Anni-moon Pt. 1!

Happy Monday y'all!!! Can't believe we have blown through another weekend yet again! I hope everyone had a beautiful one! I know Britt over at The Magnolia Pair was busy packing for a big move and I pray it goes well for her and her hubby this week! Then, Sarah over at A Lovely Little Life had her precious baby girl on Saturday! Shannon at Page Twenty Two became a Mrs. this weekend!!! And lastly, Tatiana over at Lipstick and Sippy Cups was busy doing her Random Acts of Kindness this weekend and bringing smiles to strangers faces! Lot's of exciting things happening in our bloggy world!!! Be sure to stop by their pages and leave them some love!

Now that I have uploaded SOME photos to the computer from our amazing trip to Charleston, I figured I would start posting about our sweet little Annimoon!!! I think I may just do a complete photo dump from my phone on this post!

To start the trip off we decided to rent a car! We are in the process of looking for a new set of wheels for me and didn't want to put the extra miles on my car since we are going to {hopefully} be selling it soon! Todd's Jeep isn't the "most" reliable on long trips so we just figured it would be less stressful to rent some new wheels!

On the way! 

You always have to stop at South of the Border! But we noticed the big purple dinosaur is no longer there! 

I'm pretty sure I shared with y'all that our in-laws allowed us to use their hotel points for our stay! Therefore we didn't have to drop a dime on our accommodations which was really nice! A huge money saver and we were able to spend that money on things we really really wanted to do or eat! We can't thank them enough for doing that for us!

We are here!! 

The Embassy Suites

This hotel used to be part of the Citadel and is apparently haunted! Yea I didn't sleep so well the first night lol! 

 A week before the trip we just happened to be watching Man vs. Food and where did Adam just happen to be?! Charleston of course! I grabbed a post it note and made sure to write down all the restaurants he visited! The most yummy looking one being the Hominy Grill! We hit this little gem up for dinner the first night there! One of the coolest parts was we WALKED there. It was actually a bit of a hike but it was so fun to walk the streets hand and hand and feel safe! There were so many people out walking and bike riding and EVERYONE said hello! My heart was over joyed with all the sweet southern hospitality.

As Seen On TV! 

We order exactly what Adam recommended on the show! I got the infamous shrimp and grits and the hubby got, what is called "The Big Nasty" and there is NOTHING nasty about it! It consists of a buttermilk biscuit, fried boneless chicken breast, sausage gravy, and fresh shredded pepper jack cheese and oh my word it was heaven in my mouth! Seriously I have to find a way to make this at home!!

The Fire Station photo I took and sent to my Dad. He printed it out and framed it for his office at the Fire Station lol! 

This was the Calhoun Mansion! It is the largest private residence in Charleston and they give tours of it on a daily basis! Other than the obvious historical information they fill you in on when you walk through I also learned that this HUGE house is pretty famous in Hollywood! So, I know all of you have seen the Notebook! Well, some of the interior of Allie's family's summer home was filmed in the Calhoun Mansion! It was really really neat walking around in there knowing that Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling roamed the rooms and hallways as well! 

IPhone Photos don't do this place justice! 

This house was across the street and basically... I want it! 

After having walked the historic downtown area twice in one day, as we had our Anniversary Photo Session that Sunday morning, our legs and feet were done for! I really wish I had turned my pedometer app on for the time that we were there so I could have seen how far we actually walked! To take a little break and get back to the hotel in one piece we called a Pedi Cab to come pick us up! It's a fun fun way to get a tour of the city but relax!

Pedi Cab ride! 

Sunday night, at the recommendation of our hotel bartender {who just happened to be from VA and went to Virginia Tech}, we had dinner at Hall's Chophouse! From the moment we walked in we were greeted with the most genuine hospitality I have ever experienced! It is a family owned restaurant and the entire family was there! One of the sons greeted us at the door and just made us feel right at home! We were then directed to our table for two and welcomed by one fabulous server named, Zach! He was extremely personable and we loved him from the get go! Our meal was, hands down, the best meal we ate while there {and it had some serious competition as Charleston is definitely a foodie town}. We ordered filets, mine topped with creamy blue cheese, a loaded baked potato and lobster mac and cheese! And of course wine and beer to drink! Our filets literally melted in our mouths! The best part of Hall's was what arrived in the mail a few days after we came back home! We had filled out a comment card explaining that Zach was superb and that we enjoyed our time and of course put our address and contact information on it. I'm sure they do this for everyone who fills out a comment card, BUT our server sent us a HANDWRITTEN THANK YOU card in the mail!!!! Seriously!!! We were floored! They literally went above and beyond to make our visit that much more incredible! If you are ever in Charleston, YOU HAVE TO eat there or at least grab a cocktail in the downstairs bar, and be sure to fill out a comment card!!!

Hubby at dinner!

Our amazing meal, which I forgot to take a picture of BEFORE we dug in!

Full on filets, mac and cheese, and love! All of my favorite things! 

