After our visit with my family in Virginia, we headed to Charleston, South Carolina to meet up with Adam’s parents. They had always wanted to see Charleston and Savannah and since our niece was about to get married in Florida, they decided to make a trip of it down the east coast and we came along for the ride. They stayed at the Marriott so we stayed there as well. We felt quite pampered after spending nights in tree houses, bungalows and not so glamourous pension houses throughout Southeast Asia! We took a boat ride out to Fort Sumpter National Park to see where the first shots of the Civil War where fired. Then we spent a great couple of days walking around the old town, checking out the historic architecture and visiting the beautiful Magnolia plantation. At Magnolia’s, it has a beautiful entrance as you drive along under the trees dripping with Spanish moss, but we also enjoyed a boat tour along the Ashley River next to the flooded rice fields. We were quite happy to indulge in southern comfort food, at popular local joints such as Magnolia’s (unrelated to the plantation) and Poogan’s Porch, feasting on everything from shrimp n’ grits, to fried green tomatoes, creamy she-crab soup, and fried oysters while I guzzled down a few gallons of my favorite, sweet ice tea!