Dutch Heritage Gardens

Nana, Papa, and Fina ventured to a previously undiscovered nursery today: Dutch Heritage Gardens. It's quite a bit out East along Palmer Divide Road, but well worth the trip on the few times it's open to the public (they call these Open House events, one in the Spring and one for Christmas). We stocked up for the house and for Fina's dorm room. And for neighbor gifts.

And the Winning Salesman is...

AJ! He sold the most chocolate bars in his class. It was a Middle School Music Department fundraiser. His prize was a huge chocolate bar. Congrats!

Lumen8

Nana and Papa discovered a new restaurant... With a great view! Lumen8 is on the 8th floor of a Marriott hotel building downtown.

First Real Snow

Our first real snow of the season. And it stuck around for a couple days despite the temperatures returning to 50s and 60s.

Charleston, SC

On October 28th, Nana and Papa headed to Charleston, SC to meet up with Trevor's family, and a few days later, Tracy and Fina, too. The occasion was the wedding of Nana and Papa's nephew. Turns out Charleston has much to offer, and we had such a grand time with everyone. Below is a quick run-down of the places we stayed, ate, visited, etc. along with links to their websites. Photos from the trip are here.

French Quarter Inn

Lindy Renaissance Charleston Hotel (Marriott)

Cypress Gardens

Slightly North of Broad (SNOB, a restaurant)

Fort Sumter (and boat ride)

Lewis BBQ

ÉLEVÉ (rooftop restaurant)

Rodney Scott's BBQ

Tommy Condon's (restaurant)

Old South Carriage Co. (historical/fun horse-drawn tour)

Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens

Page's Okra Grill

Hyman's Seafood

Creek Club at I'ON (wedding venue)

Another Broken Egg Cafe

Tavern & Table (at Shem Creek)

Old City Jail Tour (haunted!)

Charleston City Market

Wandering along King Street and surrounding shopping areas turned out to be fun, too.

In addition, there were a number of theatres, churches, museums, an aquarium, and a bunch of restaurants that we just didn't have time to do. Notable restaurants for next time are the FIG (Food Is Good) and the Magnolia.

Jamie was most taken by the discovery of the Gullah people and their history. Had never heard of them before. He wrote about them as a Bonus in a Torah essay.

October Colors

We had a fairly colorful Fall! They say it's because of the larger volume of rain this year. And our neighbors won the decorating contest (according to us) with their Jack Skeleton. And there was some serious competition in the neighborhood. We hear that there was also a Jack Skeleton installed back in our old California neck of the woods...

Les Miserables Party

Many of the Les Miz cast came to a screening party of the video from their show...