Dataw Island 2011

This past weekend our family made the annual trip down to Beaufort, South Carolina, for the reunion my grandmother holds every year at the marina on her island. During this visit we get to visit with the family of my late step-grandfather whom we rarely see any other time during the year. The boys always have a blast playing on the enormous playground located near the marina, and they love getting to walk down the dock to check out the boats docked there by residents of Dataw Island. We had a great time catching up with family, and the weather was absolutely fantastic!

Another reason this trip is always so much fun is because we get to visit Hunting Island Beach. We LOVE this beach and highly recommend you go if you've never been! It's part of a national park, and it is nowhere near as crowded as Garden City or Myrtle Beach. We love visiting Hunting Island, and, once again, this year it didn't disappoint!

New York City!

I'm going to take a slight detour from my usual topic of conversation (the boys) and talk about someone different this time (ME!). This past weekend I got the opportunity to travel to New York City with my mom, grandmother, and sister. It was a much-needed break from the craziness that comes along with being a stay-at-home-mom, especially since Patrick is gone so much lately with work and grad school. We crammed a lot of fun into our short, three-day trip, and it was truly a vacation that I will never forget! I also need to give a BIG shout-out to my wonderful hubby who did a great job taking care of the boys by himself all weekend -he's the best!

Rather than going into a long narrative about our trip, I figure I will just post lots of pictures and explain when needed! Enjoy!

Friday

No cabs for us! We rode to the hotel in style :)

The reflection of the New Years Eve ball from our hotel window

Times Square

Our transportation through the beautiful Central Park

St. Patrick's Cathedral
Our view of the Empire State Building from the top of Rockefeller Center
The Chrysler Building from Top of the Rock
Kimbo, Grandmama, and me on Top of the Rock
The ferris wheel inside the Toys R' Us at Times Square. Our hotel was on the same block as the store!

Saturday
On Saturday, we ventured out on the NYC subway!
Ground Zero
St. Paul's Chapel - It's across the street from Ground Zero and now serves as a memorial to all those who died and volunteered on 9/11
One of the many memorials displayed in St. Paul's
A picture of St. Paul's following the 9/11 attacks
If you haven't been to St. Paul's before and get the chance to go I HIGHLY recommend it!
The SINGLE picture I got while in Chinatown. Definitely NOT my favorite part of the trip!
Grand Central Station
We ate lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner where the servers sing during the meal.
Southern girls taking NYC by storm!
We saw "Wicked" on Broadway. It was absolutely incredible! Again, I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it!
Kimbo and me after the show

Sunday
We enjoyed lunch at Sardi's
This restaurant is known for the caricatures of all the famous people who have dined there. They are displayed all over the restaurant!
We hit up THE Macy's and then caught our flight back home!

We had such a memorable trip, and I am already dreaming about my next trip to the Big Apple (whenever that may be)! I finally got to see so many things that I have heard about or seen in movies and got to experience a city and culture that is SO different than what I am used to here at home in SC. Thanks for allowing me to depart from my usual subject matter and giving me the opportunity to share some of the fun things I got to do while away. I hope you enjoy the pictures, and check back soon for a posting about our family's recent trip to Beaufort, SC!