Doin' The Charleston

In honor of Spring Break coming up soon, I thought I would do a post on my Spring Break trip last year to my absolute favorite city - Charleston, South Carolina. I fell in love with the historic city years ago when I was on vacation with my family. We were staying in Myrtle Beach, and we took a day trip to visit Charleston, SC. My mom shares my love of touring and learning about new places. We have a fascination with the South and plantation homes. We started out taking a bus tour of the city. It gave us a chance to sit back and learn all about the rich history of Charleston.

The next stop was the beautiful Boone Hall Plantation. Several movies and TV shows have been filmed at this famous home like The Notebook and North and South with Patrick Swayze. When we pulled up the long drive lined with Oak trees, I felt like I was going to explode with excitement. The only way I know how to put it is I felt like I was "home." When we made our way to the house, our jaws dropped. We always joke and call our house the plantation, but we didn't know just how much it resembled an actual plantation home. The brick exterior and the white column posts on the large front porch reminded us of our house. When we walked inside, it was almost uncanny how much it looked like our house. Even the layout of the house is like my home. My mother is a true southern belle y'all! I always knew she had the grace and good cooking required of a belle, but now she has the house too! Boone Hall left a lasting impression on me, and it is easily my favorite plantation home I have ever visited.

After such an amazing trip with my family, I knew I just HAD to take Ty to my favorite place on earth. Between school and work, neither of us have much free time. The most convenient time for us to go was on my Spring Break which is in March. South Carolina is always warmer than where I am from, so we figured the weather would be decent. Well y'all, we were wrong! It was rainy, dreary, and freezing the entire trip. In fact, the only day that it warmed up and was sunny was the day we left. Still, a yucky day in Charleston is better than a pretty day anywhere else. 

First stop was of course Boone Hall. Unfortunately, it looks a little different in 80 degree weather than it did on the day I took Tyler. The "Avenue of The Oaks" is not paved, and we did not think Ty's car was going to make it down the long drive of deep mud puddles. It had been raining for days, so the entire property was like one big mud pit. After we toured the house, we walked the grounds. A little rain and cold wasn't going to stop me from showing him "my" plantation home! We only got one picture at Boone Hall that day, and we looked like little wet rats. Still, I loved being back in my favorite city, rain or shine. 

The next day, we took a tour of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. This day was much colder, but at least it did not rain on us. I had heard of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens on my first trip to Charleston, but this was the first time I had ever seen it in person. I knew the intriguing back story of Thomas Drayton, so I just had to see this property. If you've never heard of Magnolia and its history, look it up! It is a very interesting story! My cousin Taylor had a private wedding at Magnolia, and all of her wedding pictures were stunning! After I saw it in person, I knew I wanted to have some photographs of Ty and me there too. We ended up arranging to have our engagement pictures taken there later in the year. 

One unique aspect of the garden at Magnolia is that it is an English style garden, and it was thought that Thomas Drayton introduced the first azaleas to America. Unlike most gardens at this time, the garden at Magnolia was designed to grow freely without being cut/trimmed. The garden has a very romantic feel, and the surrounding waters and bridges make you forget you are just in a garden on someone's yard. It almost feels like you are in another world. One section of the garden is the Biblical Garden that has plants mentioned in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. 

We had such a great day at Magnolia. Our tour guide for the day was a hoot, and I could have listened to her say "Ashley Riva" all day. She was very informative but kept us laughing. At one point, she misplaced the keys to the tour bus, and Tyler had to help her find them. We had lunch at the Peacock Cafe on the grounds at Magnolia, and we were able to watch a short film about the property and family that owned Magnolia. Despite the chilly weather, Ty and I loved Magnolia Plantation, and we were very excited to return that summer for our engagement pictures! 

Ty's birthday is in March, so we decided to celebrate on this trip. I was our "tour guide" since I had visited Charleston a couple times before, but I promised Ty he could pick what we do for an entire day. We toured The Charleston Museum on Meeting Street, and Tyler got to dress up like a confederate soldier! How cute is he?!

Next, we got in the car and headed toward Charleston Harbor. We took a short boat ride out to Fort Sumter, the starting place of the Civil War on April 12, 1861. Since we were out on the water, the wind was blowing like crazy. I thought I was going to tip over it was blowing so hard! We took a quick walk around the grounds, and then I made my way to the indoor museum. The picture below shows the before and after of our Fort Sumter visit! I was freezing and not happy, but we really did enjoy it. I am glad I can say I visited the actual place of the start of the Civil War.  

We finished the trip off with an amazing dinner at Hall's Chophouse. If you ever go to Charleston, SC and don't stop at Hall's, you're doing it all wrong. This place has the best steaks ever hands down! The restaurant is ran by a family (father, mother, and their two sons). They greet you at the door when you walk in, and they always have a pianist there playing and singing to entertain you. They will come around and see if you would like a drink while you wait for your table. It is just a top of the line experience. We have visited Hall's again since this trip, and they remembered us. I was in complete shock the second time we went there when they recognized us since we are not locals or regulars. That just shows you how attentive this family is to their customers and the service this restaurant offers! 

It was great to take my favorite person to my favorite city! We had a great time, and Tyler has a newfound love for Charleston, SC. 

