Valentine Getaway

I decided to surprise David with an early Valentine's weekend getaway to Charleston, SC--> a gem of a place where I lived for a couple of years in my mid twenties. To kick off our adventure, we attended a black tie event at the Legion of Honor. We were were excited for the chance to get dressed up and celebrate at one of the most elegant places in San Francisco.

Californians are known to casually dress/underdress, so when we saw some suits as we first walked up to the building we weren't surprised in the least and definitely snickered between ourselves. As we entered the event, David noticed that he was the only one wearing a tux, but we didn't take it too seriously at first because of Californians' propensity to underdress. It was only when we saw a couple of track suits walking around that we realized that we were the ones overdressed. Due to all of my busyness at work it seems that I misread the invite, mixing up the date of the black tie for the cocktail party.

David's confidence began to deflate swiftly as wait staff gave us a few pity compliments in passing. I was hit with a wave of laughter that took my breath away so that I could barely walk around; it was clear that we were hopelessly overdressed. So we did the only self respectin' thing we could do; went out for burritos.

David had his first burrito in over seven years, a true occasion for a tux, and then we ditched our evening attire to catch a red eye to Charleston. We arrived just in time for a bbq lunch at Lewis' where David didn't hesitate to devour an entire rack of ribs all by himself, sans the 1.5 ribs that I ate.

And this was only the start. Between naps in our dazzling bed and breakfast, Fulton Lane Inn, centrally located off of King Street in downtown Charleston, we feasted on Suthern (pronounced Suuuthern) faire including fried chicken and delicious cornbread scones w/whipped butter from Poogan's Porch, delicious grits, local fish, and homemade apple bread pudding from Husk, the BEST (and first) fig old fashioned I've ever had from Le Farfalle and fried chicken and french toast from SNOB, to name a few.

We met my dear friend Martha and her husband, Bruce, for brunch at SNOB. I hadn't seen Martha in person in over 17 years, but it felt like no time had passed. We worked together at Darkness to Light, a non-profit dedicated to the prevention of child abuse. The two of us got the first ever Prevent-a-thon off the ground, a month long media driven event to train adults to prevent child abuse. We facilitated over 20 trainings locally and now, 17 years later, it is in all 50 states and 23 countries.

One of my favorite things to do when I lived in downtown Charleston was to walk around at night exploring the beautiful alleyways and stunning homes. David and I did some night walkin' and I showed him where I used to work and live downtown. I introduced him to Garden & Gun, Suthern version of Vanity Fair, where I modeled in (one of) the first editions. And though the Saks 5th Ave that was once off of King is now a Target, that didn't stop me from reenacting my runway days there down one of the store aisles. We also tuned in to 105.5 the Bridge, local radio station where I wrote and performed radio commercials.

Charleston is a pretty pristine town so we had a hard time finding a spot to place our Be Bayou World Tour sticker, but found one at the intersection of where I used to live and work off of King St and right around the corner from the Music Farm, a Charleston original for live local music since 1976. We enjoyed the best teenage band that we ever did see on Friday night!

Charleston certainly knows how to dress up! We had plans to go to Middleton Place for their annual fundraiser Cocktails and Camelias, but due to hurricane like rain, the event was cancelled. But not to worry, there is no shortage of fancy places to go in Chucktown. I used to spend my days attending socials, galas, horse races, fashion shows, etc in this dazzling, elegant Suthern city.

David and Ren seen wearing California Casual, and loving it.

On our final day, we took a walking tour of Charleston in the rain and then broke away to explore on our own together. We also headed to Folly Beach, the place where I learned to surf.

David giggled when he saw the size of the waves.

Such a short but sweet trip that filled our hearts with love for each other and for this city that welcomed me with open arms into its big ole' heart. I'm forever grateful for my time in this beautiful community.

And I couldn't imagine a better person to share this treasured place with; my Boog.

#valentines #family #charleston #getaways #bebayouworldtour