James Island/Brook Green Gardens Trip 2009

On Friday, December 11th, me, Ian, my mom, Erin, Emma, Morgan, Gurney, Sarabeth, Leah, and Anna packed up and headed to Charleston for a girls weekend. Ok, not all women, we did have Ian with us!

We drove straight to James Island Festival of Lights. We drove down last year and had so much fun we decided we wanted to go again this year. We got down there about 8 and drove in to the park. We headed straight for the train because we had to wait an hour just to get on the train last year. However, this year, we walked right up and were able to get on the train. It was so much fun. They ride you through the park to see all the lights. It was cold again this year...but worth it. After the train ride, we headed over to the big fire pits and roasted marshmellows and drank hot chocolate.

Here are the pics from there:

Then, we all piled in the 2 vans and Ian was OUT:

We headed towards our hotel around 11:30pm...or so we thought. We got just outside the park and Erin pulls off the side of the road. I was driving Sarabeth's van, so I followed suit and pulled over as well. Erin gets out and says she was hearing a thumping sound. She walked around her van and inspected the tires. Sure enough, she found the culprit:

...a BIG BOLT was stuck in her tire. After consulting the husbands, we drove to the hotel without removing the bolt and decided we would find a shop in the morning.

We were all beat, especially Ian:

, so we just unloaded the luggage and kids and hit the sack.

The next morning, Ian showed Morgan some love:

and then we headed to the top of the hotel and ate breakfast:

The restaurant has a beautiful view of Charleston. We ate up there last year...and it's just so nice to be able to look out on the water as you eat breakfast. Erin and my mom then went to the nearest auto shop and the guys at the shop not only removed the bolt for her, they gave her and my mom 2 red roses and said that there was no charge. Awesome!

When they got back, we headed to Folly Beach. It was FREEZING, but we managed to get in a little beach time:

After that, we headed up the coast to Surfside. We headed straight to the Days Inn at the Surfside Pier to unload our stuff. However, we couldn't get to the hotel when we first got there because of the Surfside Christmas parade. So, we sat there and watched it. Finally, we were able to get to the hotel.

After killing some time at the hotel, we went and ate supper at the Hot Fish Club in Murrells Inlet. After supper, we headed to the Brook Green Gardens Night of a thousand candles. That was probably the highlight of the trip for me. It was beautiful. Words cannot describe how peaceful and surreal it felt walking through those beautiful gardens with thousands of candles lit everywhere you looked. They even had a "Childrens" garden where they had colored lights everywhere. That had a handbell choir and a lady walking through the park playing bagpipes. She even stopped and talked with the kids awhile and played jingle bells for them. The music she played was beautiful.

Here are some pics from the gardens:

After that, we headed to the Lazy Gator for some shopping and then back to the hotel for bed. The next morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and hit the road. We had to get back for our Christmas musical. It was such a fun weekend!!! One of the best parts was having my grandmother, Gurney, with us. I am so glad she was able to go with us...a trip I'll always remember!