Birthday Weekend in Charleston!

What a great weekend for a birthday!   Not only did this weekend mark my 26th birthday, but it is also our last weekend living in a hotel before we move into our condo.  So that means that lots of fun was to be had! 

This was my view from the front seat of the kayak on Saturday (9/18) morning.....here we are setting out for what was nearly a 3-hour tour of the Wando River!

 You can see here that this was a 2-person kayak that our friends generously loaned to us.  We loved the kayaking excursion, but that thing was the devil to load and unload - there were times while carrying it that I doubted I would be even make it to the age of 26.  Seriously, so heavy I thought I would die!

 

The Ravenal Bridge was a fun place to set our sights on!

  

 Sometimes I liked to quit paddling.....all of the sake of photo opportunities, of course!  This is a candid action shot of Josh powering us.

 

 And this is a staged photograph with Josh and the Ravenal Bridge.  I did make him take a break from paddling for the sake of this photo!

  

Then we traded the kayak for the paddle board!  Here is Josh making it to the buoy in the far distance!

  

 Here I caught him after paddling around the back side of the buoy!

 

 Crabs are everywhere!  Check out this one fiddler crab with the one funny looking claw!

Here I am trying my way at paddle-boarding.  Every time it gets better and better!

And Josh carrying the board before we headed to meet a friend for lunch at Daniel Island Grill!

My birthday morning started off with a Boston Creme donut on the way to another fabulous church service at Seacoast!  Then we headed down town to A.W. Shuck's for a seafood lunch!

Our Oyster Appetizer!

Josh with his steam-pot lunch!

A sweet special birthday delivery from my sorority big sis and longtime friend Sarah!  Seriously made my day!  What a precious and thoughtful gesture!  I love you SB!

Enjoying the birthday afternoon at the beach!  Due to the high currents from a hurricane in the distance, many locals were out showing off their surfing skills!  Which reminded me of my boxed DVD season collection of "Gidget" - I look forward to unpacking those now that I also live in a beach town!

And what birthday is complete without cake?!!  Here we are at Cupcake, a local bakery specializing in cupcakes.  I chose Red Velvet!  Yum!

And Josh enjoyed a vanilla/chocolate combination!

And the hotel delivered fruit and wine this evening for us to enjoy in honor of my birthday!  What a nice thing to do!

I have had a wonderful birthday in my new city!  We are loving it very much!  I appreciate all of the cards, calls, texts, facebook messages, etc!  They have warmed my heart!  I am blessed with such wonderful family and friends - thank you all!  Here's to a great 26th year!