(this adventure was experienced in June 2007 but it took me about 6 months to complete the write up and share it on my blog. enjoy)
Friday
It was time to travel and the Leff Family was up very early in an attempt to get to the airport and avoid long waits. That wasn’t quite in the cards as the security lines were VERY long. It was fortunate that Greg dropped Heidi off with the luggage and went to park since she was able to check in the bags and get into the security line much earlier. The flight was packed, but Chloe and Paige did great on the first leg to Atlanta. We flew on a “Song” plane which is the now defunct Delta answer to JetBlue. It was a great experience as we had video screens in the back of every seat with some live TV, some pay per view movies, and a really fun trivia game that kept track of scores through out the flight as well as where the people were sitting. Heidi and Greg dominated (of course!). 
We arrived at the Atlanta airport and decided to have lunch which wound up mostly uneventful, although almost not so. As we were getting off of the airline, they announced the wrong local time and we just happened to glance up at a clock in the lunch area and it said 10 min to 3 pm (flight leaves at 3:05pm). We hustled to the gate only to find that the flight was slightly delayed so we were there in plenty of time.
On the second leg, the girls were tired and squirmy. Paige fell asleep with about 10 min left in the flight so her daddy carried her to the luggage claim area. We used Priceline.com again for a rental car, and again we were not disappointed. We piled our bags into a car called a Ford Edge which would be considered a “cross over”. It was plenty large for our family and it had some really nice features like a big sunroof and leather seats. The drive was mostly uneventful althought a bit on the long side.
We finally docked at timeshare condo and were flagged into the parking spot by Grammy. It was a really cool place … we had a third floor walk up and had to carry all bags and kids up there (started off with a good work out). We were thankful to get one side of the condo to ourselves (lock off) with full - albeit a bit small - kitchen, pull out sofa sleeper, bath/shower, and bedroom. It was meet and greet with the rest of the Shults clan and then off to bed.
Saturday
We were up and at ‘em pretty early on Saturday and to our surprise it was raining. And it was supposed to keep raining all day as the remnants of a tropical storm spun up the east coast. This seemed like a good day to head directly to that coast and visit the Charleston Aquarium.
The drive to Charleston was beautiful as we careened down a 2 lane road at the break-neck speed of 45 MPH. This pace did allow us to soak in the green luscious countryside. Once we arrived downtown Charleston we parked across the street from the Aquarium and braved the driving winds and rain that come with a tropical storm. Lunch was the first goal, and we decided to eat next to the aquarium at a place called the Sea Spray Waterfront Cafe. All of the meals that we ordered were fresh, filling, and very tasty, although not cheap. From there it was into the aquarium.
The Aquarium in Charleston is actually called the South Carolina Aquarium and is right on the coast. The building is a fantastic architectural feast for the eyes … and not too bad inside either. As you can see from the photo album here, the girls enjoyed their time in the cool dry aquarium.
In reading some of the local touristy brochures we found that there was a store in downtown Charleston that sold cupcakes, and only cupcakes, and it was called Cupcake. (go figure). The cupcakes they sell are pretty darn tasty, however, the ame of the place should really be over-priced frosting since there is easily as much frosting on the cupcake as there is actual cupcake (which is okay in my book). It was a tasty treat for the drive home.
The evening’s dinner was a fabulous chicken fajitas dish cooked up by the dynamic duo of Tain and Ingrid. They took tofu and soynuts (home roasted) and made a tasty dish as well as a garden salad and a few other side dishes. Delish.
Sunday
The weather was still unkind for beach bumming, so the Leff family decided to head back int o Charleston to visit the Children’s Museum of the Low Country. This was a child’s dream. The entire museum was a hands on experience where the kids could learn using all of their senses. There was a full size shrimping boat inside! And a castle … it was cool.
The Leff clan met up with the rest of the gang at a restaurant called TBonz. The food was average - and it was a bit of a corporate-chain-type place, but the company was what really mattered and it was a pleasing time to sit and relax.
As we were approaching the “turn” to head towards the condo once we had reached Edisto Island, we decided to stop off and take a walk on the beach at sunset. It was a gorgeous evening since the rain had moved on and we soaked up the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves.
Our two little monkies Chloe and Paige were “walking” along the edge of the surf when one of them “accidentally” plopped down in it, so both girls wind up getting completely drenched and covered in sand from head to toe.
Monday
The rain was gone, so it was time to go to the beach. We spent the better part of the day in the water and on the beach just enjoying the sun, sand, and surf. The water was chilly, but we quickly acclimated. Chloe was a trooper and was very willing to go “out” into the ocean, so long as someone was holding her. Paige, not so much.