A Biltmore Engagement

Ever since I first got engaged, I wanted to start a blog to document the entire wedding planning process. Unfortunately, because of my hectic schedule with school, I never got around to starting one. Better late than never! This is just a way for me to have something to look back on and remember the beginning of my relationship with Tyler. To start, I thought I would share pictures and such from the night we got engaged. I will be updating this blog periodically as major events leading up to the wedding take place. If all goes well, I plan to keep journaling throughout marriage as well.

Tyler was able to plan the most spectacular proposal without me suspecting a thing. Months before he popped the question, he had me sized for a ring without me even being aware. We went to a jewelry store, so Tyler could "get the battery of his watched changed." While we were waiting, a lady that worked in the store took me to see some new pieces of jewelry they had just gotten in the store. I was trying on canary yellow diamond rings when she said, "Honey, your fingers are so small!" She asked, "What size ring do you wear?" Of course, I had no idea and was sized on the spot. It never entered my mind that Tyler had set the whole thing up. He would go back to that jewelry store a dozen times before he finally decided on the center stone. He had to have my ring custom made since I love yellow gold and most rings today come in Platinum only. I absolutely love my engagement ring, and I wouldn't change a thing about it! Tyler did such an awesome job!

For our one year anniversary, Tyler planned a getaway to Asheville, NC to stay at The Inn at The Biltmore. IT. WAS. BREATHTAKING. It was the weekend after Thanksgiving, so they had just started putting up their Christmas decorations. If you know me, you know I LOVE decorating for holidays, especially Christmas. When we first walked into The Inn, we were greeted by a gigantic Christmas tree that was being decorated. I snapped a picture of it to send to my sister, so she could see how beautiful this place was. Little did I know, she was in on the whole thing.

Before the trip, Tyler drove four hours to my hometown. He met my dad, mom, and sister at a local restaurant to ask for permission to marry me. He brought my mom and sister flowers, and he gave my dad a nice bottle of bourbon. Later, my mom and sister told me that this was such an emotional experience. Everyone was so happy, but a few tears were shed too. My mom and sister knew they had a long road ahead of them keeping this a secret from me! 

After we checked into our room, Tyler and I went exploring at The Inn. It was so beautiful on the property, and there was even a little town, Antler Hill Village, below with shops and restaurants. 

We had plans to do a Christmas Candlelight Tour at The Biltmore the evening we arrived. I was so excited because touring historical places is probably one of my most favorite thing to do. I love seeing and learning about new places. If you want to give me a tour, honey, I will take it! We had dinner reservations at The Inn right after the tour of the estate, so we knew we were in for a long night. Initially, Tyler said he was planning on asking me in front of The Biltmore; however, it was not very well lit at night outside. He hired a photographer to capture the proposal, so he suggested popping the question at The Inn before the tour. Tyler graciously agreed because he said he was so nervous and dreaded waiting until the end of the evening. After getting ready, we made our way to the lobby of The Inn to "head to the tour." I insisted on getting a picture in front of the tree in the lobby while we were all dressed up. While I was searching for someone to take our picture, Tyler grabbed my hand. I heard the words coming out of his mouth, and I could feel his hands shaking. I just could not comprehend what was happening. It seemed like an eternity we were standing in front of that tree! Then he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. 

The photographer popped out from a staircase, and people that were in the lobby were clapping. My head was spinning. After I said yes, I immediately asked Tyler if he had asked my dad for permission. That is when I got the sweet story of how he had asked my entire family for permission. In the midst of this beautiful moment, I did shed some tears. Unfortunately, I had just purchased new fiber lash mascara, and with the tears, the fibers matted to my eyes, and it felt like my eyes were superglued shut. Y'all, I could not open my eyes for the life of me! I tried to recover because the photographer was snapping pictures like crazy, so ignore my closed eyes in the next few pictures! 

After I was able to open my eyes, the photographer took us around The Inn and got some wonderful pictures. It meant so much to me that Tyler thought about capturing this moment. I can always look back on these pictures and remember this wonderful day that changed my life forever! Not long after the proposal, we had to head over to The Biltmore for our tour. It was surreal. I was in this gorgeous historic house with my new fiancé. Time seemed to stand still. Both of us just kept smiling at each other, and I couldn't take my eyes off of my beautiful ring. I still couldn't believe all of this was happening. After the tour, we enjoyed a wonderful candlelit dinner back at The Inn, and they brought us out a sweet dessert with "Congratulations" written in chocolate on the plate. Unfortunately, I didn't have my phone on me to get a picture of it. We toured The Biltmore again the next day, which we both agreed was a good decision considering we were in such a fog the night before. I didn't remember a thing from the first tour! It was so amazing to spend that weekend together just the two of us after such an important moment in our relationship. 

After a magical weekend, I was in for one last surprise. We packed up our things and headed back to Tyler's mom's house. Tyler had planned a small engagement party with our families. He knew I would want to see my parents and sister to show them the ring and tell them about our weekend. It was so good to see both of our families and celebrate with them. It was an absolutely perfect end to the weekend. My Tyler thought of everything. He gave me the most wonderful proposal ever. I wouldn't have changed a thing. I am so lucky that I get to spend the rest of my life with such a caring and thoughtful gentleman! 

Whew, that was long! Again, I am writing these entries more for myself than anything. I want to have a place I can go and relive all of these moments that are happening in my life currently. So much is changing! I will be getting married in a few months, graduating in almost a year, moving to a new city, etc. It is a lot! I want this blog to serve as a journal for me to look back on all of these exciting changes that are/will be happening in my life! 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. - I Corinthians 13:4-7