Friday Fun: Exploring a Tea Farm and Local Fare

 

Today I want to tell you about our last full day in Charleston. It was another hot and sticky day, but we had much fun!

                I had read the Charleston Tea Garden was a fun place to visit, and even though we are lovers of coffee, we do like tea, and we had never been to a tea garden before. It took us about an hour to get there from our hotel, and we could see the gardens as soon as we drove in!

                They had a gift shop with free tea samples – hot and iced. They had different flavors, and we tried a few of them.

                There was also a self-guided (video-based) free tour that took us past the processing area, and it was fun to learn about the equipment they use to harvest the tea leaves and then how they process them from there.

                We bought tickets to the trolley tour, and our guide (once again) was amazing! She took us through the tea fields and explained about the active and resting fields. She took us to a greenhouse where they grow the tiniest of plants that will one day be transplanted to the fields.

                They had a fun sign in the yard that showed how far it was to other tea garden locations.

                This is their retired picker for tea leaves. Fascinating machinery.

                We didn’t actually drink from this…

                We bought some souvenirs in the gift shop and then went in search of lunch. One thing we had not had was proper local BBQ, so I did a search and found a little restaurant. I did not realize it was so rustic! But the food was excellent.

                We ate at these picnic tables under a greenhouse style awning. It was HOT under there, so we didn’t linger. Glad we went, though. Worth it!

                We wanted to find some local coffee, too, so we did some more searching and found this ADORABLE shop called StillWild. It was beautiful inside – recently redone, actually – and the coffee was so good. This was exactly what a coffee shop should be: filled with people working, talking, enjoying. It was easily the best coffee of the trip and we were sad we didn’t find it until the last day. We would have made the drive to have it more than once if we’d found it earlier.

                The shop was in a suburb of Charleston, and there were all kinds of cute little shops around it. We walked around, even though it started to rain. Found a bookstore, so Ryan settled into a chair to wait while I explored.

                Couldn’t leave without this.

                After that, it was time to go back home, eat leftovers for dinner, and start packing to come home the next day. The saddest day of vacation, right? The trip home.

Travel Thursday: Boat Ride to a Deserted Island

 

In our original vacation itinerary, we set aside a day to drive a couple of hours south to Savannah, Georgia, for the day. But once we settled into Charleston, another four hours in the car, all in one day, didn’t sound as fun. Ryan also lamented that this vacation itinerary did not include signing a waiver, so he went in search of an adventure. I was so pleased that the one he found was not terribly scary!

                It was a boat ride adventure that would take us to see a lighthouse. YES, PLEASE!

                I did have to giggle at the sign when we arrived at the business:

                We signed our waivers and climbed on a boat that held 18 people plus the captain. Our captain, much like our tour guide at the Magnolia Plantation, was amazing. He paused many times between the launching point and the lighthouse to teach us about the water and wildlife of the area. He was knowledgeable and interesting to listen to!

                As we arrived near the lighthouse, we did see some dolphins, and that was fun!

                The island, he said, was once inhabited by a small group of people, and the lighthouse sat at the edge of it. Over time, the shoreline began to erode – so much so, actually, that the lighthouse is now a distance out in the water. They evacuated the people, and now there are only sand dunes on the island.

                Well. Dunes and this boat, which is rumored to have been abandoned by its owner.

                I love lighthouses, so I was excited to get to see this one.

                We were given an hour to explore the island, so we had a lot of fun walking around!

                When it was time to head back to the starting point, I confess the breeze from the speed of the boat felt SO GOOD!

                We found a Zaxby’s for lunch. (We love those and don’t have them around here.)

                By the time we were done with lunch, it was nearing late afternoon, and we decided to head back to the hotel and rest for the remainder of the day. The heat in South Carolina that week was humid and zapping.

                Ryan was craving a pizza, so he found a place where he could get a smaller pizza and I could get a salad, and we ate at the hotel.

                We wrapped up the evening with a movie and called it a delightful day!