Such Great Heights

aka Our SC Trip Part Deux

We expected Monday to be rainy and miserable, but we woke up to blue skies. So we headed to the beach. As much as I love Colorado, I miss the beach so much. I ache for it. I crave it. The other day I realized I didn't go swimming in Denver ONCE last summer. As a girl who grew up 15 minutes from the beach, who, for many summers, had passes to the neighborhood pool or local waterpark, and then liefguarded for 5 years ... this is not easy for me to stomach. So, anyhow, you can bet we went to the beach while in Charleston.

And I got fried. I put a liberal amount of sunscreen on my upper body and face, but my chest and forehead still got burned. And I didn't put sunscreen on my legs, but we were only at the beach for 2 hours and my legs have never burned easily. Well, they got burnt to a crisp. When we got home, my mom said, "I should've warned you that you're more sensitive to the sun when you're pregnant." So, while Kurt and Collin headed back to the beach on Tuesday, I stayed home. However, the beach was so nice on Monday that I didn't mind--breezy, not too hot, and the water was still cool (the water around Charleston gets quite warm by the end of the summer, which is nice too, but it's also nice while it's still cool in the early summer).

Monday night we went and saw The Avengers with my family (which was awesome). Tuesday night I went to dinner with my girlfriends from high school, Megan and Katherine. It was really fun to see and hang out with them, get the low down on everyone who went to JIHS, and discover that Megan also loves Sister Wives. (Seriously, what is it about that show?)

When Kurt gets an idea in his head, he has a hard time letting it go without trying it. And a few months he read an article about She Crab Soup, which is a big traditional dish in Charleston. He was shocked that I'd never had it, but as a kid I wasn't much of a soup fan and I hated crab, so why would I've tried it? On Wednesday morning he decided to finally find a place that had it, especially since it was in season while we were in town. One place he found was Hominy Grill, which is very famous, so us and my dad headed over there for the lunch. Apparently the She Crab Soup wasn't as good as she crab soups go (though Kurt still enjoyed it), but everything was FANTASTIC. Kurt got their shrimp and grits, which was very different from other restaurants', but absolutely my favorite ever. Instead of serving the shrimp in a sauce over the grits, they sauteed them with mushrooms and some other stuff I can't remember. And the grits were white cheddar cheese grits. HOLY COW, they were so good. All the food was awesome, and we were all stuffed and happy afterwards. Also, try their chocolate pudding if you go. I know right--chocolate pudding at a restaurant? But theirs is life changing (Alton Brown named it one of the best things he's ever eaten soooooo yeah). And I saw my middle school band director, Mr. Stewart!

That night we went to my parents' favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner (because clearly we hadn't eaten enough for the day), and then my mom and I went shopping for maternity clothes. I'd been dreading this, but it actually was quite fun. Maternity clothes are cute! And since then, I've only worn my maternity pants because I love wearing pants without zippers or buttons.

On Thursday we ... I actually can't remember what we did, but that night my grandma threw me a baby shower. It was so sweet of her (and my mom, of course, who made a ton of the food)! And everyone who came was so generous. We're off to a good start on our baby supplies. And Kurt helped Dad with the pulled pork, so he got the learn the fine art of bbqing pork. He did a good job (and he made some awesome gouda mac'n'cheese too).

On Friday we kidnapped Collin and headed up to SC's Redneck Riviera, Myrtle Beach. Kurt had never been, so it was time. Unfortunately, it was drizzly on and off, but we cruised the strip a few times so Kurt could get a feel for the local color. We thought about eating at the Hard Rock Cafe, but decided instead to ask the locals where they like to eat. Turns out it's a yummy fast food burger place called .... I can't remember. Anyhow, the burgers were awesome. Then we walked the strip in hopes of finding those bathing cover t-shirts that have the sexy women's bikini body drawn on them (you know what I mean, right?). We couldn't find any, but found some pretty awesomely-redneck shirts instead. We rented Thor that night, since my parents hadn't seen it. Always a good movie.

Saturday we ran downtown to grab pralines for our neighbors, and oh yeah, Dad took Kurt and Collin giggin on Friday night. Sadly, they didn't get to stay out for long because the gig broke on Collin's first fish. But still, Kurt has no experienced gigging. That evening the boys headed back out to the beach for more surfing because there was a nice swell in. I'd wanted to go to the beach that day, but it ended up being cloudy and in the 70s--too cool for me. But Dad and I followed the boys out, and got some fun shots of them. We were all pretty exhausted, had to get up early the next morning for our flights home, and had tons of left overs, so we hung out at the house that night, keeping it easy. The next morning we were up at the airport nice and early.

We had such a great trip! I miss Charleston already, but of course it's always good to back in your own home. And of course I missed Swift and Ruby. But now I miss my family and the beach and Charleston. Guess I'll always miss something. :)