Dinner this evening was ours, so Chloe and I went to get some fixin’s for dinner. We went to King’s Farm Fresh market (along 174) picked out a key lime pie and some “snacks” for the road - m&m cookie, white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, and a lemon bar. You know, just the essentials. After that, we went to George & Pink farm fresh stand to get some veggies - green and yellow squash and Chloe picked out a delicious peach to eat in the car.
Before heading back home, we drove down a beautiful “side road” called Botany Bay that had really cool canopy growing over the road.
Heidi and Greg made dinner, pasta and veggies with lemon/garlic/butter sauce, fresh garden salad, roasted garlic bread, brie stuffed pork chops with apricot glaze topped with roasted almonds, local made key lime pie from King’s Farm stand for dessert. After dinner we discussed some cool happening’s and history about the Shults famliy.
Once the serious family business was discussed, we played a rousing game of Catch Phrase for the rest of the evening. It was pretty evenly match between the guys and gals (except we all know that GUYS RULE!)
Tuesday
We decided to take a peek at the local flora and fauna at the Edisto Island Serpentarium. I thought it sounded a little ominous until we got in and saw that it was in fact, full of snakes. If you have a fear of snakes, avoid this place. The Serpentarium wound up being a neat little indoor/outdoor zoo that specializes in snakes, lizards, turtles, and alligators. Their exhibit areas were a bit different since they had multiple animals sharing a natual habitat. The indoor area had live mice running around as food, but we didn’t get to see any snakes eating.
The rain returned and poured HEAVILY in the afternoon. We took the opportunity to shop for our “vacation picture frame” and we found a really cool one that looks like a crocodile standing on it’s hind legs holding a picture frame.
Dinner this evening was prepared by Grammy. She made a dish inspired by an old family favorite, baked chicken with sliced potatoes - this time with a little bit of everything that was around the kitchen - green and yellow squash, onion, jalapeño, garlic, potato, and chicken. (probably a few other things as well) We picked up a little peach cobbler from King’s Market and then some vanilla ice cream to go with it, yums.
Uncle Tain had to leave the reunion a bit early and we were very sad to see him go.
He missed a hi-larious set charades games with the guys against girls. The categories we chose were books or movies - however you have to remember the devious minds that were involved. The books and movies ranged from the obscure to the insane. Read on …
One the highlights was listening to Christian trying to get the men to spit out “The Poetics of Space” and running out of time at literally the last second. Another was watching Heidi trying in vain to get the gals to sound out “The Innovator’s Dilemma”.
Wednesday
We started the day on the beach day in the morning. This time around we rented chairs and umbrella which provided a nice place to relax and location to keep our “stuff”. If was a whole lot of fun since we had the entire family there for a little while.
We tried a local restaurant for lunch called Main’s Market, they served up some pretty good “gullah cookin”, it wasn’t the healthiest stuff in the world. We tried okra gumbo, mac and cheese, squash casserole, tomato pie, fried chicken, boston butt(pork), greens, corn pie, red rice, corn bread, and bread pudding. All of the food was edible, but highlights for me/Heidi were the squash casserole, tomato pie, boston butt, and bread pudding.
After lunch it was nap time for everyone so me and Heidi slipped away and left the girls with the grandparents while we went for a walk along the beach. It wound up being a pretty productive saunter as we came back with some neat seashells as well as two shark teeth!
Thursday
As we woke up on Thursday, it was apparant that Chloe was starting to get sick. We didn’t do much in the morning, but while Paige was taking a nap in the afternoon, we Heidi and I slipped out in the afternoon to do a little Geocaching. We found 4 out of the 5 caches we were looking for, and took a Geocoin to be deposited somewhere in Arizona.
On the way back home we picked up a few small treats from King’s Farm stand (are you detecting a pattern here?). This time around we tried the peanut brittle, a mini pecan pie, and a mini apple pie.
Friday
This was our travel home day, so in the morning we finished last minute packing, and got out on the road EARLY for the 1.5 hour drive back to Savannah. Thankfully there was no trouble on the roads
There was no excitement to speak of getting on the airplanes, the kids were a little squirmy on the first flight but the plane was configured with 3 seats and 2 seats so I sat next to Chloe and Heidi sat next to Paige. It was easier to split up the duties that way.
The next leg was back to the 3 and 3 configuration and we had 4 seats across, so I sat across the aisle. This time Heidi sat between the girls and this seemed to be a better configuration to keep them from spazzing out.
The trip was a memorable one and we thoroughly enjoyed all of the special adventures that we shared with our family.
