We had big plans for summer vacation day four, our first full day in Charleston, but our plans were a bit derailed due to a bedbug incident in our hotel, which was absolutely the worst part of our trip. After freaking out, and leaving the hotel to figure out what we were going to do, we went on our scheduled ferry ride to Fort Sumter. This was a very emotional morning for me, because it was both my first time seeing the ocean, and very humbling setting foot on a place that steeped in history. Both the boat ride (where Turkey and I saw a dolphin), and the fort itself were fantastic, and we had a great time.

After going back to the hotel and switching rooms, which ate up more of our vacation time than I would have liked, we returned to downtown Charleston to walk around in the heat, and explore the Charleston Market.

We also walked around to admire the many, many historic buildings. Since it was so hot, we also stopped to enjoy an Italian ice from one of the many street vendors that had a cart set up along the sidewalk!

After our walk in the heat, we headed out to our one fancy dinner at Fleet Landing. This was one of the most amazing meals I’ve ever enjoyed, and definitely lived up to the hype. We had a table right next to the windows overlooking the water, and we saw a dolphin family playing fairly close to the shore. We also got to see a storm roll in over the harbor while we were dining, which was a fun experience.

No further walking after dinner, because it was still raining, but we did drive around a bit so I could take pictures of Rainbow Row on East Bay, as well as the gorgeous houses on South Battery, and the beautiful White Point Garden.

After I had my fill of photos for the day, we headed back to our (new) hotel room, and went for another swim in the pool. We also indulged in another vacation pleasure…watching cable TV in our hotel room!