After dinner we continued walking down King street into the Shopping district! Stores were closed at this point but I still enjoyed window shopping, especially when I saw these beauties in a store window! I've never seen a pair of Christian Louboutins in person as the closest store to us that sells them is in Richmond. None the less they were gorgeous so naturally I had to snap a photo! I think I literally died on that sidewalk for a moment!

One day I will have a pair of red sole CL's in my closet! 

Of course I had to snapped a photo of the Louis store! We did pay a visit to them the next day and sadly left with no new goodies!

On Monday we decided to take a horse drawn carriage tour throughout the city! I took photos of the tour with my actual camera and will post those tomorrow! It was a great opportunity to see more and hear all of the historic details! These donkeys were hanging out in the barn of the carriage company! Momma and baby! 

Momma and baby!

 The President of my company who I actually used to personally assist travels to Charleston often as we have a branch in North Charleston AND he owns a restaurant down there. Before leaving for vacation I shared with him that I would be traveling there for the first time and he recommended FIG which apparently is one of his favorite restaurants. We decided to make reservations there for our Anniversary night dinner! The menu was...interesting to say the least. We are not huge foodie people. I don't watch the Food Network and I am not the most creative person in the kitchen, therefore looking at the menu was extremely intimidating as I really had NO IDEA what the majority of the items were! Because of that I stuck with what we knew! Softshell crabs and Fish Stew! We also went on a recommendation from the server for our appetizer which actually ended up being delish! All of it was yummy and we enjoyed our evening together with good food and beverages!

The Hubby's fish stew

My softshell crabs! 

After dinner photo! 

 Once we got back to the hotel after dinner we poured wine into our wedding champagne flutes, popped our wedding dvd into the portable dvd player, and lounged on the bed watching our entire wedding day unfold again! It was so fun being able to relive that day! To laugh at all the craziness of the day and to get teary eyed as we were saying our vows! It really was a special night and we enjoyed every moment of it! I really am so glad we hired a videographer for our wedding day! It made our anniversary celebration that much more memorable!

Wore our wedding shoes to dinner, drank out of our wedding flutes, and watched our wedding DVD. 

 On Tuesday we explored King Street some more and popped into a cupcake shop to grab some sweet treats, avoid a little rain storm, and try to find a Spa so we could partake in a couples massage!

Lemon Blueberry cupcake and Yellow cake with Chocolate! 

We weren't liking some of the price tags that were attached to a few couple's massages so we just continued on our way to see what we could find! Low and behold 2 blocks further we found a Spa that offered massages for a great deal! I actually ended up changing my mind and got a pedicure and shellac manicure while the hubby received an hour long massage! I was the only customer in there {I'm assuming because of the rain and it being a Tuesday} and it was glorious! I felt so pampered and my tootsies really needed the love after all the walking! The hubby really enjoyed his massage too and looked so relaxed when it was done! Definitely money well spent!

Heavenly!

 A friend from here in VA who now lives in Charleston sent me another restaurant recommendation which we visited on our last evening in town! Macintosh Restaurant! They had great cocktails, food, and yet another wonderful server! The hubby ordered the Grilled Deckle and I had the Glazed Confit Pork Shoulder with a side of Bone Marrow Bread Pudding {a glorified grilled cheese} and Truffle Frites! Absolutely wonderful and we left so full I thought we would burst!

The bartender won an award for this cocktail - The  Mex-Ital Fizz

House Made Ricotta Gnudi aka Pillows of Love!

 After dinner we decided to participate in one last tour! The Haunted Ghost and Graveyard Tour! This was really fun but not as scary as I had hope, mainly because we didn't realize we had signed up for the "family friendly tour"...RATS! Anywho, we were taken through the historic area of the city at night, including the oldest graveyard that apparently has over 5,000 dead bodies buried under it, and given historic stories and accounts of ghost sightings in each area!

The Original Powder Magazine

Poogin's Porch Restaurant

This place is apparently haunted by an older woman who used to live there a long time ago AND Poogin', the current owners dog who passed away years ago. 

  Our last meal was at the Noisy Oyster in the Market area of Downtown! I enjoyed a Fried Green Tomato BLT and the hubs had Mahi Tacos! The most interesting part of the meal was the FRIED GATOR we tried! Taste just like chicken!!

Looks like chicken too! 

Pretty flippin good! 

One thing I know is that Charleston has some of the best food I have ever had in my life! Everything I have eaten since we have been home has tasted like cardboard! If you are ever down there, pay these restaurants a visit!! They are well worth it and we really had no complaints about any of the places we ate at! The service is impeccable and everyone is ridiculously helpful and kind! Very genuine! The epitome of Southern Hospitality! The tours are amazing as well! Just make sure if you want the scary ghost tour ya make sure you don't go on the family friendly one! Ha ooops!!! 

Be sure to come back tomorrow as Ill be posting photos of the carriage ride tour and all the the amazing homes in downtown!! Have an awesome rest of the day!!! 

XoXo,