Vacation Part 1

Our vacation started on Friday morning with our first stop at the Wyndham Union Station hotel in Nashville, TN. The hotel was converted from a train station. It was really a unique place to stay.

The beautiful ceiling of the hotel

Lobby of the hotel in Nashville

Our next stop was Columbia, South Carolina and we went to the Riverbanks Zoo. The weather was really nice and the zoo was just big enough to have decent exhibits, but not too big for Hayden to get crabby.
These grizzy bears were our first stop and they were very playful with each other and both times we stopped by there was a big crowd

Hayden was really wishing he could pet the gorilla for real

Josh and Hayden in front of the elephant exhibit

Our last stop at the zoo, the carousel

After the zoo, we headed down to Charleston, South Carolina to the bed and breakfast. We were a little nervous about how Hayden would behave, but he was an angel. The owners commented how good he was and how we were so lucky. The other guests also couldn't believe when they finally did hear a little fuss out of him. We were extremely relieved that he was so good as it made things a lot less stressful for us.

Hayden loved the fish at the aquarium and let out little squeals of laughter as they darted by in front of him

View of Ft. Sumter from the ferry dock

Josh and Hayden next to the canon

Canons at Ft. Sumter

The Rose room where we slept during our stay

Battery Street in Charleston with the water to the left and the historic homes lined up on the right. Our first night we walked down to Fleet's Landing for dinner and headed back in time to relax for the evening. The next day we headed over to King's street for some shopping and to browse around the market. We watched the women making the sweetgrass baskets and took a Carriage tour of historic Charleston. We made it in time for dinner and afterwards we took a bike taxi back to the B&B. The second day we walked up to the Ft. Sumter tours and just missed us being able to go as they just had one ticket left. Instead, we headed over to the Aquarium until the next tour started. The Ft. Sumter tour books up fast so we made sure we had our tickets ready. After all the walking we did we took another bike taxi to dinner at Carolinas for some flounder and sea bass and walked back in time for social hour where we stayed. We had a great time at Charleston and would recommend going there and staying at a bed and breakfast. You just can't experience Charleston by staying at a hotel.

View down the side of the street we stayed. The rose colored front was our stop.

The streets are lined with old homes with beautiful gardens.

View down the other side of Church Street with narrow lanes and brick streets

The front of 15 Church Street where we stayed

Sitting on the piazza (porch) of the Bed and Breakfast right before we left

Bridge going over the Cooper River from Charleston