a selection to get dinner, which consisted of sandwiches. Maddie had a long day so we settled in at about 530pm to a night of playing with stacking cups and exploring the hotel room!

Friday, February 25, 2011
- The evening was rough. Maddie had a hard time falling asleep and got very congested because there was air blowing on her from above. So she was up a good portion of the night. But was of course cheery in the morning:)
- The family was up at 6:15 with a breakfast of OJ and muffins, and managed to get out the door at 9:00.
- We decided to take advantage of the culture of the city with a historic walk (they have a bunch of these you can pay for, but we got a route online and took our own free version which was a pretty good deal since we saw "paid" tours on our route.) The city is beautiful. Gas lanterns on every home, historic mansions with palm trees. Eclectic seafood restaurants, a public market, shopping and cobblestone streets. We especially liked our walk right along the ocean viewing the water to the left, and the mansions to the right. It was a perfect morning.
- The weatherman was wrong...he told us there was going to be a 20% chance of rain after 2pm...well, it was rainstorming at 11am. So we decided to walk the mile to the aquarium.
- All I have to say is that Madeline LOVED the aquarium. It melted both of our hearts to see her so smiley and happy. This aquarium has the tallest tank in North America (two stories) as well as a ton of little ones. All were set up with steps so that Madeline could stand and put her nose and hands on the glass. Such smiles and laughs!! Pictures and video don't do it justice. She was so happy. Funny how she is wary of some small dogs yet smiles at fish that swim by three times as large as she is! By far the highlight of the family's trip!
- In the afternoon we became "Lost" in the city. We explored different streets and looked at different buildings just to take it all in. We stopped at a historical building which president George Washington visited and I believe was one of only two buildings where the Declaration of Independence was signed, (the other being Independence hall.) In the basement of the building they had a dungeon tour, which was really cool to learn of the history and what went on there. Normally the history of Charleston hinges around the civil war, but this particular dungeon/building had strong ties to the revolutionary time period, George Washington and the British. Very interesting. Maddie went..whoo...whoo..while we were down there..and wanted to touch everything!
- We emerged from the dungeon to gorgeous weather...upper 70's and sunny, which meant we needed to walk to the other side of town...we of course stopped for lunch at a "crab shack" and sampled awesome seafood and the local brew. We then walked down the shopping district and topped off our walk with dessert. Gourmet cupcakes!
- A short stop into Subway to pickup dinner and we were off for the evening to the hotel to lounge and play!

Saturday, February 26, 2011
- The night sleep was soooo good. Relaxing and quiet for all three of us. Once again we are early risers and were up at 6:15. We again had breakfast in the room and headed out by 9am.
- Due to the rain the previous day, our route was cut short for our historic walk, hence we decided to finish it. The weather was superb, so rather than picking up where we left off, we started from the beginning. This time we took it slow, documenting the beautiful city with pictures and video. We ended up walking all seven hours of the day outside. Great exercise.
- Charleston sits on sort of a peninsula, and at the tip of the peninsula two major roads come together in the historic distric. We walked up and down both of these roads (Battery & Murray) twice since the view was great, our little girl was swinging her legs happily and the weather was calm and warm. On one of the side streets we decided to take in one historical home to tour. It was called the Hayward Washington house named so because George Washington stayed there on his "tour of the union" shortly after he was president. It was a typical historical home, but offered the rare opportunity to get to see the gated gardens so many historical Charleston homes offer. Lots of landscaping, but well worth it. I was jealous...I want more trees in our yard:)
- For lunch we visited a restaurant called Gilligans which we could not find the prior day (due to my unsuperb mapping skills depite working six years in transportation) which was next to the cruise ship stop and the US Customs building. This restaurant was great. We had a late lunch, missed the crowd and Maddie had a BLAST in the high chair eating off the table. We sort of boycotted the canned baby food we brought along since she hadn't had it before, but ate our Cheerios (shocking) as well as some other parts of Mama & Papa's meal. Great meal, laughs all around and an overall good time!
- After lunch we walked the whole length of historic Tradd street. This street is known for its beautiful gated gardens on the sides of homes, "single houses," "rainbow row," as well as a renovated area that was a former ghetto in the early twentieth century. We ended up on the bay:)
- After a mandatory beer run to get the local brew we liked so much, "Palmetto," a quick run into subway, we walked back to the hotel in stride with our happy little one to stretch her legs and play some more!

Sunday, February 27, 2011
- Last day. We had a flight out at 11am and wanted to get a head start so we were up, had breakfast in the room and packed up by 830. We called a cab and headed to the airport.
- Had quite a wait at the airport as it wasn't as busy as expected, but we were paranoid since we almost missed our flight out of Madison. Maddie did great on the flight to Chicago, rested and was chipper the whole way.
- Encountered a layover in Chicago longer than expected and Maddie got a little restless, but as to be expected. She was a darling though when on the flight back to Madison she tore up a "SkyMall" magazine and jumped off Melissa's lap on the floor. She was all smiles and was very entertained by the other passengers.

We landed safely and completed a memorable trip. We thank God for our safe travels and great time. Thanks also to Uncle Mike for his recomendations of location, hotel and eateries. Madeline was a gem and seemed to enjoy the time also. It looks like she is well on her way to being a Meyer traveler!!!!