Have you ever heard of a babymoon? I've had mixed responses when I've used that name to describe our trip. To make things even more complicated, Ryan on Day One coined it his "daddy moon" because he deserved a vacation as well. All in good fun of course.
We decided to take our first trip involving a flight in well over 18-months, which just so happens to also be our last trip before the baby comes. When trying to decide where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do all I knew is that I wanted to go somewhere warmer than home where we could relax. I started looking up online "best babymoon locations" and many other variations of that search and actually came across a blog by Just Simply Mom that helped me narrow down my selection to Charleston, SC. I found it so helpful that I decided then I would do a recap post on our babymoon to hopefully help someone else who is in a similar situation.
We decided to stay at the Tides Folly Beach Hotel which is a literal oceanfront view.
Originally we started researching Airbnb locations in Charleston but the pricing was crazy in comparison to what we could find about 20-30 minutes outside of the city. We opted for the more cost-effective version with a rental car in lieu of trying to rideshare app everywhere. Shockingly we managed to not get pulled over the entire time we were there... even though Ryan chose the blacked-out car with out-of-state license plates. Miracles really do happen.
We opted to pay for rental chairs and an umbrella each day which I would HIGHLY recommend. The guys working at Sun & Ski Beach Rentals (associated with the Tides Folly hotel) were amazing. We ended up talking to one of them and he said to us he had already been working that job for 11 years and wanted to keep doing it until he retires. Talk about living your best life. Ryan also kindly dug me a "belly/boob" hole in the sand so I could tan on my back and avoid looking like Ross from the episode of Friends where he got double spray tanned on one side only.
One of the main things that we decided to do during our trip was a mini maternity photoshoot. Again I turned to good old Google to start my research. I narrowed it down to two photographers that were in the area, did maternity shoots, had availability, and fit our budget. I had to go with Erin Rose Photography because having the exact same name as my sister-in-law was too much of a coincidence. And we're so glad we went with her. Not only did Erin used to live in MA but she was also a Bruins fan which Ryan latched onto instantly of course. Erin made our shoot so comfortable, we had a time limit due to a wedding happening at the venue and we were able to get everything we wanted with time to spare. I would HIGHLY recommend booking her if you're in the area. We received our photos back super quickly and are thrilled with how they came out. Thank you, Erin! You can check out her website here.
Here are some of our favorites from the shoot!
It was also Ryan's 32nd birthday while we were on our trip, he kicked off his birthday morning with a margarita at 8:30, as you should. This was our second time at Rita's Seaside Grille. We ate there for dinner one night with live music and amazing food. Ryan was such a fan he opted to come back on his special day. I would highly recommend going there, it's a stone's throw from the hotel, and the food and service is amazing.
Rather than giving a play-by-play of each place we ate, why we liked it, and if we'd recommend it, I'm going to leave a list below of the ones that we'd suggest a visit to and our favorite part of it. Also, #1 tip - book reservations in advance, we're talking weeks in advance. Places were busy and finding reservations for dinner time was very difficult. If you're anything like me a dinner reservation post 7:00 PM is just too late...
Less than 10-minutes from Tides Folly
Super cost-friendly
HUGE portions
Awesome margaritas (per Ryan)
Top-rated patio set up (can confirm)
Owned by Bill Murray (who also is there often)
Ryan's choice this for his birthday dinner spot because of the menu and its location
Themed & Family-friendly
We heard mixed reviews but both of us loved our meals
Walking distance from the hotel
Taco Boy! Used to be at this location, we weren't able to go, but it was highly recommended
Next up... the baby shower!
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