Ahhh... the South! I've been looking forward to this trip since, well... since I got home from my last one. Although i nearly melted in the heat (in May! I can't even imagine August!), both Charleston and Savannah were even more picturesque than I imagined.
Charleston- My camera stayed packed away in my purse for most of my exploration of Charleston (because most of the exploration was of rooftop bars... I found one with a SWIMMING POOL! Roof + beer + swimming pool = heaven!). I did snap this looking out onto the Charleston Harbor.
There's something about salty air that invigorates the soul.
Did I really just say that?! With a straight face?
Shem Creek- As is now tradition on Cara Vacations, I found a kayak trip with dolphins. Coastal Expeditions Shem Creek Kayak Tour took us up the creek to the Charleston Harbor, around Crab Bank Island- a seabird sanctuary with thousands of birds and hatching baby seagulls (I think!), and back. Along the way, we saw a huge Loggerhead Sea Turtle poke his cute/ugly head out of the water, and the trip wouldn't have been complete without 4 or 5 dolphins playing and breaching around the kayak. I was certain they were out to tip me over! After a long kayak, we enjoyed drinks and dinner nearby at the waterfront restaurants.
Savannah was much as I expected... Sleepy, quaint, oh-so-southern, and HOT. The Spanish Moss is so amazingly beautiful to a Kansas/ Chicago girl! I've got to figure out how to get that to survive a Chicago winter! There were historic buildings, fences, stairs, etc. everywhere I turned. And about every 100 feet, there's a square where they do a lot of their sitting. These southern folks do soooo muuucccchhh sitting. They must really think a lot because what else would you do sitting in squares or on the front porch or at the beach for days on end?!
Historic stairs to the riverfront-
As luck would have it, we were in Savannah during some huge pub crawl... this pup was my favorite thing about the unusual crowds!
I found it interesting that their concrete had shells in it instead of gravel/ rocks....
And, no trip to the South would be complete without a honey butter biscuit. This is what dreams are made of.