Day 1: Charleston

Well, we made it to Charleston safely! Our flight left Memphis at 1:45 p.m. Before we left the house Ally was standing in the driveway looking up to the sky and we told her that she needed to get in the car. She got very upset and said, "No, we have to go on the plane NOT in our car!" Apparently she thought the plane was coming to our house to pick us up! She was very disappointed when she found out we had to drive to the airport first and then get on the plane.

After we got to the airport and checked in we ate lunch at Corky's. We boarded the plane around 1:20 p.m. I couldn't believe how small it was! It was a Northwest Airlink plane that held around 48 people. Thankfully we sat in the 3rd row. Ally had the window seat next to Brent. I sat with Claire across the tiny aisle.

Claire and I sat next to a college student who was flying to Charleston to visit her mom. She was really sweet and enjoyed interacting with Claire.
The flight was a little over an hour long. Thankfully none of us had trouble with our ears. Ally spent her time playing with her new fairy stickerbook that I had gotten her for the trip.
Claire was a wiggleworm--she did not want to sit still. Brent was kind enough to take her from me towards the end of the flight because I was worn out! She occupied herself by tearing a napkin to shreds.
When we landed and got off of the plane we ran into one of Brent's coworkers. He was waiting to catch a plane back to Memphis. Then we got our luggage and headed for our rental car. It ended up being a Volvo with leather interior--it was REALLY nice! It has the coolest feature--when a car gets in your blindspot a light on that side of the car lights up to alert you of the car beside you. We didn't have far to drive. Our hotel is only 3 minutes from the airport--a SUPER nice Holiday Inn.Our room has a king bed and a sleeper sofa for Ally. They brought up a pack-n-play for Claire.

Once we got settled we headed to the Tanger Outlets that are just around the corner from our hotel. We shopped until they closed (9 p.m. EST). I found some good deals at the Gymboree and GAP Outlets!Then we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Wendy's and drove around downtown Charleston for awhile. Once we got back to our hotel room we realized we were going to have to move rooms. There was a HUGE group of people there for a family reunion and everyone seemed to be congregating on our floor. They were making an incredible amount of noise and we knew there was no way we were going to be able to sleep. So we moved to a room on the top floor of the hotel--MUCH quieter! As I'm writing, everyone is asleep. We had a big day today and plan on hanging out in downtown Charleston tomorrow. And I'm ready to enjoy a good night's sleep. Until tomorrow!