Week 20: Vacation in the Deep South

When school let out on June 3, I was ecstatic.  Not to get rid of the kids or to not have to work for two months, but because I would finally get out of the sweltering heat of my second floor classroom (which thankfully was only terrible that last week!).  On that Friday, Kyle and I also packed up the family and drove to St. Louis.  We dropped the fur-children off at his parents house and then headed to my family home to sleep for a few hours before waking at 3:30 to hit the road for Charleston.  The 14 hour drive was a-okay, even for a pregnant lady. 

We arrived in Low Country just in time for dinner.  (Great timing, right?)  Our first taste of Charleston was at a restaurant that uses all local ingredients called The Glass Onion.  At Rita's recommendation, I ordered the SC Fried Quail with SC melon and braised greens.  This meal was all it took to rekindle my romance with southern cuisine.  Thus began a week of eating AMAZING food and trying a plethora of 'different food.'  I wanted to take pictures of all the food, but couldn't bring myself to do it!    I'm hoping all of this adventurous eating rubs off on little McBaby as according to one of my many weekly pregnancy newsletters, he/she is gulping down amniotic fluid to practice swallowing and digestion.  The coolest part is that the babe's taste buds actually work and studies have shown that after birth babies respond best to the tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid.  That means little McBaby will respond well to grits, octopus salami, headcheese, pufferfish, and she crab soup!  All five of which were new culinary experiences for me on the trip.  I must have watched too many episodes of No Reservations before we left because I was waaaay more adventurous than usual! 

In addition to all the eating and eating and eating, we

toured Ft. Sumter

visited a plantation and saw lots of alligators

played at Folly Beach 

 met our dog-niece, Stella   

She's a keeper!

searched for birds 
(okay, mostly Kyle did this)

 

Yup, this is what birdwatching looks like.  South Carolina was full of different species Kyle had never seen before, so he spent hours looking for all of them!  All in all, the vacation was successful for bird watching; my favorite was seeing a group of 22 wood storks flying over the marsh!   

My sixth trip to Charleston was fantastic.  It's crazy to think the next time I go, it will be with a baby in my arms instead of my stomach! 

Check out the week 20 bump picture. Clearly, I will be rocking my non-maternity two-piece all summer.  :  )