Kiawah Getaway

Our Christmas gift from my parents this year was a weekend away sans kiddos, and we have been looking forward to it for a long time!  We ended up with a beautiful weekend -- with weather that could not have been better, and an amazing location, thanks to our travel agent neighbor who found us a great deal.

We spent most of the days walking on the beach, exploring the resort and riding bikes around the island.

One of the highlights was our (belated) anniversary dinner out at the Jasmine Porch restaurant. I was reluctant to go, but Pete seemed pretty excited about it, so we went.  And it ended up being my favorite dinner ever!  (I know, I know, I should trust Pete by now.)

The restaurant ended up giving us both free appetizers (fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese), and free desserts (coconut cake and pecan pie).  The food ended up being amazing- - Pete had the best shrimp and grits of his life, and I ended up ordering 3 sides: sweet and sour brussel sprouts, beets with yogurt and granola, and macaroni and cheese... all of which were the best dishes I've ever had in those categories.  (Wish I could have some more right now as I'm thinking about it!)

But the best part of the night was when this man, a perfect stranger, came over to talk to us because we were sitting at the same table he likes to sit at with his wife when they celebrate anniversaries there.  They live in Philadelphia, but like to vacation in Kiawah.  He showed us pictures of his wife and kids and we had a nice conversation.  THEN he came back a little while later and brought us flowers and gifts from the hotel gift shop!  Who does that??

 He also brought his friend over to meet us later.... by which point I think they were both rather inebriated.  They were a lot of fun and totally made our night.  :)

Then we got to ride our bikes back to our villa....   a perfect way to end a perfect evening.

The next night we went to a wine bar where they had all kinds of wine on tap and we were able to sample whatever we wanted.  Pretty fun!

 On our way home on Sunday we stopped at Howard and Alleyn's church near Charleston. It was so good to see Howard in his element there!  At the start of his sermon he called up 3 people to be part of an illustration -- including Pete.  Only Howard would think to include a first-time visitor in his sermon!  :)

We enjoyed a nice lunch with their family and were reminded how much we value those long-term friends.

And then.... it was back to reality here.  Pete got increasingly stressed the nearer we got to home, but I thought the re-entry wasn't nearly as bad as it's been in the past.  I do enjoy this stage of life!

But I REALLY enjoy lovely getaways with my husband.