Charleston, S.C

    This week we went on a trip to Charleston, S.C. The trip was for 2 reasons, number one because since Hurricane Charlie came into our lives this summer we didnt get to do a vacation so this was a nice get away before the nice weather went away for good. Reason number two is because we wanted to scout it out as a place to possibly move.

   We love Huntsville and may very well stay here but it may be easier to have the family close together in Charleston based on job availability and pleasing everyone's "wants"

    The trip was fantastic, we packed so much into 2 and a half days with Beanie and Ryan joining us. We all really felt like we got a good taste of the area and a lot of great information. I didnt take as many pictures as I would have liked but I did end up with a handful. The best way to tell about the trip is in a Pro/Con way since that is the way we were viewing the city.

Pro
- Weather - Its even better than Bama. Mid November and mid 70's during the day and low 60's at night. It was beautiful. I love the weather here but Charleston is even warmer longer :)

Notice the short sleeves :)
(also her "Ren" is spot on in this photo)

- Food - The variety and quality was fantastic. We had BBQ downtown, seafood at a hole-in-the-wall Mom and Pop place, sandwiches at a Jewish deli, low country at a downtown bistro and southern breakfast at a cafe on the beach. There were plenty of Sushi, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Steakhouse, Vegetarian, local food/organic places not to mention all the gelato and coffee places. This is the one thing that Huntsville is really lacking, there are about half a dozen places that we eat at because we dont want chain restaurant food/ fried pre made food. To top it off, all the prices were very reasonable.

-People/Culture - Everywhere we went people were friendly either with a nice smile and nod or starting up a conversation. I chatted with our waitress', other customers at a coffee shop and the ladies who work at our hotel. Another way people were friendly was there driving- no cutting people off or being aggressive. On this point Huntsville and Charleston are tied. The people here are pretty great :)

- Education/ Opportunities for children - There were a bunch of different schools that we passed as we drove around different neighborhoods/towns in the area. We are back and forth on public school (there public schools do rank well) so we want options if we decide against it. I saw multiple Montessori schools, prep schools, private secular schools, private church based schools and per my research there are a large amount of home school groups. There is also a lot of opportunity with the natural environment (beach, marsh etc), history, children's museum and  partnership schools so you can home school half of the time and attend school. Huntsville has some of these supports but not nearly as many.

- The Ocean - although I prefer the lake, we have found that with out a boat or jet skis, it is hard to take advantage of living near a lake. The beach is totally usable without these things and while we want a boat one day its not in the near future.And when we do get to the place where we will buy a boat, there is a lake 45 minutes north of the city - perfect!

Cons
- housing is slightly more expensive
- we would be moving.....................again
- I would miss the beautiful mountains here and all that comes with them like the Autumn colors, hiking and panoramic views of the area

Things like jobs, overall cost of living and such are pretty much equal. All I know is I cant wait to see where the next year or so takes us because wherever it will be, it will be with family  :)

xoxo
Ashlea